Arlanda Airport, Stockholm, Sweden

Introduction

This is my review of the Pearl Lounge in Arlanda Airport’s Terminal 5, which is in Stockholm, Sweden.

Terminal 5 in Arlanda services a number of different airlines – and if you are traveling outside the Schengen Zone, you should ensure that you leave the lounge with enough time to go through Passport Control!

Visited

December 2023 at 14:00.

Opening Hours

The lounge is open daily from 05:15 to 21:00.

Entry Conditions

My entry to this lounge was because I am a OneWorld Emerald member, and thus flying with British Airways meant I was gained access.

Seemingly, however, this is the only lounge in Terminal 5 – so whether you have status with your airline, or are flying Business Class; you should have access.

Access is also available for Priority Pass members, and I believe you can pay $30 on the door if you so wish.

How to Get There

Finding the lounge is very easy – once you’re through Security, you’ll turn left and there is a sign to stairs (or an elevator) – which is signposted “Lounge” and “Restaurant”.

From here, you’ll see straight in front of you the entrance to the lounge, where you’ll then walk down a corridor to the entrance of the lounge.

Layout

Generally, this is a nice lounge – with lots of seating and some areas to work. It is also very clean!

There is a smallish eating area next to the buffet area.

There is a good amount of lounge and high-table seating.

There are some high table area which are for working, with charging points.

There is also, rather oddly, a very dark room – with lighting that seemingly doesn’t work!

Food and Drink

Drinks

All drinks in this lounge are self-service. It’s mainly from machines (even for the wine!), along with a few coffee machine stations dotted around (with no cups).

Food

The hot offering was a little suspect. I was in the lounge for a good few hours after breakfast and lunch – and the hot offering was hash browns and some kind of meat balls…..all day! Having sat close to the buffet area, I can confirm that (a) nobody touched these; and (b) these were not replaced in the 4 or so hours I was there!

Other cold options included cheese, meats, bread and crisps.

All in all, it was a bit rubbish!

Wifi

The lounge Wifi is frankly a bit of a joke – in fact there is none, you have to connect to “Airport Guest”.

After a while (I am not sure how long), Airport Guest throws you off the free Wifi, and asks you to pay….. When I asked the lounge staff about this, they said they did not have any Wifi password/voucher, and thus I would have to pay. In the end, I used my 4G to tether, which was actually quite quick!

Showers

There are no showers in this lounge, and the toilets were not in the best of conditions. I noticed hand soaps were not re-filled, etc.

Conclusion

On the one hand, this is a lounge with nice decor; nice furniture; a decent(ish) layout; and the staff were also nice when I asked them about the Wifi issue.

On the other hand, the food was poor (and possibly liable to cause sickness); the staff clearly couldn’t be bothered as there were lots of plates and glasses stacking up; there was little in the way of charging next to seating; the toilets were not being replenished properly; and of course the Wifi issue!

All in all, this isn’t a terrible lounge, but it’s definitely a low-end European lounge, at Priority Pass level – and I definitely wouldn’t be $30 paying for access! In fact, I’d be pretty angry if I paid $30, and then after a few hours had to pay for Wifi!