For the last leg of my European trip, I was flying back to Singapore from Milan after a brief stay in the Moxy Malpensa Airport hotel. As the hotel didn’t provide any breakfast even for Marriott Elite members, I decided to visit a lounge in the airport for my breakfast fix.
As a Priority Pass member, courtesy of the Capital One Venture X Credit Card, there are 2 options available in the Malpensa Airport, namely the Sala Montale Lounge and the Sala Monteverdi Lounge. I took a toss of the coin and decided to go for the Sala Montale.
Basic Information
Opening Hours: 06:00 am to 10:00 pm every day
The lounge is located quite a distance from the immigration counters. However, it’s near the gates. Therefore, make sure to buffer enough time such that you can clear the customs and get to your gate if you want to visit the lounge.
Environment
The Sala Montale is relatively large, with ample seating available for visitors. Despite the crowd that day, I didn’t have trouble finding an empty seat.
The main selling point of the lounge is its large windows facing the runway. As expected, most seats or lounges facing the windows were taken during my visit.
In the middle of the lounge, you have the food and bar counter where food is served.
Food
The food options are pretty basic, enough to fill up stomachs for a long flight ahead. However, one shouldn’t expect much here and I wouldn’t consider the food here in the premium category. It’s definitely disappointing compared to the likes of the Sala VIP Canulas Lounge in Barcelona.
The food options are mostly pastries, sandwiches and yoghurt. It’s sufficient for a quick breakfast, but wouldn’t be good for lunch or dinner. Fortunately, if you need something heavier, there are full-fledged restaurants just right outside the lounge.
Capital One Venture X
- 75,000 Miles bonus with $4,000 spend.
- 2x points on everything.
- 5x points on flights booked through Capital One Travel Portal.
- 10x points on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel Portal.
- Free Priority Pass for lounge access.
- $395 Annual Fee.
- Sign up here!
Amenities
The Sala Montale lounge has a family room and a quiet room located in the corner of the lounge. I think this is a really good idea as families with kids can have a place to entertain their children while not disturbing other guests. This is in stark contrast to my experience in SATS Premier Lounge at Changi Airport where children were screaming loudly in the public areas.
Conclusion
The Sala Montale lounge at Malpensa Airport terminal 1 is a good rest stop in the airport. There is ample space for seating and amenities to let a traveller relax before a long flight ahead.
However, I feel that there are some things that can be improved about the lounge. The first would be the food options available. If you’re looking for somewhere to have a full meal, this lounge wouldn’t fit the bill as the choices for food are really limited.
Also, I felt the toilets were not as clean as I’d expected of an airport lounge. This might be due to the high traffic during my visit, but I would have wished for a better overall experience.
