I returned to The Leeli Lounge Malé Velana International Airport several years after my last visit to the Maldvies. Since I had last visited, the airport had been renamed from the Malé Nasir Ibrahim International Airport to the Malé Velana International Airport. Our past visit to The Leeli Lounge was really popular on http://www.worldtraveller73.com. As a result, I thought I would update the post on the current state of the lounge and what you might expect on a visit.

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This post is one chapter on my trip to the Republic of the Maldives. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

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Review: The Leeli Lounge, Malé Velana International Airport, Maldives

“The Leeli Lounge provided the only lounge environment in Malé Velana International Airport. It continues to offer Plaza Premium like lounge settings, with light food and beverage (including those tuna fish sandwiches) in a dry environment”

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We’ve previously visited The Leeli Lounge on our last trip through the Maldives. Despite not having many changes, I decided to review it again. asthat post prooved to be quite popular. If you’d like to see our previous review of The Leeli Lounge, please see.

The Leeli Lounge is the only lounge currently operating in the Malé Velana International Airport. Malé is expecting a brand new airport which is currently under construction. It was expected to be complete in 2022 but the pandemic put a halt to all that. It’s now expected to be finished in 2025. As a result, we’ll be stuck with The Leeli Lounge for Malé International Departures, for the next several years.

Checking into Qatar Airways:

After spending six days at The St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, and five days at The W Maldives, we found ourselves returning to Malé on a Trans Maldivian Airways Vommuli – Malé sea plane ride.

After a short visit to the St Regis Maldives Lounge in the Malé Noovuli Sea Plane Terminal, we were led over by van to the Malé Velana International Airport.

We were able to bypass the long queue to enter the terminal as a result of flying in business class. The queue appeared to be strictly for capacity control reasons inside the air conditioned terminal itself.

Our St Regis Maldives handler took us over to the Qatar Airways check in desks and assisted with the luggage while we checked in for Qatar Airways Q Suites Business Class Malé – Doha onwards to Qatar Airways Q Suites Business Class Doha – San Francisco.

Per Qatar Airways policy, our checked baggage was checked all the way though to San Francisco. Accordingly, we wouldn’t have access to it during our nine hour layover in Doha, Qatar. We packed accordingly in preparation for this, and had a carry on suitcase with enough clothes and toiletries for several days.

Locating the Leeli Lounge:

After checking in, we proceeded upstairs for immigration departure and security screening. After clearing those steps, we found ourselves in the departure hall of the Velana International Airport.

The departure hall contains a few interesting things. It’s got the only Maldivian Post Office box that I’ve ever seen in the Maldives. The departure hall also happens to have the most expensive Burger King I’ve had the opportunity to pass by; even more expensive than the one at the Mahé International Airport in the Seychelles.

We eventually rounded the corner to find The Leeli Lounge located across from the Burger King. It is located immediately in the duty free area on the same level as the exit immigration and security screening.

The Leeli Lounge is located immediately after the international duty free section on the left hand side of the walk way.

Accessing the Leeli Lounge:

The Leeli Lounge at Malé Velana International Airport is the contract lounge for most international carriers. There are no other branded lounges at this airport, making this the only place to be for pre-flight departure lounge relaxation.

Typical access to the lounge is provided through the class of service on your ticket through contracted arrangement with your carriers. Our access today was courtesy of our Qatar Airways Business Class Malé – Doha flight.

During our visit, The Leeli Lounge was selling walk up access for three hours for:

• Adults: $37.80 USD
• Children: $27 USD

At the time of our visit, the lounge was not a member of Priority Pass or other lounge access programs. As a result, you’ll need to be flying business class or pay for access in order to gain entry into this space.

Inside the Leeli Lounge:

The Leeli Lounge is a pretty functional space with seating for one hundred and fifty people. The chairs and furnishings are similar to what we’ve seen in Plaza Premium Lounges around the world leading to a comfortable but not exotic experience.

Immediately upon entering The Leeli Lounge, you’ll find yourself in the main lounge area. There were about sixty spaces to sit in this portion of the lounge, with the room stretching out on both sides of the passageways.

Each side of the walkway on the upper lounge area had seating for four with side tables. Being in the middle of the building, the seating didn’t have any views or other natural daylight.

The upper lounge area also had a bank of computers for accessing the internet. These didn’t happen to be too popular, and I can’t imagine many coming to the maldives needing to check up on work before their travels home.

The second half of the lounge led to a lower level. This was accessed down through four steps to a slightly lower level. There was also a small ramp on the right hand side of the lounge, adjacent to this seating area.

There were enough odd ramps up and down to make this place a little bit labyrinth like in nature.

Despite being in the same room, the lower level seating was much less busy than the upper level. Navigation of the ramp or the stairs provided a bit of a natural barrier to the area.

We would end up on the lower level of the lounge for seating for the duration of our time. While it was slightly more spacious, it was pretty straight forward in nature.

Although the lounge contained quite a bit of places to sit, I found that it got quite full towards the peak evening hours after dinner.

Food and Beverage:

The Leeli Lounge offered some light food and beverage. After coming off extravagant resort food, The Leeli Lounge felt almost a little industrial in their offerings.

The food and beverage station was located near the lounge entrance. It contained a wrap around counter buffet filled with various hot and cold items.

The food was presented in an almost cafeteria style institutional manner. Tasty tuna sandwiches were wrapped in cello tape, and some baked goods were presented in industrial containers.

There was enough food to snack on, but I wouldn’t plan on coming here for a replacement meal to substitute dinner. Small tuna fish sandwiches and Indian curries can only make up for a snack, in my humble opinion and I’d be looking for something more substantial if I was pressed to fill up for dinner.

Despite the heat out, there were only a small number of beverages in the lounge. The cold beverages consisted of tinned drinks without ice. Consistent with the British heritage of the Maldives, there were a number of Schweppes drinks of Bitter Lemon and Tonic Water.

Just like my last visit, the lounge was completely empty of alcohol. If you were looking for a glass of wine or perhaps champagne before your trip, you’ll have to wait until you’re airborne in your cabin.

We would spend about fifty five minutes in the lounge prior to heading off to our Qatar Q Suites Business Class Malé – Doha flight.

The Bottom Line: The Leeli Lounge Male

Overall, the Leeli Lounge was a reasonable but highly functional place to relax before a flight. The seating areas a pretty utilitarian, and the food (as compared to resort food) is pretty basic and straight forward.

Like I previously reported on, it won’t be somewhere to get to early, but it’s far better than relaxing in the Velana International Airport Terminal.

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If you’ve visited the Leeli Lounge, did you miss having a drink before your flight?

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