Welcome to my first Indian Domestic Lounge review!
This is the Mumbai Domestic Adani Lounge located at Terminal 2 of Mumbai Airport. There are 2 entrances to this lounge.
Business Class passengers should enter the lounge by this entrance.
Eligible credit/debit card holders can enter the lounge by this entrance (below).
Introduction
This visit is possible due to my decision to purchase a Business Class ticket on Air India's A350-900 one-way ticket from Mumbai to Delhi. Initially I was happy to be flying on the Premium Economy class which I thought might make easier if let's say there is an aircraft change and I would like to see how the airline would handle my situation since most aircraft in the fleet especially the narrow-body do not offer Premium Economy. However after comparing the airfare between Premium Economy and Business Class, it wasn't a lot more so why not? It would also be my first time experiencing business class suite and get to experience the airport lounge in Mumbai. So without futher ado, let's begin this lounge review.
Photos of the lounge (Photo: Mumbai's airport website)
Who can access this lounge?
At this time, Business Class passengers flying with Air Vistara and Air India flights together with Star Alliance Gold members can access this lounge. In addition, Visa and RuPay Cardholders with debit or credit eligible cards can also access this lounge.
Facilities in this lounge
- Buffet style meal service
- Beverages including Alcohol (for a fee)
- WiFi (But you need to have a mobile line to obtain a code in order to log in)
- Newspapers and Magazines
- Television
- Spa Services (for a fee)
Photos of the lounge
The problem is at that time, there were a lot of travellers waiting to access the lounge through the 2nd entrance (credit/debit card holders) and that means the lounge was more pack making it slightly uncomfortable especially when most of the seats were occupied and a stranger came and sit next to you. Furthermore, the lounge staff wasn't the happiest as I handed my boarding pass to her and she stared at my ticket handing me back my boarding pass without looking at me.
This domestic lounge has many seats with charging ports (3 pin type) available. The ones at the tall table has charging ports but the 2 pin type.
As the lounge was quite full, I had to walk around for a while before finding myself a seat and since I was travelling, I had no choice but to "chop" my seat by leaving my bag there while I went to the buffet to grab some food.
The tables near the window offer a good view of the tarmac but unfortunately the charging ports was not compatible with my devices, so I had to settle for the seats at the arm chair. They should standardise the charging ports.
It was nice to to do some planespotting from the table.
This is the other section of the lounge (for the card holders) and a signboard disallowing the credit/debit card holders from accessing the business class side of the lounge.
This lounge offers a good variety of local food. I managed to try a handful of them and they were delicious.
Beverages were available. Only the non-alcoholic ones are complimentary.
Hot food was available.
I can't remember their names but they were delicious (below).
Local food is what I aim for whenever I visit the lounge.
This is what I had.
I spent a couple of hours at the lounge before deciding to explore the terminal. I would have like to rest until around the departure time but because the lounge was more crowded at that time, so I decided to walk around instead.
While this lounge offers a good place to relax and grab some light bites, the capacity is not big enough to host a lot of travellers. In addition, there were no dining tables to enjoy the meals. The sofa chairs are not ideal as they are too low while the tables near the window are better suited to have meals but not everyone likes to sit on high chairs.
Another issue is why is there a need to use our local number to obtain a code in order to access the lounge's wifi, perhaps there should be an option to use our email to obtain the code. I suppose this issue is probably imposed by the airport authorities so the lounge management may not have a say to this. On the positive side, the lounge's interior is pleasant and offers a good view of the tarmac. There was a good variety of food and beverages so excluding the crowd issue, I think it is a decent lounge to come and relax, grab some bite, get some work done and charge up the devices before continuing your journey.
Location: 4/5
Staf Service: 3/5
Lounge interior: 4/5
Selection of Food & Beverages: 4/5
WiFi Connection: 0/5
Shower: N/A
Resting area: N/A
Overall rating: 15/25
Percentage: 60% (Comparing with other domestic lounges)
Conclusion
For domestic flights, this lounge is acceptable as it has some of the important amenities such as food and beverages, charging ports, working space and wifi (for those with mobile lines). The main issue over here is how crowded it can be, perhaps they should build another lounge dedicated just for the eligible credit/debit card holders and Priority Pass users or if that is not possible then limit the number to ensure that the lounge still remains exclusive. Whatever arrangement is made, someone will not be happy. At least there is a separate space for business class passengers and card holders so that isn't all that bad. Overall, I find the lounge to be adequate. While it is not spectacular, I would certainly drop by to catch a few bites before catching my flight.
Hope you find this review useful and thanks for reading.
For my Air India A350 trip report, click here
Cheers,
Charles
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