While expectations were low, especially after the poor service on the Colombo to Jeddah flight, the Saudia Lounge at Jeddah was objectively not bad. In fact, I’d even call it a good lounge.
1.) Plenty of seating
We arrived at 9:30p and the lounge was empty–we literally had to it ourselves. It would fill up over the next five hours, but never to a point in which it felt “crowded” or there was a shortage of seating.
2.) Wi-Fi was fast
During our all-day layover in Colombo, we struggled with productivity due to poor internet speeds in the Araliya Lounge. Internet was fast in the lounge. It made our stay productive and I was incredibly thankful for it.
3.) Excellent food spread
The biggest surprise was the excellent food spread. Honestly, I was excepting very little but an elaborate buffet with a great selection of food and (non-alocholic) drinks was available. I was not all that hungry so I am judging on appearance only, but everything from the salads to sandwiches to hot items to desserts looks tasty. I drank a lot of coffee and water during the stay and appreciated Saudia had good espresso and Evian water.
But No Lounge Is Perfect
Even though there was a separate smoking room, the bathroom smelled like both a sewer and ashtray. I understand that culturally smoking in bathrooms and stairwells may be acceptable, but it was not a pleasant odor when mixed with inferior venting.
I had planned to take a shower to freshen up during the long layover. Ben took one first and reported the water was lukewarm with poor pressure. Thus, I passed.
CONCLUSION
Last time I flew through Jeddah I was flying economy class and had no Priority Pass membership, so I ended up waiting for several hours in the terminal. This was a far better way to endure a long layover. The lounge exceeded my (low) expectations to a point that I would rate it as “good” not just “mediocre”.
Read Ben’s take on the lounge here.
Lol. Non alcoholic bud…. so its a wheat and barley juice then?
Were those mozzarella sticks? I want some mozzarella sticks now…
What’s up with the tissue (“Kleenex”) boxes everywhere?
They use those in place of napkins and paper towels. Annoying for sure.
Way TOO MUCH Purple hues
Interesting with all that purple everywhere. After 6 or 7 hours I think that would be mind-numbing.
But thanks for a great review!
Thanks especially for opening up the chafing dishes. I notice in Ben’s review that he had shots with the covers open too. I suspect that’s because you opened them. One of my pet peeves about his generally very thorough reviews is his using the phrase:
“I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.”
That’s fine, but solid metal chafing dishes with closed lids don’t do a lot of talking. So I credit us actually getting to SEE the hot food this time to you.
Can’t wait for your take on the rest of the trip.