Lounge Review: Lotus Lounge @ CMB (Priority Pass)

Walking through the Colombo Bandaranaike International (IATA: CMB) airport for the first time after 10 years, it was amazing to see how much it has changed since I was boy. The new airport is a mirror reflection of the steady progress this beautiful country has been seeing since I left in 2006. Enough of the banter, this is piece about a lounge at this airport. Let’s get to it!

LOTUS LOUNGE

Colombo Bandaranaike Intl (CMB)
1st Floor, across gates 6 & 7
Open 24/7
Access: Priority Pass

After checking into your flight and clearing the embarkation, make your way to the first floor and follow the signs to the airport lounges and departure gates. Priority pass allows access to a single lounge at this airport and it is located across from gates 6 and 7. Both times I’ve visited this lounge were very late in the evening to catch midnight flights. Upon checking in, you’ll be greeted with an army of unoccupied lounge chairs. For a lounge that is open 24/7, it was rather empty and starkly different to other 24/7 lounges I’ve visited, such as the Plaza Premium Lounge at KUL, in terms of occupancy.

If you like silence, this is the place for you. It was almost library-esque, with the sound of the lightest pin dropping being very audible. I want to say this place was like a library but that insinuates that there are people inside, which there wasn’t, so “ghost town” seems more apt.

Moving onto the food, there were 4 large chafing dishes for hot entrees, fresh fruit and small handful of cakes for guests to enjoy. Some of the dishes offered were sautéed noodles, fried rice, chicken cordon bleu and fish gratin. Strangely, the hot entrees looked appetizing during my first visit, but seemed very much less so during my second time around. On both occasions I did pick out what I thought seemed good and thought it was edible in the end. The self serve liquor station was nice and varied and the refrigerator next to it stocked with chilled wines, canned beers and sodas. A second refrigerator next to the one containing drinks is also available for chilled salads and desserts.

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As I sat in solemn silence with a few other guests, I did notice that were very little staff that would go around making sure everyone had what they needed. An attendant did pop out of thin air when I was picking through the food but I never saw him again for the remainder of my visit. Lastly, another thing that was missing was the wifi. They did have a network available but the snails pace of it meant it was hard to get any browsing done. Luckily I had a local sim card and mobile internet to keep me occupied while I was in there!

WITH ALL OF THAT SAID..

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

The Lotus Lounge proves to be a well stocked, albeit basic lounge. It is largely unoccupied, which is great for some, but rather eery for others. The food is plentiful, though unappetizing on some days, and drinks abundant if you do decide to make a stop and grab a bite before departure. With that said, don’t go out of your way to come here, especially if you plan to use to the wifi.

Yay +	Nay –
Plenty of seating	Too quiet – no TVs
Large food & drink selection	Food is hit and miss
	Wifi is horrible

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