Our Kuwait Airways flight from Dhaka to Kuwait City was departing at 8:55AM, and we got to the airport at around 6:45AM. Our driver pulled up to the airport and signaled for us to go through the staff entrance. I wasn't sure whether we were really supposed to do that, but he insisted, so we…
Continue reading: Review: Dhaka Airport Lounge
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The reason for all the InterContinental ads, are because the lounge is managed by the hotel (if I'm not wrong).
The lounge used to be managed by Ruposhi Bangla, a hotel which was previously the Sheraton Dhaka, which was previously the InterContinental Dhaka. And now its Intercontinental again. So, I'm guessing the lounge is also managed by them now.
You should've gone to the Skylounge. It is catered by Westin, and managed by a major bank in the country.
Ben...Thanks for covering this. It feels great to see Dhaka airport after such a long time.
I heard there are other lounges now which are way better than the one you went. As Z mentioned, Sheraton, a former Starwood property currently owned by Marriott used to manage that lounge. Since Sheraton left the country, quality of the service declined. Irony is, even I was having trouble to see these pictures and I used to live 5 miles away from the Dhaka airport about a decade ago.
I flew Etihad Business last Feb from DAC. Etihad partners with SkyLounge, so I visited there. I haven't been to Balaka lounge, but from your pictures, looks like SkyLounge would be a better option. If you're a Priority Pass member and don't have much time to explore both lounges, SkyLounge is recommended definitely.
When it comes to taking photos of bathrooms in lounges, can you also note if they have a diaper changing table in them? I've been surprised that even prominent lounges like the LH Senator Lounge in FRA didn't have one, at least in the men's room. None of the men seemed to mind me changing my 2 year old on the counter though, nor did she mind.
Agree with other comments, when in Dhaka in January I was able to explore the SkyLounge in addition to the lounge shown here in this review (then called the the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel lounge). The food quality in both was about the same, but the SkyLounge was a much more inviting and impressive space, with nice lighting, high ceilings and comfortable chairs. They also had a bar, which was closed at the time when I was there.
Ben, I suspect you were the only 2 traveling on US passports on that flight, so your transit would have been flagged in their briefing before check-in. As soon as they saw your passports, they knew you were the passengers that had to be asked.
Date 19 April 2018
SO CRUEL - NO WATER - AT DHAKA AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURE (WAITING) LOUNGE
IF YOU ARE NOT CONNECTED TO CURRENT MINISTER OF THE GOVERNMENT THEN YOU GET TO SIT HERE MIGHT BE FOR HOURS TO GET IN YOUR PLANE. HERE YOU WILL EXPERIENCE THE LOWEST CLASS OF EXAMPLES OF IRRESPONSIBLE, INHUMAN AND UNFORGIVING RUTHLESS MANAGEMENT OF THE AIRPORT. THEY WILL DO X-RAY OF YOUR HAND-CARRY OR CABIN BAG, AND WILL FIND IF YOU HAVE WATER OR SOFT DRINKS. THEY WON'T ALLOW THAT - IN THE NAME OF SAFETY. AND THAT IS OK. BUT MANAGEMENT COULD BE SO STUPID AND HEARTLESS ONLY BECAUSE THEY USE VIP LOUNGE, YOU CAN'T BUY ANY WATER, NOR THERE IS A WATER DRINKING MACHINE. YOU MIGHT BE A PASSENGER WITH DIABETICS, HEART PROBLEM, OR PARENTS OF 4, 7, OR 10 YEARS OLD KIDS; THE MONTH COULD BE SCORCHING HEAT OF JULY OR AUGUST - YET MANAGEMENT HAVE NEITHER BRAIN, EFFICIENCY OR MERE KINDNESS TO MAKE WATER AVAILABLE TO YOU. ALL THEY NEED TO INSTALL A WATER DRINKING MACHINE, OR SELL WATER. WONDERING WHO WILL WAKE THE MANAGEMENT UP. Posted by Richard Braden, a Traveller