CMB – Main Terminal – Lotus Lounge – Airline Lounge Review

Main Terminal, Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport, Sri Lanka

Introduction

This is my review of the Lotus Lounge at Sri Lanka’s Bandaranaike Airport

If you thought that the Serendiva Lounge was ‘interesting’, this one is quite something else!

Visited

24^th October 2022 at 10:00

Opening Hours

The lounge is open 24 hours a day.

Entry Conditions

This lounge appears on the OneWorld website, apparently available to Emerald Members and First Class passengers……but there is a catch; you have to be flying with Cathay Pacific.

So, no OneWorld status holders can use this lounge – that access is to the Serendiva Lounge.   

Emerald members or Cathay Pacific First Class………this lounge better be good, right?

In my case, I got in using my Priority Pass.

How to Get There

Once you’re through security, take a walk to the gates, and you’ll find the Lotus Lounge on the right hand side.

Layout

Hmmmm……..

The lounge is small in size, and similar in size to the Serendiva Lounge.

The seating is mostly sofas and chairs.

It’s sort of a bit like walking into a 1990’s furniture showroom. Nothing really matches, it’s a awkward layout – and I think I’d be generous to say that none of this furniture was purchased after 1995!

For reading, there is an ancient bookshelf of a few newspapers, and also some café seating – with a sort of work area.

The carpet is pretty wrinkled, and badly needs re-laying or replacing!

Unfortunately, the same applies to the furniture. One of the sofas had a huge slash mark in the cushion!

Food and Drink

Hmmmm…….. I’ll qualify this (again) by saying there is a civil war going on in Sri Lanka right now. Whether this impacts on the F&B quality of this lounge, I don’t know – but the food and drinks were better than the Serendiva Lounge!

Drinks

On the drinks side, it was all Priority Pass-style self-service fridges. A few different types of beers (Lion isn’t that nice), some white, soft drinks, champagne, etc.

Food

The food side, I think was a lot better than the Serendiva Lounge (everything in context!). There was a good range of hot items, such as curries, etc.

Alternatively, there were snacks, cheeses, nuts, etc available too.  

Wifi

As I’ve previously written, unfortunately I really struggled with the Wifi. Everything was being rejected by the airport’s firewall, including Google Drive, DropBox, and even the paper! This is one thing that seriously needs improvement, as it’s simply impossible to work in this lounge – or even communicate. I found the same in the Serendib, so it must be an airport issue.  

Showers

There is a shower, but as I’d already showered in the Serendib Lounge, I chose to not use it.

Conclusion

On the one hand, I should remind myself of the context of the lounge; war torn country; ongoing civil war; chronic shortage of key supplies; very small airport; etc.

It is very low-end Priority Pass.But it’s definitely not Cathay Pacific First Class, like the lounge at Heathrow or in Hong Kong!

That said, the food (for Priority Pass) was ok – so I wonder if my expectations were unreasonably raised because of the Cathay association?