The Aspire Lounge is the only lounge in Sofia International Airport (SOF) and open to both business class travelers and Priority Pass members. For a lounge without any competition, it was not bad at all.
Aspire Lounge Sofia Review (SOF)
Aspire is part of the Swissport family and operates a network of lounges across Europe. Its lounge in Sofia is open daily from 4:00 am to 10:00 pm. You’ll find the lounge on level zero of Terminal 2, requiring you to go down one level after clearing security and passport control. Just follow the blue signs and take the escalator downstairs; the lounge is on the far right.
Inside, my boarding pass was scanned and I was welcomed in. You can purchase access at the door for about 30EUR (for three hours of access), which is not bad at all if you intend to drink.
At 5:00 am it was not all that crowded. The lounge has ample seating, including a mix of couches and chairs
A lot of people still smoke in Bulgaria and the lounge has a very large smoking room with its own food and drink area:
As for food and drink, the lounge has coffee from Julius Meinl of Vienna, Austria. Automatic machines dispense a variety of espresso drinks. Not bad as far as lounge coffee goes…
There was also a touchpad juice machine that dispensed a variety of juices including a very enjoyable apple beetroot juice:
And water, tea, soft drinks, beer, Bulgarian wines (white, rose, red), and sparkling wine:
Then behind the bar there is more hard liquor which is not self-serve…
Food selection included sandwiches, croissants and other pastries, mixed nuts, whole fruit, and chocolates…nothing to get excited about.
Behind the entrance there are toilets (and lockers), but no showers.
CONCLUSION
First, I was thankful for this lounge. Second, the coffee and beet juice wasn’t bad. Third, I still would never show up early for a flight just to sit in this lounge. It’s a nice option if you happen to be stuck at the airport, but I would have been happier to have slept in for 30 minutes longer.
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