Review: Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge Kuwait Airport (KWI)

For the next portion of my Allegris round the world journey, it was time to fly Kuwait Airways’ Boeing 777 first class from Kuwait City to Bangkok. This granted me access to the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge, which is the carrier’s newest and most exclusive lounge to date, having opened in 2023.

Ultimately the lounge was considerably nicer than the carrier’s other lounges, which isn’t saying a whole lot. Still, it didn’t impress, compared to virtually any other “flagship” lounge in the region. I found the hard product to be nice enough, while the soft product was lacking.

Kuwait Airways first class check-in

My Kuwait Airways ground experience was off to a good start, as the airline offers a complimentary chauffeur service to first and business class passengers in Kuwait on both arrival and departure. So it was nice to be picked up at the Waldorf Astoria Kuwait and be driven to the airport on a complimentary basis.

Kuwait Airways currently uses Terminal 4 at Kuwait Airport, which is reasonably modern, having only opened in 2018. I’m curious if the airline ends up moving to Terminal 2, which will be opening in the near future.

The airport isn’t about to win any design awards (especially compared to other airports in the region, like Abu Dhabi and Doha), but was nice and quiet when I arrived, in the late morning.

Kuwait Airways has a first class check-in area, which is separated from the rest of the terminal by a glass partition. The check-in process was efficient, but there was nothing special about it otherwise. It’s not like Qatar Airways in Doha, where they offer you a drink and cold towel.

There was fast track immigration and security, and I was through in a matter of minutes. Though truth be told, there was no one in the standard lines either, so that didn’t actually save me time at this hour of the day.

Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge location

The Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge is easy enough to find. After clearing security and immigration at Terminal 4, just go through the duty free maze, and then at the end turn right, before going up the escalator.

When you turn right, walk to the very end of the hall, past gate B5.

There you’ll see the entrance to the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge and the Kuwait Airways Al Mubarakiya Lounge, with the latter just being the standard business class lounge. There’s a separate reception desk for the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge, and the door is closer to the arrival area.

Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge hours

The Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge is open 24/7, as you’d expect in the Gulf region, given that flights operate all hours of the day and night.

Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge entry requirements

The Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge can be accessed by the following passengers:

• Kuwait Airways first class passengers
• Kuwait Airways Oasis Club Platinum members, regardless of which class of service they’re traveling in
• Kuwait Airways Oasis Club Gold members, when traveling in business class

Kuwait Airways doesn’t have that many flights with first class, and I also can’t imagine the airline has that many elite passengers, so it definitely seemed to me like only a small percentage of premium passengers had access to this lounge.

Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge seating & layout

The Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge is a modern space. It’s 250 square meters (~2,700 square feet), with seating for 80 guests. There’s not all that much to the lounge — it’s basically a single, big rectangular room, with some seating and greenery.

Much of the seating is just pretty typical lounge chairs arranged along curved partitions. There are plenty of outlets, but the space isn’t going to wow anyone, and could easily be mistaken for a nice Priority Pass lounge.

There’s also an area along the side of the lounge with some dining tables, as well as some couches, which is probably the nicer area of the lounge.

The lounge also has a small business center in the far corner, with four high-top chairs, plus a couple of PCs.

That’s the extent of the lounge. On the plus side, it was a nice and quiet space. It was totally empty when I first arrived, while at most there were a handful of guests in the lounge. That was quite a contrast to the adjacent lounge, which was near capacity for most of the time.

Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge food & drinks

The dining tables at the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge have little signs with QR codes, so that you can access the lounge’s menu. You can find those menus below (which could use a proofreading even more than my average blog post!).

Okay, I was impressed by the lounge having proper a la carte dining, as I wasn’t expecting that. Well, unfortunately that’s not actually the case. Instead, the lounge just has a buffet area, and everything on the menu is actually available at the buffet.

I guess what makes this a a la carte dining is that there’s an attendant at the lounge, and the idea is that you tell the attendant what you want, and then he makes you a plate with the food and brings it to you. So yeah, that’s considerably less impressive.

I didn’t find the food quality to be particularly great, and frankly I couldn’t help but wonder how long the food had been sitting there. I was in the lounge by myself for around and hour, and I wondered if the food had been sitting there since the middle of the night, given how few people have access to this lounge.

As you can see, there were several cold appetizers, some croissants and cake, fruit, and then a some hot dishes.

Below you can see the hot options that were available during breakfast hours, including eggs, veggies, potatoes, pancakes, and more.

Kuwait is a dry country, so there’s no alcohol. Unfortunately even the selection of non-alcoholic drinks wasn’t inspiring. There was bottled water and your typical soda options, orange juice, a basic coffee machine, and tea.

I just had a coffee to drink, which was quite bitter. If they’re trying to elevate the experience a bit, you’d think that they could at least put some effort into the selection, with barista coffee, freshly squeezed juice, and even mocktails.

So yeah, I found the whole selection to be disappointing. I had high hopes based on the menu, until I realized that it was only a listing of what’s available at the buffet.

Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge bathrooms

The Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge doesn’t have its own bathrooms. Instead, there’s a door that leads to the main business class lounge, and you can use the bathroom there. The bathroom was basic, with just a couple of stalls and sinks.

Bottom line

I’m happy I had the chance to check out the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge, which is the carrier’s newest and most premium lounge. I didn’t know what to expect from the experience, and to me there’s always something exciting about that.

On the plus side, the lounge offers a quiet place to sit, and it’s a much more relaxing environment than the main business class lounge. The space is also super modern, and the attendant in the lounge was friendly.

That being said, that’s where the positives of this lounge end. The lounge has a small buffet, which is somehow turned into an a la carte dining experience. Unfortunately neither the food or beverage selection were terribly impressive. I respect if countries choose to be “dry,” I just find it disappointing how they don’t at least then invest in a great non-alcoholic drink selection. It’s not that hard or expensive.

It goes without saying that this pales in comparison to the first class lounges operated by Gulf carriers, like the Emirates First Lounge, Etihad First Lounge, Oman Air First Lounge, and Qatar Airways First Lounge. Heck, I’d argue this lounge isn’t even as good as the standard business class lounges of any of those airlines.

What’s your take on the Kuwait Airways Elite Lounge?