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Alicante is an extremely popular destination for UK holidaymakers – the gateway to Costa Blanca destinations such as Torrevieja, Calp and of course Benidorm – over 5.2m Brits passed through Alicante Airport in 2016. There is only one lounge at Alicante Airport – the Sala Ifach Lounge – which is operated by the airport itself. I passed through during a long weekend trip to a friend’s villa in January – so I thought I’d share my impressions.
Getting In
The Sala Ifach Lounge is situated upstairs on the corner of the departures area, between the B and C gate zones. It is open between 6am and 10pm, which covers pretty much every departure.
The lounge is used by a number of airlines for business class and elite status passengers. If you aren’t travelling up front or are on a low cost carrier, it also accepts the usual lounge pass suspects: Priority Pass, Lounge Club and Dragon Pass. You can also pay cash for access, €29.60 per Adult and €14.20 per child.
The Seating
The lounge has three types of seating:
Funky but surprisingly comfortable chairs set around a coffee table.
Lots of white and grey sofas and armchairs arranged around more coffee tables.
And a few suspiciously Ikea-ish dining chairs and tables near the buffet.
There was also a semi-enclosed conference style table in the centre, with a few PCs and also space for you to use your own laptop.
Overall a fairly basic layout, but not unpleasant. The lounge was practically empty as we were one of the last flights out, and it was January – however there was a significant amount of seating. I’ll have to report back in summer to see whether it is sufficient to cope during peak season!
The Food
Considering we were there right at the very end of the day, and it was an airport run lounge, the food on offer was actually not bad. Ok, so this is not the Cathay Pacific Pier First Class – so set your expectations accordingly, but there was a fairly good selection for a “Priority Pass” type lounge.
Most importantly, and probably most popular with the youngsters (or young at heart) – there is an Ice Cream Machine!!! Give me that over the Concorde Room Dining any day!
The Drink
There was a decent selection of alcoholic and soft drinks, all of which were self serve.
Alcoholic: Two types each of red, white and rosé wines, a small selection of average quality spirits, and two types of beer.
Non-alcoholic: Two types of alcohol free beer, a variety of juices and the usual Coca-Cola suspects.
Conclusion
The Sala Ifach Lounge was a pleasant surprise, and definitely fairly good quality for an airport run and Priority Pass eligible lounge. Whilst it isn’t going to win Lounge of the Year, there are many significantly worse lounges out there.
I’m not sure it is worth the cash rate, as the airport terminal itself didn’t seem that unpleasant. The value of the lounge as a sanctuary however may become worth more in the summer!
If access is included with your ticket/elite status, or you have a Priority Pass, then this is a perfectly nice place to spend a few hours waiting for your flight – and sneak in one (or two) final ice creams!
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