Riyadh Air's new Hafawa Lounge at Riyadh Airport impresses with striking design, exceptional dining, massage chairs, and quiet rooms — one of the best lounges we've seen.
Glad you take these unique trips and do these reviews, Ben, because they are interesting, even if many of us likely won't be going there anytime soon. The design is impressive; even with no windows or outside views (eh), so, I guess their creative use of vivid LED screens sorta makes up for that. Lack of crowds sure seems nice compared to what we're used to in the US (but, literally no other guests for '30 minutes' is a little eerie). A mocktail? (Oh, right.) Anyway, looking forward to your full-review on Riyadh Air's 787 (saw it from afar at LHR earlier this year; nice livery.) It's still a bit close to the 'action,' these days, but, who knows, maybe RUH is tastefully-removed enough, compared to say, KWI (*gulp*), or DXB, DOH, etc. Under the right circumstances, and once they actually build out a global network, maybe RX could be a viable (even preferred) 'premium' alternative for some, connecting via ME. Until then, it's probably just a bunch of reviewers visiting... (like, RX doesn't fly to US; for now, it'd mostly be Europe-S/SE Asia.)
Is that real butterfly in the mocktail
Okay, I don't know why but this is bothering me enough to ask and not care about how stupid the question is...
How is it possible to have a wagyu burger on any kind of bun with just 220 kcals? And including potato wedges? The kids' menu is clearly separate, so what in the world is going on?
@ The Other Nick -- Lol, I have to say I spent half my time in Saudi Arabia just thinking about the alleged calorie contents on menus. Nothing made sense to me.
It's the same as how at the breakfast restaurant at my hotel, the pancakes were reportedly 200 calories, while the croffle was reportedly 820 calories. How?!?
Is startup really the right term for Riyadh Air? All the definitions I see are about entrepreneur solo-founders starting a small company to achieve high growth by solving a problem in a high-risk area. Totally get the gist of what you're going for, but would "net new" or something along those lines be more appropriate? Not a criticism of your writing at all - I may be missing pieces of the picture so happy to be corrected.
@ Super -- I hear you. A startup is defined as "a newly formed company designed to grow fast by solving a problem with a unique or innovative product." It's definitely a new company designed to grow fast. As far as solving problems go, Riyadh Air executives insist that Riyadh is a majorly underserved market, and that the airline has an innovative product. But yeah, I suppose another term could be used as well. 🙂
So they will not be serving booze ?
Glad to see toilet has that hand spray bidet thing since you had come from Diriyah.
If they're not going to have alcohol, at least serve Coke products instead of Pepsi.
The thing is that generally speaking, Pepsi is more popular than Coke in the GCC countries. There, the default option in lounges and local fast food restaurants is almost universally Pepsi. I am not thrilled about it myself, but that's the way it is. At least Riyadh Air is also offering a creative local cola option in the form of Milaf.
I like that their fake cutlery at least tries to resemble the real thing.
The chef’s name is Murray Reason?
Six shower suits sure seems downsized for a massive startup wanting to connect the world. Then again, Ethiopian doesn’t have more either in Addis. Not sure about EY or EK, but I think most people would like a quick refresher during their layovers.
@Ben
Since Tim won't be here to share his insights on the inaugural flight.
What terminal do you think Delta operates?
Do you have contacts that can clarify this.
DL bookings say arriving T2 departing T4, which by itself doesn't make any sense.
And officially foreign carriers operate from T5.
So what terminal is it going to be?
I wonder if the pictures don't convey how the lounge actually looks as I wouldn't really describe it as elegant. It does look really well provisioned, though I do wonder what the point of a second dry Saudi owned and operated brand is.
It seems like a lot of money to spend and, if I'm being honest, it seems less inviting than the overall product offered by Saudia
Nicer than the Saudia lounge, which is a pretty nice lounge in its own right.
Very impressive!
What’s with the garish lighting in almost every area? Looks deeply uncomfortable and overstimulating for a relaxing stay ahead of a long flight. Not that I’d ever fly through Riyadh, but had I, I would not look forward to spending time at this lounge.
extremely impressed, and this lounge is exactly the type of lounge I like. love it!