Welcome to another Lounge Review on Seeing The World In Steps. These have been scarce in volume recently. Even on this trip, I did not manage to check out many lounges as I would have expected to. Many of you would have known by now that I will be heading to Budapest for the next leg of my trip and how excited I am to be checking out a brand new city. There was a slight change in plans during my trip due to some changes in government regulations during the height of the Omicron wave. I was supposed to be in Zurich and then flying from Zurich to Budapest but then we got to change and fly directly from Milan and transit in Frankfurt instead. I was flying in Lufthansa and would be sharing about that experience next. Sadly, there isn’t any Lufthansa or in fact any Star Alliance lounge in Milan Linate Airport but only a contract lounge. Follow me in checking it out. 

Access Requirements

The Sala Leonardo Lounge is open daily from 5.30am to 9pm. Star Alliance premium cabin customers as well as Star Alliance Status holders are allowed access to the lounge. You can also access this lounge via lounge program membership like Priority Pass. Since I was flying in Lufthansa Economy Class I had access via the Krisflyer Gold Status. We simply presented our boarding pass and was promptly welcomed in. 

Arrival & Location

The Sala Leonardo Lounge is quite a walk away and past security. It is located near gate 18. I was politely welcomed by the staff and was admitted upon presenting my boarding pass. Although I was flying in Economy, I was allowed access given the KrisFlyer Gold membership. The lounge is actually quite a nice place and looks very welcoming. This is one of the better ones and very different from those crappy looking contract lounges. As far as I can tell, this is also the only lounge in Linate Airport. As such, you will probably be admitted to this lounge if you are flying in a premium cabin here. 

Sala Leonardo Lounge Milan Linate Airport 

The lounge is pretty spacious and huge. It is separated into different seating areas and I will recommend those on the mezzanine level which is more private. It mostly consists of various lounge chairs grouped together. Travelling in this climate, I certainly appreciate having a much more private area to wait for my flight rather than the traffic in the general transit area of the airport. 

I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. It was a nice space and the place was pretty fresh and well maintained. It was empty when I first arrived although it did get filled up shortly after that. Outlets can be conveniently found near the seating areas and there is also USB outlets which are commendable. 

Near the refreshments areas, you can also find some high top seating facing the terminals. 

The refreshments area is located alongside one corner of the lounge. There is a good selection of packaged snacks and drinks. It already won my heart when I saw that there are bottled water, both still and sparkling.

That is one important aspect of an airport lounge. I hate those dispensers filtered water. You can find beers, red and white wine, prosecco and some spirits. Those plastic cups don’t look too decent though. 

You have your choice of packaged snacks and everything is wrapped up too which is lovely given the situation nowadays. It is much better than expected with salads, fresh fruits, yoghurt, bread and cakes.  

There is a smoking room all the way at the end of the lounge which is something passengers in that selected group will appreciate. Wifi is available in the lounge too. 

 

The lounge comes with a washroom inside and this is always a plus point. The washrooms are in individual rooms. They are spacious and well maintained. 

Conclusion

One of the better contract lounges out there! I would be happy with this for a contract lounge and one that I entered via Priority Pass. As a lounge fitting for Star Alliance Business Class passengers or loyalty members? It lives a lot to be desired. This can’t be the standard that they are offering for a full fledged premium airline customer. It isn’t a lounge that I will come early for but it is still useful to get a rest here, a drink or a coffee while waiting for boarding to start. Next up, a new addition to my list of countries! Stay tuned!