It’s time to conclude our dream trip to the United Arab Emirates. After an excellent stay at Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort and Spa, Dubai, we are back at Abu Dhabi airport for our First Class flight to Paris. First step: the lounge Etihad Airways First Class !
In Abu Dhabi, Etihad offers several accesses to its passengers depending on their travel class. For us, tonight it’ll be through the First Class door.
With our tickets in hand and no luggage to check in, proceed to First Class Security. No waiting.
Shortly after passing through security, we arrive at the Etihad Airways First Class Lounge and Spa at Abu Dhabi Airport.
After checking our boarding passes, the receptionist invites us to take the elevator to the lounge.
We appreciate the floral decoration:
Just after the entrance, there is a storage area for luggage, which is guarded by a member of staff.
Go to the main hall of the lounge:
The first part of the lounge is dedicated to the restaurant room. There is no hot/cold buffet here: the service is at the table after selection from the menu.
The restaurant room is vast, taking the 1/3 of the lounge.
The only buffet is composed of different desserts, allowing those who do not want to eat at the table to bring them in their armchair.
The rest of the lounge is subdivided into different spaces, very pleasant for resting.
The lounge has several bars, where you can ask for any cocktail or alcoholic drinks.
Then, a “relaxation” room… composed of screens diffusing different lights supposed to relax you.
Close to the restaurant is a smoking room where you can enjoy good cigars (for a fee)!
Much appreciated by the parents: a playroom, with a staff member dedicated to take care of the children present (two children were present that evening… but not ours!!!).
This span class=”term” data-original-term=”c2Fsb24=”lounge has a small gym – this is the first time I have seen this in an airport span class=”term” data-original-term=”c2Fsb24=”lounge – particularly well equipped!
There is also a Spa: in traveling in First Class, you are entitled to a free 15-minute treatment. We will choose a shoulder massage.
Here is the menu of treatments offered at the spa:
The lounge offers a toilet with shower.
Did we take advantage of all the facilities of the lounge? No !
Shortly after finishing “my turn” of pictures of the lounge, I went to see the person in charge of the lounge to ask him for access to one of the two VIP rooms / Residence… in exchange of 100 US$. Recently, Etihad Airways has been selling this kind of service when the spaces dedicated to “Residence” customers are empty… why not take advantage of it?
Especially when I tell Audrey to be patient… a surprise waiting for her a few minutes later…!
The Etihad Residence is surely the most advanced luxury product in commercial air transport. It is only available on its A380 aircraft with a double bed / small lounge and a private bathroom on board. On the ground, a private VIP room is reserved for these “out of the ordinary” passengers.
Our flight took off at 02:30 in the morning – and having arrived at the airport around 19:30 – the private room was the icing on the cake to relax and finish our dream trip to the UAE in style!
The person in charge of the lounge, as well as a dedicated butler will accompany us in this room, which will be exclusively reserved for us!
The VIP room is composed:
Two sofas facing each other…
…with a huge television connected to all the international channels…
…a dinner table for four people…
…an espresso machine…
…a private bathroom with shower…
… and a dedicated butler who will bring us 2 good cocktails to start us off…
…then our meals tonight!
In detail, with the menu:
Finally, we’ll take two lattes to get in shape for boarding our A380 in the middle of the night! And even here, Etihad takes care of the details!
We might as well tell you, that we spent some very pleasant hours in this lounge before boarding our flight to Paris, the highlight of our trip to the United Arab Emirates!
Savings are here:
