One of the best Priority Pass lounges is in …. Mauritius?!

This is our review of the Air Mauritius Amedee Maingard lounge in Mauritius Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to write about any lounges at Mauritius International Airport. I was travelling on a short (well, four hour) budget flight from Mauritius to Johannesburg to connect to my flight home, with no status, and on an economy ticket.

I wasn’t expecting the relatively small (but admittedly modern – see picture below) Mauritius International Airport to offer third party lounges. After all, this little Indian Ocean island isn’t exactly a global hub for air traffic.

But lo – firing up my Priority Pass app whilst waiting to get my passport stamped on departure I was surprised to see not one but two lounges available. You have a choice between:

• Amedee Maingard lounge
• Salon Nenuphar lounge

After a bit of digging to see which one was better I realised that the Amedee Maingard lounge is actually operated by Air Mauritius. The feedback was surprisingly good.

I thought I would give it a spin – the worst case scenario was that I could head to the Burger King or Paul in the main passenger concourse.

Where is the Amedee Maingard lounge?

The good news is that the lounge is not particularly hard to locate, although the airport authorities could certainly make things easier. Fortunately, Mauritius International Airport is a relatively small but modern airport, with a new fan-shaped terminal building that’s just under ten years old.

The easiest way to find the lounge is to turn right once you exit security. This will take you to the the far end of the terminal, although the building is so small it is just a few steps along.

The Amedee Maingard lounge is just opposite Gates 27 and 28. A big sign advertises the lounge.

In addition to Air Mauritius passengers and Priority Pass holders, the lounge also appears to be used by various airlines including, I believe, Emirates.

British Airways uses the ATOL lounge although nothing is stopping you heading to the Amedee Maingard lounge if you have Priority Pass. Based on his visit in May, Rob told me that the Priority Pass lounge looks substantially better.

Inside the Amedee Maingard lounge at Mauritius airport

Directly inside you’ll find a smart-looking reception desk, where your boarding pass or Priority Pass will be scanned, depending on how you’re accessing the lounge.

After that is a fairly large ground-floor space that was temporarily roped off whilst I was there:

This area didn’t have much (if any) natural light, although the green wall at the far end makes up for it slightly.

I was ushered up a red spiral staircase to the floor above, where another, equally sized lounge space sits. This is open to the rest of the terminal space, although it’s not particularly close to any of the terminal windows. It is substantially brighter thanks to the overhead skylights.

The area is broken up into several zones. A main ‘corridor’ leads to the bar, with funky over-sized paper planes adding a touch of playfulness to the lounge:

and

Alcohol is free although not self-pour; Champagne Duval Le-Roy is included, as well as a range of beers and wines. A separate hot and soft drink station is available with coke, Fanta etc.

Behind the bar is the dining area with seating for two, four or even six. Again, a green wall pulls it all together and makes the lounge feel less sterile:

A fairly big buffet is available, with a range of items including Western and Indian options. I had the vegetable korma which was particularly nice; there are also slices of pizza, croque monsieur, pre-made noodle salads, cold cuts, cheese and two unlabelled soups:

The buffet also had a surprisingly good salad bar which I helped myself to:

I wasn’t expecting much from the food but I can’t fault it. It’s as good, if not better, than some of the airline lounges at Heathrow.

To the left of the main corridor access-way is a row of individual armchairs, facing the runway:

On the other side, you’ll find a range of more casual seating, including a number of booths, although unfortunately these didn’t appear to have at-seat power supplies:

and

A separate table offered charging opportunities:

In the far corner you can see what appears to be a more family-friendly zone with high chairs and more colourful decoration than in the rest of the lounge.

There are showers ….

I decided to have a little explore of the lounge and went to take a look at the showers. I doubt many people are connecting in Mauritius but it’s nice to have the option and if you’re on an evening flight it may be nice to freshen up before getting on your flight home. There seemed to be 2-3 showers, although at least one of them was out of action.

Unfortunately, the showers are not quite as nice as the rest of the lounge. They’re certainly no worse than the showers in BA’s arrivals lounge at Heathrow which I reviewed here.

Towels are available on request.

Conclusion

The last thing I was expecting at Mauritius International Airport was a Priority Pass lounge, let alone one as good as the Air Mauritius Amedee Maingard lounge.

It is – at least – on par with the British Airways Galleries Club lounges at Heathrow, with the added benefit of being far less crowded – and that’s despite an Emirates A380 departing within 15 minutes of my own flight. It is definitely one of the best Priority Pass lounges I have ever enjoyed.

It has certainly piqued my interest on what the rest of the Air Mauritius experience offers, especially given they operate a fleet of almost brand-new A350s and A330neos on their long-haul flights to London and Paris. If it’s anything like the lounge then it should be good. In our initial article in this series we looked at how you can redeem miles for Air Mauritius – this article also looks at other ways to use miles to visit this lovely island.

---

How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (September 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,500 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Eurostar, Lufthansa and Delta Air Lines lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £290 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.