Goldair Handling is one of the two business lounges at Rhodes RHO Airport. It is located next to the other lounge The Lounge. We can already reveal at the outset that the adjacent lounge is much better.

How do you get to the lounge and is it worth paying to enter?

Opening hours and location of the lounge

The lounge is located on the 2nd floor, above the departure gates for Schengen flights.

The Goldair Handling Lounge can also be used by non-Schengen passengers, they just need to allow for a longer walk to the departure gate through passport control.

The walking distances to the different parts of the airport are roughly as follows:

• Departure gates to the Schengen area approx. 2-5 minutes
• Departure gates outside the Schengen area approx. 5-15 minutes

Opening hours are 8:00-0:00 every day.

Entrance - who has access to the lounge

The Goldair Handling Lounge is a paid lounge accessible to passengers on all flights.

The lounge is currently not used by any airlines and cannot be accessed for free with a business class ticket or with Gold or higher frequent flyer status.

• Paid entry - 44 eur
• Free entry for holders of the following cards - Priority Pass, Lounge Key, Dragon Pass, Revolut with Ultra plan (get Revolut here)

Lounge access cannot be booked online and can only be paid for on site.

Space and atmosphere

The lounge is very bright, both thanks to the two almost completely glass walls and the pleasant white and beige colour scheme of the interior.

The windows have a partial view of the tarmac, but this is largely blocked by the roof. However, landing and taking off aircraft can be seen clearly from the lounge.

In the right-hand part of the lounge there are comfortable armchairs at a circular table suitable for working on a laptop. More work tables, this time with high bar stools, are on the far left.

There are dining tables along the windows, and then odd padded benches with small tables against the wall on the left, where I honestly don't quite understand the purpose. You can't work here and the tables are so small that they are not even suitable for putting food or drink down.

Overall, the lounge is small, but since it is not an airport it is primarily for holiday and charter passengers, who usually have no idea that lounges exist, it is not overcrowded.

However, I found the overall ambience, layout and type of seats much better in the adjacent The Lounge.

Food and drink offerings

This lounge is one of the below average lounges in terms of quantity and especially quality of food, however we have to take into account that this is a contract lounge in a relatively small airport primarily for holiday flights.

The choice is even slightly weaker than in the next lounge. The Lounge - In fact, there is no a la carte menu option.

Probably the best thing in the lounge is the reasonably good coffee from the Nespresso capsule machine.

Next to the coffee machine on the left are a couple of sweet biscuits and jams and below that you'll find a fridge with cans of Coca Cola, soda or Sprite.

The fridges also have bottled beer, which was the only kind of alcohol offered during my visit.

To the right of the coffee machine is the cold food counter, but that only includes single-serve cereal, pudding and milk.

Further to the right you'll find muesli and granola.

And that's it. You'd be looking in vain for any hot food in the Goldair Handling Lounge.

Lounge facilities

The Goldair Handling Lounge has no amenities other than food.

Showers and toilets

The toilets are outside the lounge, directly opposite the entrance. It goes without saying that if you leave the lounge to visit the toilet, you can return to the lounge free of charge.

Showers are not available.

Wi-fi

Internet access is available via free wi-fi.

However, the internet speed is quite poor and usually the free airport wi-fi "Fraport" has better quality.

Charging plugs

Plugs for charging electronics are available at most chairs and all work areas.

All plugs are "European" type F only, complete with USB-C connectors.

Conclusion and my review

The Goldair Handling Lounge Rhodes is a very small contract lounge not used by any airlines.

The single entry price of €44 is quite high and in my opinion not very worthwhile considering the very limited food offer.

On the other hand, the terminal tends to be very congested in the summer season with a shortage of seating, so if you are willing to pay for a significantly quieter seat, paying for entry to a significantly quieter environment may be worthwhile.

Personally, however, we would recommend the adjacent The Lounge with more food, alcohol and cheaper entry (40 eur).

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