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ONE of the most stressful parts of the family holiday experience is travelling to and from your destination.
Once you’ve queued at the airport check-in there’s usually a couple of hours to kill, longer if there’s an inevitable flight delay, and departure lounges are not generally the most comfortable of places after you’ve checked out the duty-free shops.
The fast food is predictable and the alternative is limited at coffee shop prices and if you’ve kids in tow to keep entertained that’s another challenge altogether!
There is, however, a blissful place of sanctuary to be found at Bahrain International Airport’s Dilmun Lounge.
The Szecowka family checked out the facility on the way to summer vacation in Thailand and, after being welcomed by a smiling receptionist, we found out just why it had scooped the Best Refreshments Award in the prestigious Priority Pass Lounge of the Year Awards, 2012.
The honour was decided by the members of Priority Pass, the world’s largest independent airport lounge access programme and the quality of the snacks available were clearly a cut above the rest – freshly-made sandwiches and a rich array of hot tasty treats, fruit and every beverage under the sun.
We arrived in the middle of the night and the food was constantly being checked, dishes replenished and the seating areas surveyed and cleaned.
Jonathan French, head of brand, Priority Pass, said: “To be voted as having the best refreshments in the world is a great reflection of how hard the Dilmun Lounge works to please its customers.
“Business and leisure travellers often have specific meal-time requirements, such as the type of food they prefer and limited time to enjoy a meal or snack. Airport lounges around the world work hard to meet these requirements, which makes the Dilmun Lounge’s achievement so significant.”
Kathryn, the good lady wife, and I were more interested in having a comfortable place to crash and our two children, Immy, 13, and Stan, nine, were excited by a growing bout of holiday fever, and not a little bit tired much to our amazement, stretched out after leaving some updated messages on their social network accounts, via the lounge’s computer section.
Normally fussy eaters, the pair tucked into the fare with equal fervour. George Saounatsos, CEO of Bahrain Airport Services, which owns and operates the lounge, explained: “Dilmun Lounge’s food and refreshments selection reflects the premium profile of its guests.
“The lounge caters for international clientele with a variety of dietary, lifestyle and health requirements. Generally, people love fresh, homemade food and, usually, the simpler a menu, the more travellers appreciate it. We seek to offer a cosmopolitan range of dishes and flavours catering to different ethnic backgrounds, rather than needlessly complicated dishes. Therefore, good, healthy food and refreshments are the Dilmun Lounge’s speciality, served in an aesthetically-pleasing environment. It is for these reasons we feel Priority Pass members voted for Dilmun Lounge.”
The Lounge of the Year Awards, established in 2005, is designed to recognise service excellence amongst the lounges in the Priority Pass programme.
The Dilmun Lounge was singled out for the honour amongst 600 other airport lounges globally, with the award based on more than 40,000 ratings made by members from around the world – frequent and discerning travellers who, being regular visitors to airports, have high expectations when it comes to the services offered.
This year’s plaque and previous victories in various categories are proudly displayed on the walls, alongside a book open for comments by travellers.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Priority Pass has millions of members worldwide. The programme provides frequent travellers with airport lounge access, irrespective of their class of travel, airline flown or existing membership of an airline loyalty programme. Founded in 1992 with 55 lounges in 49 countries, Priority Pass today offers access to more than 600 airport lounges in over 300 cities in more than 100 countries.
For more information, visit www.prioritypass.com
