Puerta del Sol is a business lounge at Madrid Airport in Terminal 3. There are many inexpensive ways to access the lounge that suits also budget travellers. Read from our review, how we rated the lounge and how you can access it.
Covered in the Article
Priority Pass Lounge at Madrid Airport
Madrid Airport is one of the biggest airports in Europe with more than 40 million annual passengers. The airport is located in the capital of Spain and it has 4 terminals. Madrid is a popular connecting point, especially for people flying to Spanish or South American destinations.
Puerta del Sol is a Priority Pass Lounge located at Terminal 3 of Madrid Airport. That means Priority Pass members have the privilege to enjoy Puerto del Sol´s lounge's services. There are also other alternative ways how to gain access to the lounge. For example, one of us used Diners Club card to get in. Please read on to learn the exact entry conditions.
How to Find Puerta del Sol in Madrid Airport
Puerta del Sol is located in the terminal 3 of Madrid Airport. We were flying a domestic flight out from Terminal 1 but we had to visit the lounge in terminal 3. At the time of our visit, Priority Pass had lounges only in terminals 1, 3 and 4 but the lounge in terminal 1 was reserved exclusively for non-Schengen passengers. So the closest lounge during our time of travel was Puerta Del Sol in terminal 3. We visited the lounge in January 2018 on a Friday evening.
Luckily terminals 1, 2 and 3 are connected on the air-side so walking from Terminal 1 to the Terminal 3 was an easy task. It took us about 10-15 minutes to reach the lounge despite the signs/directions were not clear enough. We were fortunate to notice immediately that terminal 4 is in a separate building so walking there would be impossible from the other terminals.
After arriving at terminal 3 the lounge was easy to find. It was located upstairs next to gate E69 so we just needed to take a lift.
How to Enter Puerta del Sol?
Our entrance methods were Priority Pass and Diners Club Card. Depending on your Priority Pass membership type, the entrance may be free or it may cost about 24 euros (27 dollars). The price with a Diners Club card depends also on the card issuer, for example, we paid 19 euros. Some Diners Club cardholders may enter the lounge for free.
DragonPass is a similar product to Priority Pass and it is also accepted in Puerta del Sol. You will find more information about DragonPass from our separate review.
If you are a holder of a business class ticket or an airline status card, your airline is usually inviting you to a lounge. Some airlines may be offering Puerta del Sol, but the agreements between airlines and lounge operators are changing now and then. We recommend checking with your airline which lounge you can access with a business class ticket.
For holidaymakers and infrequent flyers we recommend visiting lounges to make your vacation a more pleasant experience. The list price from the lounge´s website of Puerta del Sol is 29,60 euros including a maximum 4 hours stay. However, we recommend buying an access voucher beforehand from Lounge Pass service. Lounge Pass is selling vouchers to many VIP lounges in Madrid and other airports. By buying the voucher beforehand, you have a guaranteed entry to the lounge during busy hours too. If the plans change, the vouchers can be cancelled and they will be refunded. Vouchers to Puerta Del Sol via Lounge Pass cost 26 British Pounds at the time of writing this review. Always check the latest terms before buying as they may be subject to change.
Relaxing Services in Puerta del Sol
Puerta del Sol is a spacious lounge. They have so many chairs and at the time of our visit, there were plenty of free seats. Some lounge visitors were even peacefully taking a nap, indeed one can feel having a personal space as Puerto del Sol is not a crowded lounge. The lounge is all-inclusive so it offers a varied selection of free snacks and drinks, including alcoholic beverages and assorted smoothie flavours. There was warm food available but the food consisted mainly of light snacks.
The lounge has also other services in addition to catering. It has restrooms including free showers. There is well-working free Wi-Fi so you don't need to mind about roaming costs. Based on our previous experiences the lounge is of average quality. It has everything that lounges should have but not much more.
The lounge is upstairs in the middle of the terminal so there is not unfortunately a good view of the tarmac. For plane spotters, this isn't the best lounge.
Our Rating
Comfort in the Lounge
The lounge was big but simple with a lot of free space and not too many people. There is also an area dedicated to children on the left side of the lounge. The atmosphere was quiet and there were good soft chairs and enough tables. However, the view outside the lounge was not the best. With nicer decorations and a better view of the tarmac, we would have given more stars.
Catering
Self-service snack selection was good. We were able to make our bread with cheese and Serrano ham. There were also single-pocketed sandwiches, yoghurt, fruits and salad. Chips and sweet products were available. Just before we left, also warm food was offered.
Drink Selection
The drink selection was really good. There were soft drinks, wine and strong alcohol available as self-service. A positive surprise was that the lounge also offered high-quality fruit juice in small bottles.
Naturally (special) coffee and cookies were also available.
Cleanlines
The lounge was clean. The premises are not the newest but the lounge is still in good condition. Staff were continuously cleaning tables.
Services
The lounge has a long newspaper stand which had a wide collection of both local and international newspapers. The lounge had free Wi-Fi that was working very well. There were toilets and showers available for customers' use. The lounge also had a separate TV room where you can relax by watching TV.
Is Puerta del Sol Worth the Money?
The lounge's quality is about the average level but its price is still moderate. We would say it is worth the money. If you have a long layover in terminal 3, visiting this lounge is absolutely a good choice to relax and replenish with their abundant food and drink items to choose from.
How to Access Lounges?
- Infrequent travellers may book lounge visits on Lounge Pass.
- Frequent travellers may benefit from a lounge membership. Read our Priority Pass review.
You will find more helpful information from our lounge guide.
Bottom Line
Airport lounges are a nice extra for holidaymakers and business travellers. They are great places to unwind before flights and during longer layovers. Airports are usually expensive places to eat and lounges are decent alternatives for overpriced airport restaurants.
If you are a new lounge visitor, we suggest you read our articles about Priority Pass and DragonPass. They are useful to service products for frequent travellers.
Have you visited lounges in Madrid? Please comment below on which one is your favourite.
About the Author
Ceasar, an immigrant in Finland, co-founded Finnoy Travel out of his passion for exploring new horizons. His content primarily centres around immigration, travel, and life in Finland. An avid road tripper, Ceasar also shares insider tips on car driving abroad.
When not embarking on adventures, he meticulously proofreads every article before it gets published on the Finnoy Travel site. His responsibilities also extend to managing the social media channels of Finnoy Travel.
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