Vinga Lounge Review – Gothenburg (GOT)

Gothenburg Landvetter (GOT) is a cozy airport with lots of character, great services, and plenty of space to spend your layover. With such a nice little airport, I assumed the lounge would be a cut above, blending high-brow Scandinavian design with the working-class warmth of Western Sweden. Sadly, dear shark, you will be disappointed by what is, in most ways, a generic space. But we’ll make up for the dissapointment by pouring our soul into this Vinga Lounge Review – Gothenburg (GOT).

Our Trip – Vinga Lounge Review – Gothenburg (GOT)

We were catching a transatlantic flight to Washington Dulles to vote for president much as our forebears saddled up on horses to make the pilgrimage. “Why didn’t you vote by mail?” I hear you, and every other person that has heard this plan asking. A shark believes in the personal touch.

The Facts – Vinga Lounge Review – Gothenburg (GOT)

The lounge accepts Priority Pass, American Express and status from the AirFrance/KLM group. You can find it easily after the security check, at the end of a disused hallway under a sign that reads, “Beware of Leopard”.

The Space – Vinga Lounge Review – Gothenburg (GOT)

The space is about what you would expect from a mid-sized-market Scandinavian lounge. Named after an island in the Gothenburg archipelago, the Vinga lounge has a half-hearted nautical theme. The only real standout is a globe lamp modeled after the glass orbs that were once used on fishing nets. Though we aren’t exactly asking them to go full Long John Silver’s on us, a small granite boulder or some weathered dock-wood wouldn’t hurt.

The lounge is comprised of a single, large room, with three sub-sections. Lounge space along the atrium window gives you a fleeting glimpse of the winter sun, but an otherwise pleasant view of the runway and forests beyond. To the right as you enter are diner-style tables with a good workspace. There are no bathrooms in the lounge, which is the second worst possibility where bathrooms are concerned. The first being when they are single-occupancy and right next to the food, as in Cancun’s Mera Business Lounge.

The Food

The buffet is as basic as it gets. You have cold cuts, muesli and yogurt. The lounge advises patrons to disinfect their hands and even provides gloves. Although most guests I watched used this station, nothing stopped a small child from hovering over the cold cuts inexplicably saturating the buffet with droplets for several minutes. She left empty handed.

The Drinks

Even though at Lanvetter it was 8:45am, it was definitely five o’clock somewhere. Either that or the globe lamp cast more of a Jimmy Buffet vibe in the room than it did light. As I watched two patrons side-by-side at the bar, unmasked and pouring a glass of wine and about 4 fingers of bourbon, I was almost inspired by Swedish grit. Not prepared to make my day feel any longer, I went for coffee. This is all to say the booze selection is solid: beer, wine, hard liquors.

The Internet

I will try to say this as diplomatically as I can: the WiFi in this lounge is hot garbage. I got 3Mbps down and 6Mbps up. This is very puzzling, as the network for the airport at large is incredible, at nearly 200 Mbps. Don’t bother connecting to the lounge network.

Final Thoughts

Perhaps it’s the Nordic Janteloven mentality, or the humble needs of a humble people, but the Vinga Lounge did not score highly in many of our metrics and feels like a missed opportunity. Although the space they work with prohibits adding restrooms inside the lounge, more local character and more thoughtful food would go a long way toward improving the space.

Final Grades