After arriving in Helsinki from Budapest, I quickly made my way through the immigration to the non-Schengen area where my flight to Bangkok would depart from. As my flight to Bangkok was in business class, I had access to the Finnair lounge. However, before going there, I wanted to check out Almost@Home – one of Helsinki’s Priority Pass lounges.
At first, the Almost@Home Lounge might be a bit difficult to find. It is located after the passport control, but before the gate area. The entrance to the lounge is in the duty free shop right after immigration.
Besides being accessible with Priority Pass, the lounge is also available to Rossiya Airlines and Ukraine Airlines premium class passengers among others. It is also possible to access the lounge by paying a one-time entrance fee.
Lounge Overview
Just like its name suggests, the Almost@Home Lounge’s is designed in such a way to make you feel as though you are at your own home.
After passing through the reception, there is the kitchen. There is the main counter with drawers containing cutlery. The refreshments are both on the main counter and on a couple of kitchen islands. Finally, there is also a large communal dining table.
Besides that, there is a glass showcase with some items for sale, and a selection of reading materials.
To the left of the kitchen area is one of the lounge’s seating areas. It features dining tables with benches and chairs.
At the very back of this area, two computers and a Playstation 4 can be found.
Going back through the kitchen, all the way to the other end of the lounge, the living room can be found. Together with the kitchen, this area feels the most like “home.” The living room includes a large TV on a stand with a bookshelf, some sofas, and some relaxation chairs.
There is also a counter with a couple of counter-height chairs and a tea corner.
Finally, next to the “living room” is another seating area – officially the “home office.” This area contains several rows of sofa chairs and resembles a “typical lounge” more than any other area of the Almost@Home Lounge. This section also includes a coffee corner.
Food & Drinks Selection
Except for the tea and coffee which are located in the lounge’s seating areas, the drinks is in the kitchen. There are some sodas in large bottles, juices, wines, and a beer on tap. Liquors are available at the reception for extra cost.
As for the food, there was one main hot meal at the time of my visit – mashed potatoes with minced meat sauce. The dessert – a mousse – was next to it.
There was a salad bar as well.
Finally, there were also some snacks and fruits.
Almost@Home Lounge Helsinki Summary
While the lounge was a bit crowded at the time of my visit, it has to be one of my favorites out of the Priority Pass lounges I visited so far. The main reason is the lounge’s “Almost@Home” concept.
As I continued to the Finnair Lounge, I did not eat anything except for the mousse. That was, however, great.
To sum it up, the decent refreshments selection combined with the variety of seating and even a Playstation to kill time make it a great place to relax if you have Priority Pass and are taking a non-Schengen flight out of Helsinki.
