Although the airport is small and half of it is outdoors, I was happy to find a Priority Pass lounge at Zanzibar’s Abeid Amani Karume International Airport.
The Park Hyatt granted us late checkout so we left at 6:30pm for our 8:30pm flight to Dar Es Salaam on FastJet. By 7pm we had already checked in and cleared security. While the terminal was packed, the lounge offered welcome solitude.
A sign above the door reads “Zanzibar Dhow Lounge: For passengers of first class and business class.”
Beside the left door was a large Ethiopian Airlines banner while on the right side was a Qatar Airways banner which suggested lounge access for all oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members traveling on Qatar, even though it is just a contract lounge.
There is no indication the lounge is a member of the Priority Pass network, but it does appear on the Priority Pass website and I had no trouble accessing the lounge. In fact, the agent even had one of the newer card readers (not the old carbon copy reader you find in many PP lounges around the world).
There is no elevator up the lounge, but a wheelchair lift attached to the side of the stairs is available.
The lounge was empty. I wasn’t there long, but never saw another guest the entire time.
The lounge is a one small rectangular room, air conditioned, with chairs and couches against both sides. In the corner is a fish tank, buffet, and bar.
Zanzibar Dhow Lounge Food and Drink
The bar included a meager selection of alcoholic drinks and brewed coffee was also available. Food was mostly fatty/fried, including sausage rolls, samosas, and doughnuts. Chopped fruit and chocolate cake were available:
The bathrooms were filthy and stinky, but not so much because they were dirty as because the plumbing and venting was inadequate. Hoses for ablution are available, though the lounge had no prayer room.
CONCLUSION
The lounge is not worth arriving early for, but if you are there it is a more comfortable place to wait for your flight than the general gate area.
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