This review was inspired by similar review on simpleflying and general lack of information about Kuwait airport.
I have travelled to Kuwait during my trip to Middle East in 2024 during Christmas time. And on my way back I ended up in Terminal 5 (Jazeera Airways), so I was able to check this out as well (spoiler - do not go!).
Pearl Lounge (Terminal 1)
Summary
Lounge - Pearl Lounge
Location - KWI Terminal 1, international departures, on the right hand side about the “central” area of the terminal (when looking to security checkpoint)
Access - Priority Pass
Time of visit - 1:30-6:30, Sunday, 22nd of December 2024 & ~12:00 Wednesday 25th of December 2024 & ~19:40 Saturday 11th of January 2025.
Details
Waiting time 5/5 - no wait, instant access.
Interior 5/5 - modern furniture, soft seating, sofas are convenient to nap on them.
Crowds 5/5 – plenty of seating space, not crowded at all.
Facilities – 5/5, I think they have showers, but I didn’t use it. Also baggage lockers available. Electric sockets are also availiable in abundance. There is also “nap room”, but it costs extra.
Food – 4/5 – don’t expect huge choice, but there were at least two hot main dishes for lunch menu, so it’s more then enough. However I was pleasantly surprised by “Egg Station” for breakfast where you can get scrambled eggs made to order, this was delicious! For lunch/dinner they change it to “Wok station”, but I wasn’t able to try it. Water is only available in small plastic bottles
Extra notes:
- There is kind of time limit of 4 hours officially, but they don’t really enforce it strictly (and if you’re not sleeping, you can check-in again without any problems)
- On the way back when I landed in Terminal 5 and transfered to Terminal 1 ~5 hours before departure I didn’t have any actual boarding pass for some stupid airline reason. And while Pearl lounge in T5 let me in with some “not a boarding pass” confirmation, neither Pearl Lounge nor Kuwait Airways Dasman Lounge were letting me in without an actual boarding pass (which is of course mentioned in the “requirements”, but normally I expect staff to understand the situation). So I ended up conflicting with the supervisor of the lounge here and after ~40 minutes arguing he finally let me in under condition that I’ll bring them boarding pass when I get it. And, of course, I wasn’t able to get the boarding pass until ~1 hour before departure, so I’m very glad I did argue with them and glad that it worked.
Bottom line
Bottom line – 4.5/5, I liked it more than other lounges in the airport, good food, soft sofas, some of the staff were really friendly. Minus half point for the hassle with boarding pass on the way back though.
Kuwait Airways Dasman Lounge (Terminal 1)
Summary
Lounge - Kuwait Airways Dasman Lounge
Location - KWI Terminal 1, international departures, on the left hand side about the “central” area of the terminal (when looking to security checkpoint). Basically on the other side from Pearl Lounge
Access - Priority Pass
Time of visit - 6:40, Sunday, 22nd of December 2024 & ~12:00 Wednesday 25th of December 2024.
Details
Waiting time 5/5 - no wait, instant access.
Interior 4/5 - while it looks nicer than Pearl Lounge, it definetely hass less convenient sofas, especially if you’re looking for a nap.
Crowds 4/5 – a lot of seating space, but many sofas were occupied.
Facilities – 3/5, I didn’t check much, but I did notice lack of accessible electric sockets, this might not be convenient.
Food – 3.5/5 – I’d say that it’s actualy worse than Pearl for breakfast, but better for lunch. There is no “egg station” and breakfast options were quite limited to pastries and some assorted cheese. But during my second visit on another day I got lunch menu here and it was more diverse than in Pearl.
Extra notes:
- Official time limit is 3 hours which is less than in Pearl.
- Same issues with boarding pass as described above for Pearl
Bottom line
Bottom line – 3.5/5, while I can recommend this lounge as go to place for lunch/dinner food, generally I find it worse than its neithbor. Less time limit, less comfortable sofas.
Dasman Premier Lounge (Terminal 1)
Summary
Lounge - Dasman Premier Lounge
Location - KWI Terminal 1, international departures, on the far end of the terminal next to gate 26, just fenced area around the gate.
Access - Priority Pass
Time of visit - 6:50, Sunday, 22nd of December 2024 & ~13:00 Wednesday 25th of December 2024.
Details
Waiting time 5/5 - no wait, instant access.
Interior 2/5 - no “interior” as it’s basically just a fenced area around the gate. They just brought some soft chairs and food there.
Crowds 5/5 – plenty of seating space, not crowded at all.
Facilities – 2/5, as it’s gate area, there are no really any facilities. Chairs do have electric sockets though.
Food – 3/5 – the guy from simpleflying was saying they have the same options as the other Dasman Lounge. That’s probably true, but there was at least some delay between switching from breakfast to lunch menu, while main Dasman Lounge already had lunch, this one did not. And I’m not really sure they will have the same diversity, so I deduct half point.
Extra notes:
- Official time limit is 3 hours which is less than in Pearl.
Bottom line
Bottom line – 2.5/5, probably only worth visiting if your flight is departing for the gates nearby and you want to be closer to the boarding area. Although walking time from the central terminal area is less than 5 minutes anyway.
Pearl Lounge (Terminal 5)
Summary
Lounge - Pearl Lounge (T5)
Location - KWI Terminal 5 (Jazeera terminal), the only lounge there
Access - Priority Pass
Time of visit - 16:20 Saturday 11th of January 2025.
Details
Waiting time 5/5 - no wait, instant access.
Interior 3/5 - very tight, not enough space
Crowds 2/5 – quite crowded, hard to find seating spot
Facilities – 2/5, while it’s a bit better than Dasman Premier lounge, it’s still just a fenced area.
Food – 3.5/5 – limited selection, just 1 hot dish. Desserts are limited as well.
Extra notes:
- Smoking! The only terminal’s smoking area is in this lounge, there are no A/C there and ventilation is lacking, so basically the whole area is a smoking area. I wasn’t able to spend there more than 10 minutes and was forced to run away due to incredibly strong smoke smell.
Bottom line
Bottom line – 2/5, only to grab food and run away from smoke.
Conclusion
I found the Pearl Lounge in Terminal 1 being the best of all. While it might be a bit behind Kuwait Airways Dasman Lounge for lunch food offers, it is still good enough, and for breakfast it is better (egg station!). Seating is more convenient to sleep or lay down, time limit is longer, friendly and helpful staff - I think I have the winner here.
And avoid flying via Terminal 5 and Jazeera Airways by all costs! It is small and crowded terminal and its Pearl Lounge is the worst due to smokers!