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As part of my trip from London to Bangkok, I spent two layovers in Amman – on one leg for around 6 hours. This gave me plenty of opportunity to review the Royal Jordanian Crown Class (business class) Lounge!

The Crown Lounge is the primary lounge in Amman airport. There is another independent lounge, the Petra Lounge, located in the terminal which accepts Priority Pass etc.

Getting In

This is not a particularly exclusive lounge, as basically anyone flying from Amman can gain access by one of the methods below:

• Passengers travelling in Business Class.
• oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members travelling on oneworld alliance departures in any class.
• Priority Pass / Dragon Pass / Lounge Club.
• Buy access for 30 JOD (approx £30).

However, I’m not particularly sure I’d recommend the cash payment option, as you’ll see from the below…

Layout

Amman Queen Alia International Airport opened in 2013 and remains a modern, bright and pleasant airport. It is much more accessible and smaller in scale than its regional rival’s mega hubs.

The Crown Lounge takes up most of the upper level overlooking the main terminal area, making it very spacious and meaning it benefits from the natural light from the huge glass walls of the terminal.

As you can see from the below official plan, there are two sides to the lounge. Don’t get too excited from the descriptions, they are most definitely”marketing hype”, rather than reflective of the actual offering.

On the right side as you exit the lifts is the main food/drink area, with smoking room. On the left side next to the lifts is an area with more seating and a small snack area and bar.

Food and Drink

Starting with the right side, this is where the main buffet area is. My advice: unless you love hummus or labaneh – don’t arrive hungry. Admittedly we were there early (around 5am-11am), so perhaps the offerings are better in the afternoon?

The main buffet is situated to the right. They bake croissants and pastries on site – which were actually fairly decent.

Further along was a selection of hummus, labaneh and cheese. I got excited when they took it away around 10am… but it was just replaced with fresh hummus and labaneh!

This was the salad station, which looked fresh but didn’t appeal to me personally.

There was a couple of cereal choices, corn flakes or chocolate ball things.

Next to this was a selection of individually plastic wrapped cakes. Hygienic – but not very appealing!

There was a generously stocked selection of self service Coca-Cola brand soft drinks and multiple coffee machines in the centre:

Further up on the right side, is the main bar area. This area was not staffed during either of our stays, but our layovers were either in the early hours or morning, so I guess there isn’t much expectation of significant boozing!

On the bar was self serve Jordanian red and white wine, which I believe are the same as served on board:

There was also Amstel beer:

Behind the bar was an average selection of spirits, however as no one was around I’m not sure whether they were unavailable during the hours we were there or if you just need to flag someone down. I saw no indication of anything sparkling… but again that might have been due to it being early morning.

On the left side of the lounge, there was a smaller bar, again un-staffed:

Another soft drinks and coffee station:

And a fruit/juice bar. The juice certainly didn’t look freshly squeezed though!

Seating

There is a variety of different seating throughout the lounge, including modern-looking dining tables:

There were also more formal seating areas:

In terms of relaxation areas, there are a few day beds on the left hand side of the lounge, but they are not very private:

And on the right side, there are 4 “TV Suites” with seats with foot stalls. We used these areas with the power outlets to watch TV on our own tablets for a few hours during our layover.

There are also a number of sofa areas spread throughout the lounge, however the majority were occupied during our stays so I wasn’t able to take photos.

Other Facilities

Smoking area

Behind the food area, next to the toilets on this side of the lounge, was the smoking room. There was a screen showing a 24hr news channel and a departures board on the wall at the bottom to the right.

During our outbound layover, the door to this room was propped open – which meant the food area smelt delicious 😉

Prayer Rooms

There is both a male and female prayer room, and wudu facilities in the lounge.

Showers & Toilets

I had seen conflicting reports online before travelling that there were either no showers, or they cost $20 to use. I found the shower suites, however they were closed for maintenance. So I can confirm they exist, but can’t say if they are any good or if they are at additional cost! This is very disappointing for a flagship business class lounge.

In terms of toilet facilities, they were OK. There were 3 toilet areas throughout the lounge with an attendant for each. They were cleaned regularly but were very small – only 2-3 toilets per area – so I wouldn’t like to be there during busy periods.

Conclusion

The lounge is expansive and has the potential to be excellent. However, when compared to regional rivals’ offerings it falls short.

The food and drinks on offer is limited, although perhaps that was just due to it being breakfast time – but at Qatar’s lounges in Doha, for example, there is a significantly larger offering.

Some small changes could really make this lounge excellent, like the showers being available, a staffed bar and some wider choices of food.

Overall, I would say it’s a perfectly acceptable place to spend a few hours before your flight but I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit here, and I certainly wouldn’t spend £30 per person to access it, as the main terminal is so modern and pleasant.