Review: Leeli Lounge Male (MLE)

As we were leaving the Maldives, we had some time before our departing flight and decided to check out the Leeli Lounge in the international departures area of Male’s Velana International Airport.

Location

After clearing security, follow the signs through the duty free shops towards the Leeli Lounge and Food Court. You will see the entrance for the Leeli Lounge off to your left.

Leeli Lounge MLE Signage

Leeli Lounge MLE Entrance

Hours of Operation

The lounge is currently open between 5:30am and midnight daily.

Entry Requirements

The Leeli Lounge is the contract lounge that is used by the vast majority of the airlines departing Male for international destinations. First/business class passengers and elite passengers typically have access to this lounge. We were able to access the lounge thanks to our Etihad business class flight to Abu Dhabi. Please note that the lounge can not be accessed via Priority Pass or the American Express Global Lounge Collection.

Layout

After checking our boarding passes we were welcomed into the lounge. The lounge was a square shape and broke up into two parts. The front part held the food, a business center which had a few available computers, and some seating, while the remainder of the seating area was located in the rear, one step up. The majority of the seating was set up in pairs with a few groups of four spaced throughout.

The lounge did have windows that overlooked the tarmac, but they were obstructed from the construction of the new terminal and, since we had an evening departure, it was dark outside.

Food and Beverage

The beverage selection consisted of a refrigerated cooler with canned and bottled sodas as well as some bottled water. There was also a selection of orange, apple and passion fruit juice.

The buffet selection was uninspiring, with a couple of hot dishes and some pre packaged sandwiches. The one item of note were the instant noodles, which Mrs. ATX Jetsetter decided that she needed to have, even though we were minutes away from a four hour flight in Etihad business class. I just had a coke and a bottle of water.

It’s worth noting that, since the Maldives is a dry country, there is no alcohol available in the lounge or anywhere else in the airport.

Restrooms

While Mrs. ATX Jetsetter enjoyed her noodles, I went off to explore and found the small restroom area in the corner of the lounge. The restroom was a small space and featured two sinks made of some sort of stone, two stalls, and two urinals with some very small, almost useless dividers.

Returning back to the main lounge, I met up with Mrs. ATX Jetsetter and we headed off to catch our flight.

Summary

The Leeli Lounge was a decent enough space to pass the time before a flight but definitely isn’t worth going out of your way to visit. The food and beverage selections were average and the lounge was fairly busy. Thankfully, the Westin timed our seaplane transfer well so we didn’t have long between clearing security and boarding.