Naples Airport – VIP Lounge Caruso

The entrance to the only lounge at Naples Airport, which is used by both Priority Pass and the airlines for their status customers. It’s located airside, near to gate C17 and access is limited to three hours (although I’m not sure that’s actually enforced).

The interior of the lounge, which is spacious and has a modern design. I would note that I took these photos when there was a gap in custom, as when I entered the lounge it was nearly full. I found a seat at a high table which was comfortable, but it didn’t allow me to charge my devices. Fortunately a group then left and I was able to move to seating which had power points near to it.

The food selection was a variety of cold items, such as pasta, salad, doughnuts, pastries, meats and vegetables. The quality was decent and I went through quite a lot of the pasta. They also had doughnuts and custard pastries which were equally delicious. The food offering seemed reasonable to me given the size of the lounge and it was kept topped up.

The drinks selection was generous, this is the soft drinks section and there were fruit juices on the lower shelves in the fridge. There were wines and spirits on free pour, although customers have to ask staff for beer and coffee. On which point, all of the staff seemed friendly and helpful, with the atmosphere in the lounge feeling calm and relaxed.

I was pleased, given that my flight departed at just before 23:00 to discover that the lounge closes at 22:00 and not the 21:00 which is advertised. Perhaps this is to cater for the British Airways flight, as a good chunk of customers in the lounge were from BA.

The lounge was clean and organised, with the staff members coming to collect plates and glasses on a regular basis. There are toilets within the lounge so customers don’t need to return to the terminal and there’s a selection of newspapers and magazines.

I was surprised at how many customers came in to pay for entry via their credit card, as it’s €25 per person, with one couple paying for just one hour’s access. It seems marginal to me whether this is worthwhile, although I suppose it works out for anyone who wants a few glasses of wine, as that wouldn’t be cheap in the nearby airport restaurants and bars.

All in all, this was a perfectly acceptable lounge, although it does feel too small for the number of customers it’s serving. The food was fine, but there do perhaps need to be more power points and also information for customers about which products they have to ask staff to get for them. But, it’s calm and peaceful which is always a useful feature for a lounge.