Last month I posted about the new revamped Pearl Lounge and based on the photos I assumed the new lounge looked better. Well I’m in the lounge right now and I think the images I saw of the lounge made it look a lot better than it actually is. I’m sitting in the lounge waiting for my flight and there are two main issues I have with the place:
1) The new lounge looks and feels very cold and I don’t mean temperature wise which right now is actually pretty warm along with the rest of the airport (the AC must be down). The beige tiled floors, the fake beige leather chairs along with the plain beige walls makes the lounge feel like a boring doctors waiting room sans the magazines.
2) The new chairs are stiff with very upright backs making them extremely uncomfortable to sit on not only for long durations but even for a few minutes.
The old lounge was very cozy and comfortable, sure the couches needed some TLC but even if they had left them the way they were I think it was better than the lounge right now. On the plus side there are power plugs everywhere now which is great in case you want to charge your electronics but urgh!! I hate the new lounge!
27 replies on “The Revamped Pearl Lounge Sucks”
Instead of a Business class lounge it looks like a gloried waiting room..
Might be just me, but that looks pretty decent to me
Trust me it’s not, it looks and feels very cheap in person.
You’re so positive about this place, hope you enjoy your trip which will begin after you leave this airport. Every airport that is successful in the region have qualified expats to run their national carriers and airports. Although they could increase flights and maybe allow additional carriers to fly out of Sheikh Saad Terminal, there are growing number of passengers flying into Kuwait through this terminal to avoid the mismanagement at KIA. I even see people who possibly did a stopover in Dubai after their trip concluded to enter Kuwait on FLYDubai. Unfortunately, the ‘Jazeera’ Kuwaitis have jumped tarmacs also and now you have growing passenger levels that don’t understand ‘seat allocation’ on FLYDubai flights. I am not surprised AT ALL that there is no A/C and the Pearl Lounge was organized like this. I think Kuwaitis now expect that where government is concerned, (who is managing the airport), will not reflect an airport that they desire in their country. P.S. THEY NEED TO BUILD A NEW AIRPORT AND HAVE A QUALIFIED MANAGEMENT COMPANY MANAGE THEIR NEW TERMINAL. Who will this management company be? Someone with a thick skin and up for a real challenge. Wait until you see the carrisols when you re-enter this airport – another topic for future posts.
wtf did I just read?
+1
fairly basic english guys!
hahahaha .. +2
He is saying the Kuwait Airport Management Sucks!!!!
The question is whether their food selection / assortment (and presentation) were upgraded.
The question is whether their food selection / assortment (and presentation) were upgraded.
Looks the same to me.
I confirm they are the most uncomfortable lounge seats in the world thats for sure, and the food was horrible
Lounge by meaning itself is relaxed posture sitting in a sofa. the way it is built looks like we are ready for an army interview.
There is no privacy anymore and your onboard items have to stand in the walkway. In a place like Kuwait where a lot of families travel together, the layout of the lounge is not suitable. I previously quite liked the food in the Pearl Lounge, but since its refurb, I honestly thought the quality and options had dropped.
It always makes me wonder whether the fools in charge ever visit other Airports before putting together such tacky lounges.
Why can’t they just copy / paste the Qatar Airways business lounge in Doha?
because of arrogance, lack of vision and decision taken by one or 2 men in a room that knows it all. pretty much like everything around.
Has anyone noticed how quickly they’re working on the new museums complex on Gulf Road near the Sheraton roundabout? Why cant they just do something similar with regards to a new airport? So much empty land in Kuwait.Just choose a location far far away,sign the damn contract and in 3 to 5 years, you have a brand new proper airport that reflects Kuwaits wealth,standing in the region and plans for the future. Half ass jobs on the lounges, and trying to fix some of the departure gates is pathetically ridiculous
In the words of The great poet Drrizzy Drake, “HYHY HYFR!”.
Hey, if it’s not too much trouble, how about adding a “Travel” section in the 248am community forums? I’ve been planning to visit Lebanon for the first time, which is insane considering I’ve spent such a large part of my life in the ME, and was heading to community to ask opinions on things to do and places to be but didn’t have anywhere to post haha!
Anyways, just a suggestion!
I have a terrible spine with multiple bulging discs. The firm seats are awesome. Finally I can sit without having back pain for the rest of the day.
What’s up with the back-to-back chairs? You would hit your head to the person sitting right behind you.
Pretty simple. Bad designers make bad spaces… The objective is to create totally uncomfortable seats in rows in two colors so that visitors can get out as soon as possible…and not miss their flight. How about large row and seat number stickers in two colors, so that visitors can remember the seat numbers and make this more appealing.
There are positives and negatives to this new design…
What they did was basically maximize the occupation capacity. clearly they took advantage of every possible inch in the lounge to be able to fit in as many people as possible.
one of the negatives of the old lounge (and I loved that negativity of it) one person would sit in a sofa and all of a sudden he occupied 3 seats. Being the way we are… most people would not invite themselves to sit at the opposite sofa. so yeah it was nicely designed for people traveling in groups… but thats also reduced the number of guests that can sit around comfortably.
also there was very bad habit mostly by Americans (they looked like soldiers to me) who converted the sofas into beds! you’d always see at least two or three laying on the sofas in the lounge! wtf
the new design… clearly the maximized occupancy, they added much more tables for those who want to eat, they made the tables chairs back uncomfortable so those who eat move on and allow new guests to use the tables.
its clear the the chairs in the middle were made that way to fit in as many chairs as possible in the lounge. I found it comfortable for me, but im one of those with back problems too.
I do agree that one big fault and will eventually result in someone physically hurt is how people now just leave their stuff on the floor in the middle of pathways.
the food selection was very limited and i didn’t like it. i asked for omelet and they brought me a fried egg with nothing in it! i do appreciate the new tea selection but i can predict that this will not continue for long.
Yeah apperently the designer had no concept of something called personal space..
Keeping ram rod straight chairs back to back just so that I can hear loud and clear exactly how my fellow travelers day has been so far .. or for that matter have his or her greasy unwashed head right next to mine to transfer whatever shit they have in it directly into my head ..
People will be on the look out for corner spot just so that they can get some sort of feeling of privacy.. not sit in spots where you have the guy directly behind you bump his head against yours or the guy directly in front you stare at you or leer at you ..
Another option people have, and will more than likely happen, is that passengers will start moving the chairs to suit their desired seating unless their anchored to the floor and heavy. Staff members will be afraid to confront them when they are Kuwaitis. A perk about this arrangement is that during lull times the staff can play ‘musical chairs’?????? Kuwait!!!!!????
It really is s##t now. I am in there typing this and sure it is busy due to Eid but it is not totally full but they are not able to cope. The staff are super grumpy, they ran out of cups and only brought 3 – yes 3 – clean ones, and the food was non existent when I arrived and it took ages for them to bring more. The ergonomics of the new food section are a joke too and it was just full on congestion round it. I will stick with McDonalds in future…