Bizarre as it might sound, one of the best lounges in Frankfurt belongs to Canada. This quaint little lounge has a decent selection of drinks and food. It has showers, and it has an aesthetically relaxing layout with good views. What’s not to love? Its a little hard to access, but with the right credentials, this might just be the perfect place for you to while away a few hours of your life. For all the details on how to enjoy the lounge and to decide if this is the one for you, read our Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Review – Frankfurt (FRA).
Our Trip – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Review – Frankfurt (FRA)
Despite being in business class, this trip was a little more painful than we had expected it to be. We were in Jakarta but needed to get back to the states. We had an excess of miles on Singapore Airlines, so we decided to try out their business class offering. The options included taking a direct flight from Singapore to Newark or the flight to JFK that stopped in Frankfurt. Truth be told, we hate Newark’s EWR airport so so much we decided to go with the longer routing just to avoid taking the PATH. As much as United Airlines wants you to pretend it is, Newark is just not New York.
The Facts – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Review – Frankfurt (FRA)
A Canadian passport is all you need to get into this lounge. Just kidding. To get in here, you’re going to either need a business class ticket on AC or hold Star Alliance Gold status. A couple of other airlines use this as a contract lounge so, if you’re flying Singapore Airlines in business class, as we were, then this is also where they’re going to send you.
Finding the lounge takes a little bit of work. You’ll need to carefully follow the signs leading you in this direction.
At a certain point, you’re going to STOP following the bright yellow and stick with the grey when it branches off. The dull grey color makes it easy to miss, but you’re going to step outside the main hallway and then proceed up thes stairs where you’ll find the lounge, and a little surprise that isn’t marked on any of the signage (read on for more).
Once you get to the top, you’ll see the entrance to the lounge waiting for you on the left.
There’s a nice little walkway with wood tones leading you toward the lounge dragons where you must answer riddles three.
The Space – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Review – Frankfurt (FRA)
Once you’ve answered your riddles, you’re granted access to what is quite honestly a very nicely designed space with plenty of nice accents. The lounge is on the smaller side, and if it is crowded you might feel a little boxed in. When its not full, though, you’ll feel as though youre in a chic hotel lounge with a few of your wealthy friends rather than in an industrial looking airport outside of Frankfurt.
We particularly appreciated the lounge area, which had a range of seating, all of it very comfortable.
For those who don’t want a coctail bar vibe, you also have the option to sit int he dining area, which is more agreeable for having a larger meal or doing some work on your laptop.
We were also happy to see more bar-style seating with plenty of outlets for everyone. It is located a little too close to the drinks station for full comfort, but it isnt so distracting.
The third seating area involves individual arm chairs running down the far end of the lounge, along the windows that look out over the tarmac. This is another pleasant space to sit, with tables to hold your snacks and apperetifs and canapes.
For those who need to recharge, there are a few lounge chairs, though they are designed for watching TV, which we can’t really imagine anyone wants to do, unless maybe there’s a game on. These are more ideal for relaxing.
The Terrace
The terrace: swooooooooooooon. This is an absolutely gorgeous terrace that overlooks the tarmac. On a nice day, there is nothing better than sitting out here watching the planes drive and take off. This is the gold standard, and something that so few lounges actually offer (though there are a few.)
So, to be clear, this is not technically a part of the lounge. It is more accurate to say that this is a part of Frankfurt airport. Anyone can access this space, and there are no limitations on entry or exit. However, the entrance is very hidden, and you won’t really know to look for it if you don’t know it exists. Bizarrely, there is no signage at all telling you it is here.
However, you will notice it if you head to the Air Canada lounge becuase the entrance to the terrace is just across from the lounge entrance. For this reason, most of the people using the terrace are floating over from the lounge itself. And that’s not too many people. In all our visits, we sharks never saw the terrace with more than 2-4 people on it at a given them.
Airport employees also seem to enjoy hanging out here on their breaks, and we can’t blame them. Come on, is this anything but glorious?
The Food – Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Review – Frankfurt (FRA)
Here is where we will be a little bit less rapturous than before. Rest assured, the food offerings are totally fine. It’s not dining at its most exquisite but you’re definitely not going to leave the lounge to scrounge up a schnizel in the restaurants down in the main terminal. Let’s review the options.
We stopped by at breakfast time, where we found plenty of fruits, some sliced, some in the original rinds. There were also youghurts and the other sorts of things one finds in many European breakfasts. The items were not overly Germanic, though.
If wet fruit isnt youre thing, there were also plenty of dry ones, and some nuts and cookies, to choose from.
More on the German side, there was a station with sliced meats and cheese. As Americans, we didn’t find this thrilling, but hey, food is food.
The main course was to be found at the hot meal station, where a staff member was on hand to serve up the goods. The goods were okay, but a little underwhelming, with some scrambled eggs and baked tomatoes as the only possible meal.
The Drinks
No complains here. Everything you wanted was on hand, though nothing was so fancy as to write home about. It being early in the morning, we opted for the coffee station.
The drinks station is fairly well stocked and neatly arranged. Juices and caffeinated beverages to the left, and alcohols to the right. The water was naturally both still and sparkling, as God intended.
The alcohol station truly has panache. The offerings aren’t actually that great, but they sure are presented with pride, and we give them full points for that. This station is just inviting you to make your own cocktail, or at least pour yourself a nice glass of wine.
This was followed by two beer taps. They have Becks and a nice weiss Franziskaner.
All in all, the alcohol set up looks beautiful. Champagnes and white wines were placed attractively at a separate station across from their more alcoholic siblings.
Although it was morning, by the time I started taking pictures of the beer station, I started to get quite thirst. Alright, I thought, just one beer shoudl be okay. Then I ate a banana so that the meal was healthy and balanced.
The Internet
As you’d expect, the internet in the lounge was excellent. We didn’t clock it, but didn’t feel much need. We were able to do everything we needed to without any lag. This is a completely fine lounge to work in.
The Restrooms and Showers
The restrooms are thankfully located inside the lounge.
There are also showers, which are a God-send. Each shower is named after a Canadian airport. When we asked for a shower assignment at the front desk we were directed to the shower labeled YVR. Having never been to Vancouver before, we were thrilled to be able to check British Columbia off our travel bucket list!
The interior of the shower was reasonably spacious, and, again, aesthetically designed. We approve.
Final Thoughts
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Frankfurt (FRA) is a fantastic lounge, and AirCanada deserves a ton of credit for the good work they’ve done here. We loved it. It is a little small, but everything is very well done. If we had any tips for the management, it would be to expand and spice up the lounge a little bit. But honestly, if the choice were between this and the Lufthansa Senator’s Lounge down the hall, we woudl take this in a heartbeat. It is by far the superior lounge (it also crushes the rating of a private lounge in the airport, LuxxLounge Review – Frankfurt (FRA)). AirCanada, bravo.
Final Grades
| Connectivity: | 5/5 |
| Workability | 3/5 |
| Relaxation: | 4/5 |
| Catering: | 3/5 |
| Alcohol: | 4/5 |
| Ambiance: | 4/5 |
| Total Score | 23/30 |
