During my recent layover in Amsterdam, I spent a few hours in the Aspire Lounge 41 in Terminal 2 (non-Schengen). While not much has changed from 2017, the lounge furniture has been refreshed and now offers a more limited selection of food.
Aspire Lounge 41 Amsterdam Review
Historically, this has been a very crowded lounge in the morning. Not only is it a Priority Pass and Lounge Club lounge, but it is used as a business class lounge for most Star Alliance carriers serving Schiphol Airport and several others including Emirates and Etihad.
I was flying on Turkish Airlines but had not checked in yet for my flight. Nevertheless, my business class reservation was enough to enter the lounge (Priority Pass would also have worked).
Follow the signs in Terminal 2 for “Lounge 41” to reach the Aspire Lounge. You’ll take an escalator up to a food court area, then take an elevator or stairs up another level, pass the British Airways Lounge, and there you will find the lounge. Operating hours are from 06:00am – 06:00pm daily.
The lounge was tranquil at 7:30am, with very people in the lounge. The furniture has been refreshed and the lounge offers great views of aircraft heading to destinations all over the globe. Power ports (European 220-volt only) are plentiful.
In the COVID-19 era, food has been scaled back, though a buffet is still available. Most food items, including bread rolls, croissants, meat, cheese, yogurt, fruit, and cereal are now individually wrapped in plastic. That’s right, each slice of meat and cheese was wrapped, which seemed like overkill and unnecessary plastic waste to me.
No hot food is presently available. Drinks are self-serve and beer, wine, and hard liquor remain available.
The Swiss-made Thermoplan coffee machines do a fairly good job at foaming milk in cappuccinos and I enjoyed a couple coffees and some fruit during my stay.
I sat here in the work area, which includes three desks:
I was wearing a t-shirt and sport coat, but I guess I looked official because no less than three people came up to me asking me questions. Two needed help with the internet and one wanted to know where the smoking room was. Seriously…I got to play lounge dragon.
As for the smoking room, it has been closed (due to a change in Dutch law on 01 April 2020, all indoor smoking areas at the airport are gone). If you want to smoke in AMS, you must now now head out to the curb.
The restroom was clean…no showers are available.
CONCLUSION
This is a very mediocre lounge, all things considered, yet I was able to enjoy a cup of coffee and get a lot of work done during my stay. Just be careful if you sit in the desk area by the front entrance, for you may get a lot of questions!
In other news, Ben just asked to speak with the manager.
Passed by the lounge Mid-April early in the morning and it was dead. No wrapped food. Just the drinks station and biscuits. Left after less than 1omins and went to the KLM crown lounge which atleast had more food.
It was also very crowded in the evening when I was there 2 years ago.
But at least it is aesthetically nicer than the “Aspire Lounge 26” in the Schengen section of the airport with its maroon and gray color scheme and too much furniture stuffed into the single room.
Stupid question but is there ice available in this lounge? It seems that ice seems rare in Europe but wondering if it could be requested.
Fair question. I do not recall seeing an ice bucket.
Damn, feels are coming back. Your fifth pic – I remember wasting my time watching planes during a layover on those seats in this very lounge. That was the last time I was in an international destination.
Can’t wait for the world to open up again.
“The lounge was tranquil at 7:30am, with very people in the lounge.”
That line needs an edit…
For a mediocre lounge, it at least looks ok (there are far worse looking lounges of this type out there). There is at least some variety in seating choices offered, and the large windows do seem to offer good views and lots of natural light.
Plus, it currently has more food offerings than the Lufthansa lounges in Germany lol
Normally they have ice.
But with covid, ice has become dangerous so they removed it, just as the sliced lemons.
They’re available on request though