The 10 worst-rated airport lounges in France and the Benelux, and where to go instead

France and the Benelux have some of the best airline lounges in Europe. Air France's Hall L lounge at Charles de Gaulle rates 4.9 on this site, and KLM's Crown Lounge 52 at Schiphol rates 4.5. Most of the region's bad lounges are not dirty or broken. Not one of the ten below scores above 2.9, and many of them are the only choice on their side of security.

How I picked them: I started from every lounge in the region on Lounge Frog, kept the open ones rated on at least 8 of our metrics, and sorted by overall score. The scores are our editorial ratings, explained in our methodology.

Paris: bad rooms with good ones nearby#

1. YotelAir Paris CDG Lounge, Terminal 2E Hall L (2.5). This is the lounge area of an in-terminal hotel, not a lounge in its own right, and it scores that way: 2 for coffee, drinks, food, seating and workspace, and 1 for views. Priority Pass and LoungeKey members get snacks, beer and wine, and a first-come shower, but no sleeping cabin. The Air France Lounge in Hall L rates 4.9, but you need business class or SkyTeam Elite Plus to use it. If you are paying, the contract Salon Paul Maxence (2E, Hall L) rates 3.0 and may sell entry when it has space.

3. Salon Paris, Terminal 2C (2.8). This is a contract lounge for partner airlines, and passengers leaving from 2C can also buy entry through third-party sites. The Primeclass Lounge in the 2A/2C connector also takes partner-airline passengers and sells entry, and it rates 3.3.

6. American Airlines Admirals Club, 2A/2C connector (2.9). It opens for American's morning flights and closes at 1pm. The Cathay Pacific Lounge is in the same connector and takes the same oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members. Its hours also end at noon, but if you are flying in the morning there is no reason to sit in the Admirals Club.

The CDG leaderboard shows how far apart Charles de Gaulle's best and worst lounges are.

Amsterdam: paying for the name#

4. Privium ClubLounge West, Schiphol non-Schengen (2.8). Privium is Schiphol's own membership scheme, and non-members can buy a one-time voucher for €45. In the same non-Schengen area, between the D and E gates, Aspire Lounge 41 rates 4.6, has two showers, and sells entry at the door from about €40.

Regional France: often the only lounge in the building#

The rest of the list has the same problem.

2. Salon by FDI, Montpellier (2.7). This is the only lounge at Montpellier. It used to be called Salon Promeo and now carries a sponsor's name. Drinks, exclusivity, food and workspace score 2. It takes Priority Pass and paid entry. There is no alternative airside.

5. Salon Confluence, Lyon Terminal 1 (2.9). This is Lyon's Schengen lounge and Air France's lounge in the city. The Salon Mont Blanc rates 3.3 and is quieter, but it is past passport control for non-Schengen flights only. On a flight within Europe you cannot get to it.

7. Salon Hall A, Bordeaux (2.9) and 10. Air France Lounge, Bordeaux Hall B (2.9). Bordeaux has two lounges, one in each hall, and they score the same. The Air France lounge was redone in 2015. Each lounge is limited to its own hall, so neither is an alternative to the other. easyJet passengers leaving from the billi terminal get neither.

8. Salon La Croix du Sud, Toulouse (2.9). This is the airport-run lounge by gates 33 and 34. It takes Priority Pass and paid entry, and Air France sends its eligible passengers to a lounge of the same name at the same spot.

9. The Infinity Lounge, Nice Terminal 2 (2.9). This is Nice's Schengen lounge in Terminal 2, run by the airport and open to Priority Pass. That fits a room any passenger can buy their way into, with entry allowed up to two hours before a Schengen departure. The Levity Lounge in the same terminal rates 3.3 and also takes Priority Pass, but it is for non-Schengen flights only, and the airport turns away anyone who booked the wrong zone. Schengen passengers in Terminal 2 have nothing better. The Library Lounge (3.1) is Schengen too, but it is in Terminal 1.

What didn't make the list#

Three lounges would have ranked but have no photos on the site yet. These are both Charleroi lounges, simply called The Lounge (Terminal 2) at 2.6 and The Lounge (Terminal 1) at 2.7, and Marseille's Salon Vols Union Européenne at 2.8.

Marseille's international lounge, the former Cézanne, scores 2.9 and would have made the list. I dropped it because the airport now describes it as a new space of more than 600 square meters with a new food offer. Our rating looks older than that.

Brussels' Diamond Lounge (2.4) and Schiphol's Privium ExpressLounge (2.5) score lower than anything here, but they are rated on fewer than eight metrics, so I left them out. The Brussels Airlines lounges, rated on only two metrics each, are out for the same reason.

The other articles in this series follow the same rules: the UK and Ireland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and Spain and Portugal.