Ahead of our very enjoyable return journey to Dublin with Aegean Airlines, we managed to find time to enjoy the ‘extra Schengen’ Aegean Business Lounge in their Athens Airport home.
Locating the lounge requires some careful attention-paying to the overhead signs as you wander through the labyrinthine retail area – the basic premise is that once you reach the gates, like we did, you’ve gone too far and it’s time to return to the retail labyrinth. Up to the third floor past several significantly inferior-looking lounges, and we quickly arrived at the very spacious, grand, reception for the Aegean Business Lounge.
We briefly paused at the self-scan gates, like two deeply unenlightened first-time flyers, before the receptionist beckoned us to return to the counter, scanned our boarding passes and promptly opened the gates for us.
Inside was an absolute treat. For a European carrier not part of one of the major airline groups, it was nothing short of spacious, elegant, and stunning.
There was a fine selection of seating, ranging from long couches, individual leather armchairs, to private window-facing cocoons – which is where we ultimately ended up parking, because who doesn’t want a view like the below, drink in hand, as the sun descends.
As I say, the lounge was incredibly spacious and stretches the full width of the terminal building – with seating aplenty, no matter where you went.
It goes without saying that my first port of call, as is so often the case, was to locate the bar. This too was incredibly elegant, nestled into a corner and fully self-service, with a wide range of spirits, mixers, juices, wines and nibbles on offer. In case you have a compelling need to stay as close to the bar as possible, there’s even a bar counter right in front with a few stools.
One thing we really appreciated about the bar too was the diversity and locality of many of the options – for example, the Mataroa Mediterranean Dry Gin, that went down a charm and was lovely to see when so many lounges offer the same relatively sterile collection of predictable big brand names.
There would also be no need whatsoever to go hungry in this lounge – with a pretty hearty selection of sandwiches (of varying types – focaccia, buns, etc.), along with pastries and sweet treats running alongside another counter.
Towards the end of this area there were also several hot food options; overall this is more like the kind of lounge experience where you need to hold yourself back from non-stop grazing and beveraging, so that you can afford yourself half a chance of enjoying what’s on offer on the flight itself.
Sadly – though perhaps, fortunately – we didn’t have any more than an hour to spend in the Aegean Business Lounge, just long enough to sample a bite of most of the food, knock back a few drinks, and enjoy those sunset views looking out over the runway.
A visit to the bathrooms confirmed – for me, at least – probably the only element missing of this otherwise perfect lounge; showers. After a long day traipsing around Athens and undoubtedly looking and smelling, rightly, like two people who’d spent half the day at the Acropolis, a shower would’ve been an all-too-welcome amenity, but alas, that was the one thing not to be.
Overall, a wonderful lounge that you couldn’t not look forward to a visit to, with great food and drink, plenty of (varied) seating and space, and great views if you so wish! The addition of showers would’ve made it for me, though I still think it’s a real winner.
