Graycliff Airport Lounge (Nassau, Bahamas)

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Airports are hectic these days. More people are traveling, security lines are long, planes are full, flights are delayed or cancelled, and luggage is lost. In other words beaucoup stress! That is the reason that an airport lounge can be an oasis of calm and relaxation in an otherwise hectic place. Not all airport lounges are created the same, however! On the domestic front, the best are not the airlines’ own lounges (American Admiral’s Club, United Club, Delta SkyClub) but the American Express Centurion Lounges (already in NYC (LGA), Miami (which I have recently reviewed on this blog), Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco and Las Vegas). And while on the domestic front Amex rules, it cannot hold a candle to the best international lounges, which by the way are all owned by airlines. Caviar, non-stop champagne, massages and haircuts, a la carte meals and even private sleeping rooms with showers and television sets are some of the common perks of these best lounges, belonging to Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, Singapore, Thai Airways and Air France. Lufthansa not only has a beautiful first class lounge in Frankfurt, but a whole First Class Terminal! Now that’s traveling!

Aside from these aspirational superstar lounges however, a decent lounge will be a quiet place where you can wait for your flight, have a drink, a snack or light meal, use the restroom or take a shower, and get some work done. On this note, I recently visited Graycliff Lounge at the airport in Nassau, Bahamas while waiting for my flight to Miami. The lounge is on the second floor of the airport near all of the departure gates. The lounge also contains a gift shop (which you can see in the above photo). Upon entering, you will be asked for your credentials for entering the lounge. For example, I entered using my Priority Pass, which gives me free access to over 600 airport lounges worldwide. At the Graycliff Lounge, I can also bring in immediate family members or two guests for free. The lounge is small but very nice and quiet (not too crowded).

The entrance to the main seating area
The entrance to the main seating area
Lounge seating area
Lounge seating area

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I was then given a menu and was told I could order something to eat and drink.

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Most lounges have buffets or self-serve drink and snack selections and a bar for alcoholic beverages. The Graycliff Lounge, however, gives you a menu and a certain amount of credit to order something to eat and drink (around $20 per person). I ordered a pastrami panini and a Coke.

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Outside the main seating area is a small bar where they can make you a cocktail, or you can order a beer, soda or an espresso.

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Inside the lounge, there are two computers for you to use, free wifi to use on your own device, and a couple of television sets.

Computer and game terminals
Computer and game terminals

And don’t worry about missing your flight-even though they do not announce flight boardings and departures in the lounge, they do have this right in the main seating area

 

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Nassau’s airport is not large so you will never have a long layover there. It does have many flights, however, especially from Florida  This makes the Graycliff Lounge the perfect place to relax for an hour with a snack and drink before your flight departure. Have you ever visited the Graycliff Lounge? What did you think?

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