If you are leaving from the Maldives, this is the only VIP lounge you will find: review Leeli lounge

Malé International Airport is an open-air construction site, not that it is a problem around here, but the construction site for the new airport was supposed to be completed long ago, but then the covid and delays due to lack of raw materials postponed the ribbon cutting until late 2023, early 2024.

The current airport is a small airport totally inadequate to handle the traffic that brings millions of tourists each year from all over the world to the various atolls that make up this archipelago.

Here tourism returned immediately, before any other destination in the world. By June 2020, tourists could already travel for non-essential stays, indeed while some resorts directly remained open: when the pandemic broke out, guests simply decided it was better to be confined to "paradise" rather than an apartment building.

This is the lounge where ITA Airways passengers can also access, now that the Italian flag carrier has activated the direct connections until the end of April between Rome Fiumicino and Malé

Location

This lounge is in the middle of duty free, on the left side past the last security check, on one side are the stores, on the other side is the lounge, the airport is small hard to miss it

Access

Leeli lounge is the only VIP lounge in the international terminal, here you enter only if you have an "invitation" issued by the company. Business and first class passengers can enter  free of charge.

Access is also allowed to frequent flyers with a status that allows lounge access. We were traveling Austrian Airlines, so the rules are those of Miles&More and the Star Alliance.

In our case it changed little by traveling both in business class, alternatively you can enter by paying 35$, which I absolutely would not recommend.

The hall

The hall is old, like everything else in the airport. Once the work is finished everything will be different, until then Leeli is the only option wandering around the small mall and chairs around the stopover.

The wall dividing the buffet area with the chairs is occupied by a counter with 3 computers for use in case you do not have a personal device to access the Internet.

Then there are an expanse of sofas, of various bills, but all that seem to have seen better times and destined to end up in landfills with the opening of the new terminal.

There are various areas, but the lounge does not change much. Toward the back there are a few windows that give a glimpse of the runway, but it is more a play for the imagination than anything else, and more importantly they do not let much light through, so the lounge looks very dark and unwelcoming.

The buffet

Immediately after the entrance is the buffet. There is a digital menu showing the proposal one gastronomy. Of course it does not offer much. Being breakfast time, the most popular dish is scrambled eggs.

There is a cooler full of drinks, no alcohol (the Maldives is a Muslim nation, don't forget that) I did not eat, having had breakfast at the resort. just before, and I only allowed myself an outlet and a Coke zero.

No showers and two small bathrooms, the lounge is all here.

In conclusion

From 2024 everything will probably be different, meanwhile Malé offers this and nothing else, and ultimately is perfect for immediately returning to earth after spending a vacation in paradise.

The verdict

It has its days numbered and considering how the rest of Malé airport is put up it is more than decent, certainly in a different stopover it would not have the sifficiency. Considering that we pass through here on our way back from paradise it is perfect for getting back into the real world of old armchairs and stale food

6

Rated Location

6

F&B

6

Services

6

Pro

• There is

Against

• Resists