I decided to write about the Marco Polo Club at the Venice Airport for only one reason: it’s exactly what a Priority Pass lounge should be. It’s not the greatest lounge. It doesn’t have great food. But it’s spacious and clean, offers plenty of seating, and has food and working espresso machines available.
It’s just what I’m looking for in a basic place to wait for my flight. There was no wait to get in, the furniture wasn’t overly worn, and the place wasn’t a hovel like, say, the Hello Sky lounge at New York JFK.
This is the only lounge at Venice Marco Polo airport, on the terminal’s second floor after security. You can enter via Priority Pass, Dragon Pass, Lounge Key or by paying a €50 fee. Some airlines provide access for their premium passengers.
The entrance corridor has a small work area, and then the lounge opens into a large central area with views of airport operations. There’s plenty of natural light. There are side rooms and a garden room with a terrace. Many (but not all) seats througout the lounge have outlets that allow a variety of different plugs. They have showers.
By the main buffet you’ll find sandwiches, pastries, fruit salads along with limited hot itms. But there are other spots with more limited snacks and available coffee as well.
The lounge is generally quiet, spacious, and gets the job done despite not having fantastic food as such. In other words, it’s nice and function not a special place or a destination. I’m not looking to spend hours here, or have an experience, just to sit and maybe work and pass a small amount of time before heading to my gate.
Glad you’re using one of your (likely many) complimentary Priority Pass memberships (that come with your plethora of premium credit cards). Last I checked, I’ve got 6 PP cards… psh.
That certainly seems better than the JFK T4 Priority Pass options… formerly Wingtips, Air India, and Primeclass (red paint) or HelloSky (same place, blue paint!), all of which are super-lame, especially with all the far superior options nearby, including: DeltaOne, SkyClubs, Amex, Sapphire, CapOne, Emirates, Virgin, etc.
Then again, having ‘a lounge’ is better than ‘no lounge.’ Went through LIR recently and noticed they outright removed their old Priority Pass lounge in favor of additional seating. Bah!
Air France put us up there one morning after a first class upgrade (that really paid off at CDG). Agreed on all counts. It’s a nice lounge to wait for your flight, the staff are very pleasant and, for want of a better term, it’s very welcoming.
Nice review.
I put the VIE priority pass lounge in the same category.
In theory an airport lounge should not be like the gate area with Wawa like food, cheap coffee and cheap free booze. But since most are designed to be at full capacity they are like being at the gate. Other than an airline lounge for FF lounges are a rip off and a joke. Save your $600+ a year and buy a few nice dinners out. Find an empty gate of quiet area of the airport and hang out there instead.
@1990 – during the day the Virgin lounge is Priority Pass! but they charge you for everything https://viewfromthewing.com/virgin-atlantics-iconic-jfk-lounge-now-charges-4-for-espresso-and-bartenders-arent-allowed-to-serve-you/
Now, show an airport that nails efficient pass-through to the point that a Fancy Airport Lounge isn’t needed.
@Gary Leff — I’ve gone in the mornings (Virgin Clubhouse), and they used to have these delicious cinnamon rolls, which I enjoyed a lot; however, the last few times I’ve stopped in, they’ve been unusually stingy with PP access. I’m glad it’s worked for you, though I’m at 50/50. With all the other options at T4, it’s not a big deal if it doesn’t work out, but still it’s less ‘consistent’ then I’d like.
If it has a kids area then I’d agree that it covers all the bases.
This is not a “Priority Pass” lounge run by Collinson, rather it’s the business class lounge operated by the airport.
It looks like most Italian airport-operated business class lounges, and they usually have excellent snacks — not meals, remember that in Europe meals are served in business class on flights of 1 hour!
What they do is sell extra capacity to Collinson for its various lounge programs, including Priority Pass.
I think it is probably the Marco Polo brand that makes this lounge good. My husband and I had access to the Marco Polo Lounge in the Bologna airport because we were traveling Air France Business class.
The lounge was empty (granted it was very early in the morning), spacious, clean wtih nice furniture and the breakfast spread was impressive. They seem to know what they are doing.
Which are the airlines providing entry to their premium passengers?
I would imagine ITA for one…
I agree this is an excellent lounge or at least was when I was there last in 2019.
I didn’t see you mention the outdoor sitting area or do they no longer have that.
As well I though the food wasn’t just fine rather it was exceptional – everything tasted fresh.
I will never get the appeal of airport lounges. They are crowded, the food is (usually) not good, and the ‘free’ drinks are not even bottom well- they are in the basement. Want to get a hard seltzer? Pay up.
It is amazing that I witness others- in the pursuit of getting something cheap or free- have no clue what it’s really costing them.
Their time.
-Jon