I was looking forward to one of my favorite pre-flight rituals at Paris Charles de Gaulle: a sauna in the Air France Lounge in Terminal 2E, Hall L. Instead, I discovered that the sauna is gone for good, apparently because some passengers could not behave themselves.
Air France Permanently Closes Sauna In Paris Lounge After Passengers Misbehave
I have long considered the sauna in the Air France Lounge in Terminal 2E, Hall L one of the most unique amenities in any business class lounge. I first reviewed the sauna in 2020, later compared it to the Finnair sauna in Helsinki, and more recently returned with Augustine for another visit.
It was a great setup: a private changing room, an enormous walk-in shower, and a wood-paneled sauna large enough for several people, though the entire suite was reserved for one party at a time.
On my latest visit, I headed toward the shower area expecting to sweat for 20 minutes before my flight.
But something was immediately different: the sauna signs were gone.
This was last year:
And this is now:
I could still see the room, but there was now a “Staff Only” sign on the door and it was locked.
This was it before:
I asked the shower attendant what had happened. Her English was limited, but her answer was perfectly clear:
“Finished. Finished.”
Not the answer I was hoping for…
Why Did Air France Close The Sauna?
I went back to the entrance and asked one of the lounge managers whether the closure was temporary.
No.
He explained, as delicately as possible, that passengers had been “doing things in there that they should not have” and Air France ultimately decided to close the sauna permanently.
I asked him to clarify and he gave me a look that made further clarification unnecessary.
Oh.
The shower suite and sauna were certainly large enough for all sorts of extracurricular activity, but apparently some guests forgot that this was an airport lounge rather than a private hotel room.
I suppose the cleaning staff eventually grew tired of discovering exactly what had been going on in there. Or, to put it another way, apparently a few passengers could not keep their wood to themselves, and now the rest of us have lost the wood-paneled sauna.
Thanks, guys.
Air France’s current description of the Hall L lounge lists showers and Clarins treatments among the amenities, but no longer mentions a sauna, so there is little doubt this is permanent…
This Is A Real Loss
I realize an airport lounge sauna is very much a first-world amenity, but I am genuinely disappointed.
I love saunas.
Before, after, or between a flight, 15 or 20 minutes of intense heat followed by a shower leaves me feeling remarkably refreshed. The Air France facility was especially convenient because there never seemed to be a wait for it, even through there was only one per gender and with fairly prominent signgnage.
I always preferred the Finnair sauna in Helsinki overall because it is hotter, has proper stones for löyly, and offers a more authentic Finnish experience, but the Air France sauna had one huge advantage: privacy.
Apparently too much privacy…
As far as I know, the Finnair Platinum Wing at Helsinki Airport is now the only major airline lounge where you can still enjoy a proper sauna. Finnair continues to advertise its Finnish sauna as an amenity in the non-Schengen Platinum Wing.
I hope it stays that way.
CONCLUSION
The Air France sauna in Terminal 2E, Hall L at Paris Charles de Gaulle is permanently closed, and based on what a lounge manager told me, inappropriate passenger behavior played a major role in its demise.
That’s a shame. This was one of those quirky little amenities that made a decent lounge a great lounge, and it is frustrating that a small number of people (I hope!) apparently ruined it for everyone else.
There are plenty of places in Paris for romance.
An airport lounge sauna should not have been one of them.
What’s next, getting rid of shower suites?
I’m sure it happened, but my guess is it also was just annoying to maintain as a one-off.
I suppose the difference is a shower suite is private whereas the sauna was, presumably, a shared, communal space. I’m not defending sex in either space. But at least one is private. I’m sure there is more sex happening at airports than we know about. Especially with single-occupant handicap bathrooms. I do wonder if the sauna sex was a case of Larry Craig-style encounters or just couples traveling together.
I’ve used the showers in the 2F lounge. The attendant can easily prevent two adults from entering.
Right, the attendant station is right outside the male shower area…in fact there is a direct line of sight to the sauna entrance.
Total cost cutting move, blamed on something else.
But why? How expensive was it to keep something open that was already there?
A…No, no it’s not a real loss. You’ll live.
B…..That picture of you is the type of stuff that was send to Colt Studios from fan boys that wanted to meet us “stars”.
C….Its France, imagine the amount of unshaven hair was in that place. Dirty, dirty people.
I am so sorry Matthew. The thought of 1990 and his bottom sub Billy Bob fornicating in there must have been utterly revolting. It is a shame that a few degenerates can ruin the experience for everyone. I also feel sorry for the poor cleanup staff who had to don full hazmat gear to sterilize the wide array of sexually transmitted infections that follow those two like a gay perverted typhoid Mary.