La Valette Club Malta Business Class Lounge Review

Malta has two airport lounges available. One is for arrivals, and the other is for departures. We tried out the La Valette departure lounge before our onward flight to Valencia.

Location and Access

The La Valette Malta Business Class lounge is located just after you clear security and the duty free shop. It is accessed via an elevator to level 3. Due to the current situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s necessary to make a booking with the lounge before arriving. This can be done via email. This applies whether you’re paying the lounge directly to access, or you want to make use of a lounge scheme such as Priority Pass, DragonPass, or Lounge Club.

We gained access as a result of our Lounge Club cards, and the 2 free annual visits that come with the AMEX Gold card. If you paid the lounge directly, it’d be €35 per person. If you don’t have access included as part of a lounge membership scheme, the best option is to sign-up for a free DragonPass. You can find out how here. You’ll then pay £19 (approx €21).

The Space

The lounge has two main areas. A large single room which comprises a number of different seating areas as well as a buffet space. There’s also a very nice outdoor terrace with comfortable seating. From the lounge and the terrace you enjoy brilliant runway views.

In addition to the main lounge area, there is another room called ‘High Altitude’. This, however, is not accessible to most passengers and is only available if you’re a member of the ‘High Altitude Club’. We did take a brief glance, not realising it was an exclusive area (before being unceremoniously told to leave). Apart from slightly nicer seating, it was hard to see a real difference.

Initial impressions were very good. The interior and design of the lounge is significantly better than a lot of other non-airline lounge facilities. It’s clearly been recently refurbished and the overall design was excellent.

The main highlight though is the outdoor terrace. It’s a really nice space to enjoy the last of the Maltese weather before you depart. There aren’t many lounges with an outdoor space, and I’m always a fan to find one which does.

The lounge was not busy during our visit. Various seating sections have been cordoned off, but in normal times the lounge is spacious enough that I can’t envisage it ever feeling particularly crowded.

Food and Drinks

In normal times the lounge operates on a self-service basis. At the moment, however, there is waiter service. If you want something to drink, you can ask a member of staff. If you want something to eat, you’re asked to go up to the buffet area, take a distanced look at what is available, and then ask for it to be taken to your table.

As at the AENA lounge in Barcelona, this works very well. Unfortunately, the service was a little slow and not particularly proactive, but when asking for something the service was friendly.

Unfortunately, the quality of the wine was atrocious, particularly the white wine. I have not had anything like it since trying out the lounge at Havana Airport a few years ago. There were, however, a number of mid-range spirits available. These are probably a better option. There was also a full selection of soft drinks, teas, and coffees.

The food was good for a non-airline lounge in Europe. There were a couple of hot options which included pastizzi, sandwiches, a hot rice dish, cakes and crisps. The quality of all the food was good. There was a slight wait for any hot options, but this wasn’t a problem at all.

Conclusions

It’s not often I’d feel inclined to pay out of pocket for an airline lounge if I didn’t have free entry – either as a result of airline status or a lounge scheme membership. I definitely don’t think the €35 entry fee if you pay directly at the La Valette Malta lounge is worth it. You’re going to struggle to get €35 of value.

If you make use of a free DragonPass membership, which means paying £19 then I think it is worth it. At this price, you can benefit from a really nice lounge space, as well as decent food (and, if you choose wisely, drinks). For a non-airline lounge it’s definitely in a higher category than most.