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I had a bit of time to kill before my connecting flight, so my first stop was to check out Aer Lingus’ arrivals lounge. The lounge is open to all Aer Lingus business class passengers arriving on overnight transatlantic flights.
The facility is located after immigration, in the baggage claim hall, to the right of belt six.
When you get into the baggage hall hang a sharp right, walk parallel to belt six, and then you’ll see the entrance to the lounge on the right.
Dublin Airport baggage claim
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin Airport exterior
At the reception desk I presented my boarding pass, and was asked if I wanted a shower.
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin Airport reception
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin Airport entrance
Just inside the entrance and straight ahead is the sitting area, which consists of just eight seats pushed closely together. The actual “lounge” portion of this is basically a broom closet.
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin seating
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin seating
Then there’s a very small buffet with an underwhelming selection. There’s a coffee machine, some packaged cookies, and some pastries in a case.
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin snacks
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin snacks & drinks
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin snacks
Then there’s a fridge with some soft drinks and juice.
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge Dublin drinks
The real reason to visit the lounge is because of the showers, of which there are six.
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge showers
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge showers
The shower rooms were quite nice, and featured a walk-in shower, sink, and toilet.
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge shower room
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge shower room
The water pressure was alright, though unfortunately the temperature of the water seemed to fluctuate significantly, which was kind of annoying.
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge shower
There were individual plastic toiletry bottles, as well as soap.
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge toiletries
In the far corner of the room was a coat hook where you could hang an item that you wanted steam-pressed. You simply hang it there, push the button, and then someone comes to collect it.
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge steam-pressing service
Aer Lingus arrivals lounge steam-pressing service
I took a quick shower, and then spent about an hour in the lounge catching up on work.
Interestingly the lounge was busiest when I first arrived shortly after 5AM, as that’s peak rush hour. However, by 6:30AM the lounge was empty.
It seems not many people use this lounge, because obviously they don’t have anywhere close to sufficient capacity to handle all passengers — there are eight seats and six shower rooms, while they have a handful of flights all arriving shortly after one another.
Aer Lingus Revival Lounge bottom line
An arrivals lounge is a lovely thing to have access to, as a shower goes a long way to making me feel better after an overnight flight. While it’s nice that Aer Lingus has an arrivals lounge, this is one of the most bare-bones arrivals lounges I’ve ever seen.
The lounge is tiny, and has a limited selection of food and drinks. The only redeeming quality is the showers.
So if you visit the lounge, make sure you come in with appropriate expectations. Unlike the Virgin Atlantic arrivals lounge at Heathrow, there are no massages and full hot breakfasts here!
If you’ve visited the Aer Lingus arrivals lounge, what was your experience like?
@Lucky I have a long-haul Aer Lingus flight booked in Business but am connecting to an intra-Europe economy flight, as that was the only option available. Do you know if I only have access to this Arrivals lounge at DUB, or will I be able to access the airline's main DUB lounge instead?
I agree with the other commentators that it serves its purpose. As long as they get the shower and coffee right, it's all you need!
@lucky it serves its purpose, people connecting in DUB generally connect at the connections facility just before the immigration hall and can use the actual lounges. Those arriving in to Dublin with no connection generally want a shower and then leave.
I used this lounge after arriving in from Miami last year - no onward connection. I thought it was perfect for serving its purpose. It was not somewhere I wanted or needed to spend time in as a "lounge", but rather somewhere I could take a quick shower before heading into town knowing my hotel would not be ready first thing in the morning. Yes that sitting area can get a little cramped if you...
I used this lounge after arriving in from Miami last year - no onward connection. I thought it was perfect for serving its purpose. It was not somewhere I wanted or needed to spend time in as a "lounge", but rather somewhere I could take a quick shower before heading into town knowing my hotel would not be ready first thing in the morning. Yes that sitting area can get a little cramped if you have your luggage with you as well, but when I was there, it was just me and a couple and the man was the only one sitting down while waiting for his wife to finish her shower. Not sure what Dublin's full flight schedule is like, but cannot imagine many situations, if any, where people with connections actually need to pass immigration and cannot check back in for awhile. Otherwise, normal connections would stay airside and use a proper lounge in the terminal. Of all the other business class passengers arriving in the morning that terminate in Dublin, I am sure demand fluctuates based on whether there are a lot of locals that would just go straight home, people that do not have time to shower before getting where they need to go, and people that just do not even know about this option (or do not care). Yes, it is very minimal, but with decent showers, it definitely served its purpose and was a pleasant perk for a mid-sized airport to offer.
It reminds me of the Air China Arrivals lounge in Beijing. We had a long layover and couldn't get our boarding passes until just a few hours before our connecting flight to Munich. We left the secure area and found the lounge. It had a few more snacks than the Air Lingus lounge, but was similar. Just a few seats, showers and snacks. Took a nice shower and had a snack before heading to the Lufthansa ticket counter to get our boarding passes.
While you might call out the size or the amenities. I see they actually do understand what passengers want.
6 shower rooms, shirt pressing, and an Expresso machine, now that is what really matters for arrivals. Now if we can only get some massage.
@Bob agree it is like CDG, small simple but with tons of shower.
@JoeM - Thanks, I assumed there must be some trick to it.
I think I’m liking these “on the go” trip reports. The old way they were just taking forever to come out. You know it’s bad when you were posting reports in the spring and all the hotel photos were full of Christmas decorations.
It seems to be like the Air France arrival lounge in terminal 2C in CDG.
It is to take a shower and go to town.
You rather use the inside the terminal lounges if you transfer to another flight.
Thanks for the review Ben.
@DLPTATL
The closet slides in/out (you can see the small wardrobe section in the picture of the hall beside the main door to each room). So no one needs to enter the shower room, they can just pull out the closet and take what you left.
I think Lucky meant to say “was asked if he wanted to take a shower.”
Not sure I understand how the clothes steaming door works. It looks like it's in direct line of sight of the toilet and shower. How does it open without creating a full-length "peephole" into the shower room???
I find it odd that you would present the boarding pass and ask if you wanted a shower. What does the lounge dragon say to you in response? “Yes, you stink?”
@ JJ -- was asked*