Many travelers check in to an airport lounge expecting a free cocktail, a hot buffet, and a quiet place to sit before boarding their flight.
But the world’s best airport lounges have expanded on these humble amenities, with the fanciest spaces offering perks like complimentary spa treatments, in-lounge saunas, outdoor pools, and more. In these lounges, travelers can even relax in a hot tub or by an outdoor firepit before hopping on a plane.
Here’s a look at some of the most over-the-top airport lounge amenities around the world.
Korean Air’s Noodle Library and Cooking Classes
Culinary-minded travelers are sure to be delighted by the amenities on offer at Korean Air’s newly renovated Prestige Lounge inside Seoul Incheon International Airport (ICN)’s Terminal 2. The revamped space has its own “Ramyeon Library,” where travelers can make customizable versions of the popular Korean noodle dish. Visitors can select their preferred type of noodle and toppings from the library’s dozens of offerings and prepare the instant ramen themselves with the lounge’s automated machines.
Elsewhere in the lounge, travelers can enjoy cooking and baking classes inside Korean Air’s Cooking Studio L'atelier. Here, chefs from the Grand Hyatt Incheon teach travelers how to make treats like chocolate bark in quick classes that are available to reserve on-site. The nearly 17,000-square-foot lounge is open to travelers flying in Prestige business class and also has live cooking stations, shower facilities, and an arcade room with games like air hockey and a claw machine.
Punta Cana VIP Lounge’s Outdoor Pool
Priority Pass members flying through the Dominican Republic’s Punta Cana International Airport (PJU) can stop at the VIP Lounge in Terminal B for a relaxing dip in its outdoor pool with runway views. Located on an outdoor balcony accessed from the lounge, the pool has a plexiglass wall on one side, making for the ultimate place for leisurely planespotting. Lounge chairs and tables are also located outside on the balcony for relaxing around the oblong pool. Complimentary towels are available to all guests who want to take a swim. Back inside, the bright and airy lounge also offers walls of windows overlooking the runway, a bar area, showers, and a separate children’s play area.
Finnair’s Platinum Sauna in Helsinki
Finnish carrier Finnair has brought a beloved Nordic tradition to its Platinum Wing Lounge at Helsinki International Airport (HEL). The exclusive lounge has an authentic Finnish sauna inside. Guests get complimentary access to the sauna, as well as separate lockers and shower areas with organic toiletries from Finnish company SEES.
Once travelers have had their steam session inside the sauna, they can relax in the Finnish-designed armchairs throughout the lounge, have a cocktail in the lounge’s modern bar area, or sit down for a meal in the dining room, which offers Nordic specialties like reindeer burgers. The top-tier Platinum Wing Lounge is located in the airline’s business class lounge in the non-Schengen side of the airport near gate 52. However, it’s only accessible to the airline’s highest elite status tiers, including those with Finnair Plus Platinum, Platinum Lumo, and Oneworld Emerald members.
Wolf’s Fang Runway Ice Bar and Lounge in Antarctica
In the middle of Antarctica’s great white expanse sits a rare, private blue-ice runway operated by Antarctic tour company White Desert. The boutique Antarctic airfield is operational from November to February, during Antarctica's summer, and it has an exclusive lounge tunneled into the surrounding ice sheet.
A system of snowy tunnels and staircases leads travelers into the Wolf’s Fang Ice Bar, a spacious domed underground area with a bar and private seating areas all chiseled out of ice. Travelers can relax and sip cocktails and Champagne on icy banquettes strewn with fuzzy throw blankets. Yet another tunnel leads from the Ice Bar into an ice sculpture gallery. Guests can mull over intricate sculptures of crystals and local Antarctic wildlife, including emperor penguins and skua birds, and a model of the Wolf’s Fang mountain range, all carved from ice. The area also has meteorite rocks on display, as well as its own boutique selling gear and other merchandise.
The runway operations are all carefully designed to not interfere with surrounding protected areas and ecosystems. Guests on White Desert’s tours through the continent’s interior will likely pass through Wolf’s Fang Runway, as it is a key connection into the heart of Antarctica.
Qatar Airways’ Hot Tub and Spa Treatment Rooms in Doha
In its Al Safwa first class lounge at Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH), Qatar Airways offers travelers access to a full-fledged spa, called Qspa, complete with a thermal jacuzzi. The hot tub is a private room that travelers can reserve for free on a first-come, first-served basis. Also available within the Qspa are nine treatment rooms that offer services like massages, aromatherapy, facials, manicures, and pedicures. However, each of the spa treatments come at an extra cost.
Beyond the luxe Qspa, visitors to the Al Safwa lounge also have access to a cinema room, a 250-seat restaurant, an exclusive duty free shop, shower rooms, quiet area, and more. The lounge is located on level three of the airport right after the Immigration and Security Check area, and it’s only open to Qatar Airways’ first class passengers, Privilege Club Platinum members traveling Business Class with Qatar Airways, and Oneworld first class passengers.
Star Alliance First Class Lounge’s Outdoor Fire Pits in Los Angeles
The showstopper inside the first class Star Alliance Lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is its sweeping outdoor terrace. In addition to offering views of the tarmac, the terrace has dozens of sofas and comfy chairs situated around outdoor firepits for a touch of cozy elegance. Come nightfall, travelers can take a cocktail or glass of California wine outside and enjoy a dose of evening air amid the fire-lit ambiance. A bar area with balcony views over the terminal, a media room, showers, and private rooms. The lounge is located on the sixth floor of LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal and open to international first class fliers on Star Alliance carriers.
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