5 of the Most Luxurious Airport Lounges in the World

Jan 14, 2016

Airport Lounges FEATURE — Finnair Lounge at Helsinki Airport sports a traditional Finnish sauna and Marimekko furniture.
*Credit: 2015 Finnair*

Airports are often considered a necessary evil, with long layovers and delayed flights that reveal few charming features. That is, unless, you happen to have access to an airport lounge. Waiting for a flight isn’t so bad with unlimited caffeine, food and reliable Wi-Fi access, but the following luxury airport lounges offer more than just that. These exclusive spaces put the typical waiting area to shame with high-tech amenities and glamorous surroundings.

Air France’s La Premiere Lounge
With a sparse, minimalist design, Air France’s La Premiere lounge located in Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport is the perfect place to spend a few hours. Red mood lighting at the bar makes travelers feel like they’re in a club rather than an airport, though the lounge also has several setups for both individuals and groups looking to knock a few things off their to-do lists. There are shower rooms offering luxurious Biologique Recherche toiletries and a very private relaxation room with daybeds.

Worried about having so many options? The lounge’s staff can help by creating a schedule that maximizes on the lounge’s amenities.

Finnair Lounge
Located at the Helsinki Airport in Finland, Finnair’s lounge is a salute to all things Nordic with its traditional Finnish spa and Marimekko tableware. The two-level lounge is brightly lit and pristine in shades of white, cream and gray. It even includes desks with iMacs for folks who need to get some work done between visits to the massive buffet area.

Lufthansa First Class Terminal
This airport lounge in Germany’s Frankfurt Airport isn’t even a lounge — it’s an entire terminal. In fact, it’s so isolated from the actual airport terminal that guests have to take a car to the main terminal to catch their flight. But don’t worry: Loungers will be provided with a Porsche or Mercedes car transfer to get there.

With Lufthansa First Class Terminal’s private rooms for tired travelers and bathrooms that each have a shower and a bathtub (silver rubber ducks included), it’s no surprise that flyers who stop by at the terminal are in no rush to leave.

Qatar Airways’ Premium Lounge
While Qatar Airways has several great lounges, its Premium Lounge in London’s Heathrow Airport really shines. With wide windows overlooking the runway and hosts and hostesses who will personally alert you of your departure time, this is one lounge that’s worth planning trips around.

Unlike a lot of lounges, the Premium Lounge offers sit-down meals featuring food ordered off a menu and cute to-go boxes for onboard snacking. Besides that, a selection of different champagnes and an East-meets-West design are sure to charm even the most frequent of flyers.

Turkish Airlines’ CIP Lounge
This lounge, found at Istanbul Ataturk Airport, is more than 30,000 square meters with an occupancy level of 2,000 customers — and it’s not even a first-class lounge. The CIP Lounge is considered business class, but is full of amenities one might expect at the first-class level, including showers, a play room for the kids, a variety of authentic Turkish dishes and beverages, massage areas and even a PGA golf simulator. All of this is housed in a beautiful room full of natural light and unique spherical architecture.