We were pleasantly surprised by the nice spread of food and comfortable indoor and outdoor seating at the La Valette Club, a Priority Pass lounge in the departures area of Malta (MLA).
La Valette Club Malta Review (MLA)
Malta International Airport is small and has but one lounge, which serves as both a premium cabin lounge for the carriers serving Malta and as a Priority Pass Lounge. It is easy to locate on the upper level of the departures area (just look for the “lounge” signs past security and take the elevator up) and is open 24/7. One-time passes are also available for purchase for €40 each.
Tip: For Priority Club access, children under 12 years are admitted free.
We were flying to Frankfurt in economy class and Lufthansa no longer serves complimentary meals onboard, so I was hoping I could get the kids some somewhat healthy food ahead of our flight.
I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice spread of hot and cold dishes including cottage pies, lean chicken skewers, a variety of salads, freshly cut fruit, mushroom quiche, roasted potatoes, sliced cheese and meats, and a variety of sweets.
The food was delicious…the sort of lounge food that reminded me of an American Express Centurion Lounge.
A full bar was available too as well coffee, tea, juice, and water.
In terms of seating, plush, comfortable couches were clustered together, creating private areas for families like my own to sit together.
Perhaps the coolest part of the lounge is the outdoor terrace, which offers a comfortable place to sit and a great view of the aircraft arriving and departing below. Do be warned – smoking is permitted out there, though the fresh air helps to dissipate it.
Restroom are available, but no showers.
CONCLUSION
The La Valette Club in Malta is actually a lounge I would show up early for to use. The food there is likely better than the business class food on many carriers and it is a really nice space to relax before your flight.
Does Malta have that many flights spread out for the lounge to be open 24/7
Malta is one of the busiest airports that have flights about 20 hours a day so yes it does justify being open 24 hours a day.
Looks like an excellent lounge. I wouldn’t have expected this level of lounge at an airport that I (incorrectly???) assumed catered mostly to short-haul intra-European flights.
That is impressive and a model lounge for others to emulate.
LA Valette is a stunning lounge, better than Zurich, Skopje, Manchester and Heathrow. The down side is children being allowed to run around like feral dogs instead of being sat down with their parents.
The outside is designed for smokers, if you don’t like it, stay inside! Having to sit on a flight for 4 hours with a screaming brat is bad enough, we need our nicotine fix to cope.
I didn’t see any children running around, but you sound like a piece of…work.
Which lounges in Zurich and Heathrow, exactly?