The Venice Marco Polo airport is home to one of the top ranked lounges amongst those accessible with Priority Pass. The 2024 Priority Pass Excellence awarded it the “Highly Commended” lounge for Europe, behind Vienna’s lounge which won for the entire globe. So when we were flying from Venice to Catania, Sicily, I knew I wanted to have plenty of time to check out the lounge.
After security, you head upstairs on the escalators and follow the signs to the lounge. The airport was very busy and I was thankful to be headed to what I assumed would be a tranquil lounge. My assumption was correct!
We were traveling as a group of three adults and two children. The Marco Polo Club is unique in that it gives complimentary access to children under the age of 12 in with an eligible adult. Any other Priority Pass Lounge I have visited, only children under 2 are listed as complimentary. We had no problem entering with our group of five on our collective two Priority Pass memberships.
The lounge is very spacious. I lost count of the number of seating areas. If you turn right after you walk in, you will see the majority of the seating areas and the main food serving area. To the left is a smaller seating area and an area containing pre-packaged food. We ended up finding a secluded seating area to call home for an hour before our flight.
The lounge was quiet and not overly full which was a welcomed respite after a very crowded water bus ride to the airport and a noisy airport outside of the lounge. There are ample windows for lots of plane-spotting and many different seating options including recliners, plush chairs, dining tables and chairs and barstools. Near the more spacious bathrooms (on the left after walking in) was a small outdoor terrace which we did not visit due to the ongoing rain. I was also impressed with the number of outlets available for charging all of our devices before take-off. My one complaint is that I would have appreciated a few more USB ports for charging rather than just standard plugs. This may have just been due to the area we sat in and not the entire lounge.
With a flight scheduled to depart in the late evening, we were able to eat a plentiful dinner in the lounge. I tried a pre-made salad, quinoa with roasted veggies, fried mozzarella with ham, lasagna, and a small ham sandwich. The quinoa dish and the lasagna were my favorite, but everything I tried was tasty.
Next to the food buffet is a bartender serving wine, beer, and spritzes. I did not see any other mixed drinks, but I also didn’t ask for anything other than wine. I had a glass of Pinot Grigio and some sparkling water. We were thankful for the extra bottles of water to take on our flight since we were flying RyanAir and knew we wouldn’t be getting anything on the flight.
The large monitors in the lounge helped us track our upcoming flight and alerted us to which gate our flight had been assigned. Once our flight had a gate assigned, we quickly packed up and headed to the gate.
I would definitely visit the Marco Polo Club again.
The lounge can be accessed with a Priority Pass membership. Cards that grant you a complimentary Priority Pass membership include AMEX Platinum and Business Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X and Venture X Business. This list is not exhaustive and there may be other cards that offer Priority Pass. If you have one of these cards, be sure to activate your Priority Pass membership before your next trip!
