Sala Galdós at Gran Canaria Airport is one of the most affordable business-class lounges we have visited. Read our review to find out why the lounge is worth the money and what rooms for improvement this lounge has.
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Sala Galdós - The VIP Lounge
Sala Galdós is the only VIP lounge at Gran Canaria Airport (called also as Las Palmas Airport). It is a paid premise where you can rest in a peaceful atmosphere and enjoy complimentary drinks and snacks before the flight. Even though Sala Galdós is called a business lounge, the majority of the customers are holidaymakers of Gran Canaria island. That makes the lounge's atmosphere relaxed. In our opinion, the lounge is more recommendable than airport restaurants for its affordability making it suitable even for economy-class travellers. People who are travelling in business class will most likely be invited to this lounge without an extra charge.
Based on our own experiences, we would rate Sala Galdós as an average-level airport lounge. The lounge is spacious and it has a bright atmosphere. There are some light snacks and many choices of drinks to choose from. The drink selection includes soft drinks, juices and hot drinks like coffee. If you prefer alcoholic drinks, you are free to enjoy beer, wine and strong spirits. The lounge has self-service for all drinks and snacks, a common system in airport lounges. There are no limits to how much you should eat or drink.
The food selection in Sala Galdós is not as good as the drink selection. During Finnoy Travel's visit, the lounge was offering only peanuts, chips, sandwiches and slices of bread. Spanish people love sweet desserts so cakes and fruits were also available. Unfortunately, the lounge did not serve warm food on our visit.
The Lounge Is Located Upstairs
In big airports finding your lounge may be a tough task. Luckily, Gran Canaria Airport is moderately small and finding Sala Galdós is easy. The lounge is located upstairs after the security control and it is really easy to find simply by following the signs carefully. From the lounge, there is a great view of the tarmac and also an open-air terrace. Having open-air terraces at airports is a rare luxury.
The lounge is located upstairs but it can be accessed easily by stairs or by an elevator. The best thing is that the lounge is spacious and well-illuminated because it has huge windows to the tarmac and runways allowing natural daylight to get in. It is often sunny in Gran Canaria so you can enjoy the sun, fresh sea air and plane spotting simultaneously.
The lounge's terrace is a great place to spot and photograph aeroplanes. As a side effect, there is often noise especially while ATR turboprops are taxiing at the airport.
The Rating of Sala Galdós
We visited the lounge in the late afternoon of January 2018. The sun was still shining and we were able to enjoy the open-air terrace. The lounge shows its best sides during the daytime.
The Location of the Lounge
It is easy to find the lounge by following the signs after the security checks. From the lounge's premises, it takes only 5 to 10 minutes to reach the departure gates so you can maximize your time in the lounge.
Premises and Comfiness
The lounge's premises are comfortable during the daytime while you can still enjoy the sunny open-air terrace. Inside the lounge, it is also bright and spacious and during our visit, there were not many customers. The areas of the lounge were clean and they were decorated in a simple Spanish style. There was a free well-working Wi-Fi.
The lounge is suitable also for families with small children because on the open-air terrace there is a big play area. During our visit, there were not any children in the lounge but we are sure children would enjoy playing outside while parents are having drinks and snacks.
Catering
The catering is not the strongest link in the lounge. The drink selections were great but the food selection left something to wish for. There were no warm food and cold snacks were simple. The lounge suits best people who are not hungry but who would like to enjoy complimentary drinks with light snacks.
Personnel and Customer Service
The lounge's crew were friendly. During our entrance, there was a failure in the computer system which slowed down the entrance process. Because the staff handled the problem promptly and professionally and with a smile on their face, we give 4 stars for this category in our review.
Overall Rating
Sala Galdós is a great average-level airport business lounge and worth a visit. The atmosphere is relaxed and the premises are comfortable. The catering isn't perfect and by improving the food selection, we would rate the lounge higher.
How to Get in?
Business class passengers are usually invited to this lounge free of charge. However, we do not recommend you buy a business class ticket because they cost way too much for an average traveller.
Economy class ticket holders may buy a lounge pass. Normally, we recommend you to try Lounge Pass that sells discounted airport lounge passes. Gran Canaria Airport's business lounge is an exception because its operator Aena VIP Service sells entrance tickets cheaper. You may buy an entrance on the web page of Sala Galdós. for the price of 30,86 euros. If you buy the entrance from Lounge pass, their price will be 31 euros but Lounge Pass allows free cancellation if your plans change. Lounge Pass has also a simpler user interface.
There are also other ways to get in. Sala Galdós accepts Diners Club, Priority Pass and DragonPass memberships. We have written a separate reviews of Priority Pass and DragonPass.
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
Airports' VIP lounges are no anymore exclusively meant for business and first-class passengers. Lounges are also a good option for ordinary holidaymakers. With a small entrance fee you may wait for your flight in a peaceful lounge out from the airports crowds by having complimentary snacks and drinks.
Have you already visited Sala Galdós? Please comment below about your experiences in the lounge.
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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Comments (2)
Hi!
Thank you so much for this in depth review. As a former resident I actually never tried it before, shame on me ;) I am flying next week and was looking for information on the topic (mainly: is it worth the money?) and now I'm definitely gonna check it out!
Regards, Melissa
Thank you for the comment.
Hopefully you will like the lounge. It is very bright and relaxing with a sunny terrace. :)
I'm in the so called VIP lounge now at the airport and I think its very poor value for money. Not a large choice of food, some of the sandwiches we just tried were soggy. I would say its very misleading to call this VIP. Your review is very accurate, drinks are OK but food is very limited, and no hot food at all.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your comment. You really have a good point that 'VIP' is a misleading word in this case wherein the expectations of customers is not satisfied especially in terms of drink selections. The lounge should improve their catering and so they will deserve a better rating and can keep that three letters in their name. Anyway, happy travelling!
admit the food is not the best .staff very polite stay as long as you want .drink help yourself.smoking allowed in certain areas.its not a restaurant so ? and its a small lounge well worth the money if you have a lot of time before your flight