We had a 7-hour layover at Abu Dhabi (AUH) international airport during our travels from Madrid to Hyderabad, India.
AUH Pearl Lounge vs Business Class Lounge
The Pearl Lounge appeared extremely busy with long lines to enter, so we chose to go to the newly renovated AUH business class lounge instead.
AUH Business Class Lounge
- The Business Lounge is spread over two upper floors (5th & 6th) accessible via escalators/elevators after you show your boarding pass at the entrance.
- This is one of the largest lounges we have ever come across during our extensive travels and you never feel congested here.
- There are over 20 cappuccino machines (every 20 feet) in this lounge with matching soft drink stations.
- There is an extensive buffet section on the 5th floor with freshly prepared hot meals, plenty of fruits and desserts.
- There are plenty of bathrooms and a dedicated shower section containing several shower rooms with a built-in toilet and space to place your carry-on.
- There is a generous number of staff members allocated to the lounge maintenance and the whole place is spotless.
- Bathrooms are very spacious with plenty of fluffy hand towels.
Business Class Lounge Relaxation Rooms
- Relaxation rooms are located on the 6th floor towards the back end where you take an escalator down to reach them.
- Entry is on a first come first serve basis and each space is restricted to one passenger.
- Use is restricted to a maximum of 4 hours.
- You must show your boarding pass and request for a space and the staff will let you know the next available time and provide you with a small pager.
- There was one space immediately available when we went there and I let my wife use it while I got on the waiting list.
- Within 10 minutes, a person in the room next to my wife left earlier than expected and I was paged within a few minutes after they cleaned the pod.
- Each sleeping pod provides a sealed blanket/pillow and there is enough space to plug in your devices, place a computer on the side table and place your carry-on (see images below).
Conclusion
I encourage readers to make use of the beautifully designed AUH business class lounge along with the awesome relaxation rooms and showers during your layover here. The relaxation rooms are not well advertised and we were able to sleep for 4 hours, take a nice shower and change clothes before catching our flight to India.
I recommend heading asap to the relaxation rooms after you get off your flight to get in line for the next available space. We ended up wasting some time and drank lots of caffeine before finding the relaxation rooms, that interfered with catching good sleep due to frequent bathroom breaks.
If the business class lounge is this good, I can’t imagine how nice the First Class Lounge is at the AUH airport.