Review: Prima Vista Lounge Rome Airport (FCO)

As part of my four flights across the Atlantic journey, I had an extended layover at Rome Airport. While I spent most of my time at the ITA Airways Lounge, I also decided to check out the Prima Vista Lounge, which is the Priority Pass lounge in the terminal.

While the lounge is better than hanging out in the terminal, I wouldn’t recommend visiting it unless it’s your only option. The lounge pales in comparison to the ITA Airways Lounge and Plaza Premium Lounge, both of which are pretty great.

Prima Vista Lounge Rome location

There are actually two Prima Vista Lounges at Rome Airport — one in the Schengen area, and one in the non-Schengen area. I visited the one in the non-Schengen area, given that I was flying to Cairo. The Prima Vista Lounge is quite a trek, especially if you’re not departing from gates E31-44, which are in a separate pier.

If you’re just entering the terminal, head through passport control, security, and duty free, and walk in the direction of the gates.

Eventually you’ll want to follow the signage in the direction of gates E31-63 (the lounge is near gate E41).

Pay close attention to the signs, as you’ll have to make a few turns to keep heading in the direction of gates E31-44.

You then need to take a train to access this pier of the terminal (don’t worry, you can return to the main part of the terminal, with a catch, which I’ll explain below).

Once you’re in this pier, just head up the escalator, and then follow the signage toward airline lounges.

Right across from gate E41, you’ll see the signage for the Prima Vista Lounge (and the now abandoned Casa Alitalia… OMG, how cool!).

You’ll then need to take the elevator down a level, which is where the Prima Vista Lounge is located.

Once out of the elevator, you’ll see the entrance to the lounge on the left.

Immediately next to that is the former Casa Alitalia. Honestly, I can’t even describe how tempted I was to break in and take a look. What a blast from the past!

Let me emphasize that if you’re not departing from gates E31-44, you can take the train back to the main part of the terminal. The catch is that you’ll have to clear a transit security checkpoint. There was no line there whatsoever. Of course I imagine during some periods it gets a bit busier.

Note that all of this is the non-Schengen zone, so there’s no passport control required either way. I suspect security is required because flights from certain destinations require transit security, while flights from other destinations (like the United States) don’t.

Prima Vista Lounge Rome hours

The Prima Vista Lounge is currently open daily from 6:45AM until 5:15PM. Note that the Priority Pass website indicates that it closes at 2PM, but that wasn’t the case during my visit. I imagine the hours change over time based on flight schedules.

Prima Vista Lounge Rome entry requirements

The Prima Vista Lounge is open to Priority Pass members, as that membership comes with many premium credit cards. The Prima Vista Lounge is also used as a contract lounge by a variety of non-SkyTeam airlines. This includes everything from American Airlines, to Qatar Airways, to EgyptAir, to Ethiopian Airlines, to United Airlines.

Prima Vista Lounge Rome seating & layout

The Prima Vista Lounge is quite small — the below picture shows you probably 80% of it. This lounge is essentially in a basement with no natural light, so in that sense I have to give the lounge some credit for the design, as the “fake” backlit windows and some of the brick walls with greenery at least give the lounge a bit of charm.

While the lounge furniture looked pretty modern, none of it was particularly comfortable. All the seats were super thin and not well padded, almost like the latest generation slimline seats that you’ll find on most flights nowadays.

The seating consisted of rows of chairs facing one another, some communal high-top seating, and a row of seats along the center of the lounge.

Prima Vista Lounge Rome food & drinks

This is the area where the Prima Vista Lounge most lags. Both the ITA Airways Lounge and Plaza Premium Lounge have an incredible selection of food, barista made coffee, and cocktails. Meanwhile the Prima Vista Lounge… doesn’t.

The lounge had a modest self serve buffet.

In terms of drinks, there were coffee machines, fridges with soft drinks, juice, bottled water, and a small selection of wine and beer, and there was a selection of liquor, but not many mixers.

The food wasn’t bad for a Priority Pass lounge, but in Italy you generally expect more. Food included a selection of pastries, a couple of types of individually portioned salads, finger sandwiches, chips, pizza, and three other hot dishes. Those three dishes included penne with zucchini, mushrooms, and chives, fusilli with tuna, capers, and black olives, and a pumpkin and chickpea stew.

Prima Vista Lounge Rome bathrooms & showers

The Prima Vista Lounge had bathrooms and a shower in the very back. The bathrooms were quite clean, though there were only a couple of stalls, and no urinals.

There was also a shower room inside the bathroom, which had a walk-in shower and sink. It looked okay, but not as good as the showers at the Plaza Premium Lounge.

Bottom line

The Prima Vista Lounge is better than nothing, but it’s by far the weakest of the three lounges I visited at Rome Airport Terminal 3. The lounge lacks natural light, doesn’t have particularly comfortable seating, and has a limited selection of food and drinks.

If you have a credit card that gets you access to the Plaza Premium Lounge, that’s infinitely better, in my opinion.

What do you make of the Prima Vista Lounge Rome?