Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt
Beautiful and elegant features all around, together with its cozy room design, Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte is unique to other hotels in the Frankfurt City area. It is just a pity that it won’t be another viable accommodation option in the near future.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt
Singapore Airlines Business Class: B777-300ER Business Class FRA-SIN
After a great 5 days in Frankfurt, it was time to head back to Singapore, this time trying out the 2013 J Seat, also on the B777-300ER.
One thing that I did not mentioned in my previous post was that I needed to take an ART Test minimum 48 hours before my flight, in which I went to Coronatest Frankfurt at the Hauptbahnhof, which was really convenient! Just a short 2 minutes walk from the tram stop. What’s more, it was free-of-charge even for foreign passport holders, as long as you make an appointment beforehand and state your hotel address.
Heading to the airport from Villa Kennedy Rocco Forte was straightfoward, taking the same tram just a short 2-3 minutes walk from the hotel, to the Hauptbahnhof. From there, there is a straight train down to Frankfurt Airport.
Check-In
Check-in was at the Departure Terminal 2, and the Singapore Airlines Check-In Counters were quite a distance away from the train station, so do factor some time in if you are planning to check-in at the last hour.
On the way, you will pass by some traditional flight signboards, which brought about a bit of nostalgia to my travels when I was a teenager.
The queue was relatively short for Business Class passengers, and other than a passenger in front which took longer than usual due to some documentation issues, the check-in process was completed in about 10 minutes. I was then invited to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, which was a bit surprising as I thought it would be the Lufthansa Business Lounge.
Directions To The Lounge
I did not take pictures of the exact directions, but it was pretty near to the boarding gates for SQ. After passport control, it is only about a few minutes walk to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, in which you will see clear directions, and is before the Lufthansa Business Lounge.
Lounge Area
I was greeted by the iconic Air Canada logo and a minature version of their aircraft as I went into the lounge. On first impression, the lounge seems to have a limited size (especially after my previous lounge experience at the Silverkris Lounge). However, it has a wide variety of seat types, ranging from sofas, loungers (in a private compartment with a small TV), and dining tables. That said, I foresee that it would be difficult to get seats once air travel picks up again!
Luckily, it was pretty empty during my visit, and I managed to snag a sofa with best views of the runway, which is arguably the main highlight of this lounge. A great way to pass the waiting time!
Productivity
In my opinion, the lounge does not have good locations for doing productive work, other than the dining tables. There are power points but not very work-friendly in terms of their locations. So I preferred to find an excuse to surf (and arrange my photos - productive work?) on my phone.
Food
The lounge has a small hot-food area, which was not of interest for me. What was interesting is the snacks corner, which were placed in glass containers. M&Ms!
Beside the hot-food area, there was also a rounded counter that serves fresh fruits, salads and yoghurts.
Over at the drinks area, Lavazza coffee machines were available, along with tea, soft drinks and fruit juices. There was also a wide range of draft beers (because Germany!), liquors and wines beside it, but I did not partake (as I am leaving my consciousness for the Business Class alcohol experience later).
I instead opted for the M&Ms, corn snacks and Lavazza coffee, which was nice! While watching the nice runway views and aircrafts.
Showers
Unfortunately, the shower rooms were closed during my visit, however some pictures from Live and Let’s Fly seem to suggest that it is quite nice, with rain showers available, but again with unbranded shampoo and shower gel in pump dispensers.
I stayed for about an hour in the lounge before I headed to my boarding gate, 30 minutes before flight departure.
Conclusion
Overall, I would not go to Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Frankfurt for the food, but its relative quietness (I heard that it is much busier over at the Lufthansa Business Lounge), awesome runway views and nice coffee makes this lounge a good option to hang out for a while, especially for Aviation Lovers.
The Travel Duckie
An aspiring, ordinary individual (or bird) who yearns and enjoys travelling, while juggling full-time work. He is also a travel hacker who flies (not literally) way out of his obligations to uncover the best strategies and deals to maximise cost-effectiveness (or rather “cheapskate-ness”) to the maximum.
He hopes to document his journey through words, while maybe inspiring others to follow the path, and ultimately aims to be able to do this as a full-time passion.
-”Journey before destination. Enjoy the journey” - Brian Sanderson.