Review: Aer Lingus Arrivals Lounge Dublin Airport

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*

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 think Lucky meant to say “was asked if he wanted to take a shower.”

@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.

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.

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.

@JoeM - Thanks, I assumed there must be some trick to it.

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.

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.

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.

@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 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 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 don’t understand why you wouldn’t just avail yourself of the much better equipped departure lounges if you had a connecting flight.
Some have hot breakfast and bar service.
They also have showers too…