Following on from the recent Lufthansa Business Class Lounge at Frankfurt Airport (FRA), my husband and I also had the chance of visiting the Air Canadfa Maple Leaf Lounge, and of the two this turne dout to be the favorite. As a reminder, this is part of the final leg of our European Whirlwind vacation, as we flew Singapore airlines from Frankfurt back to New York-JFK after an extended vacation where I first flew business class with Air France from New York-JFK to Paris CDG and from Paris CDG to Lyon LYS and also visited the very nice Air France Lounges in JFK and Paris CDG (with stunning design). Then, my husband and I flew Air France business class from Paris CDG to Zurich ZRH, where we started a 6-day long Switzerland vacation that culminated in Geneva, from where we flew to the Netherlands to see the flower fields.
I was quite excited for this last part of the trip, as I was eager to fly Singapore Airlines business class after hearing so many good things. As part of that ticket, we were invited to visit either (or both) the Lufthansa Business Lounge, or the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. This review is dedicated to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, located in Frankfurt’s Terminal 1.
Entry requirements
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge adheres to normal Star Alliance entry requirements, meaning you can enter as a business or first class passenger ticketed on a Star Alliance airline (so doesn’t need to be Air Canada per se), or you can enter in any class of service if you’re Star Alliance Gold. This Star Alliance-wide loyalty recognition typically requires being a second or third-level elite with a Star Alliance airline, such as Air Canada’s 50K elite status tier, or Lufthansa’s Senator tier.
Another way to enter the Air Canada Maple leaf Lounge at Frankfurt FRA would be to have a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, and flying on a Star Alliance airline. This lounge doesn’t partner with Priority Pass, or other such lounge memberships.
Location and hours
The Air Canada maple leaf Lounge is open daily from 6AM to 5PM.
The lounge is located one above the main concourse. As you leave security, you’ll have to turn left, in the same direction as the Lufthansa Business Lounge. Ther will be overhead signs telling you where to go. Probably about halfway to the end of the concourse, you’ll see an escalator to your right that you’ll need to take up.
Ocne there, follow the corridor and you’ll pretty much bump into the lounge, which is easy to recognize due to the Air Canada sign overhead and the pretty wooden lattice work, decorating the wall by the entrance.
You enter the lounge and encounter a model of an Air Canada Boeing 787 – beautiful! I love things like that… then turn right and you find yourself in a corridor with more of the wooden lattice work. I like this design a lot, as the curved walls open up into the spacious lobby area where Air Canada Lounge staff welcomes us in a very friendly manner. They scanned our boarding passes and invited us into the lounge, briefly highlighting the location of the buffet.
With that, we entered left into the lounge. Suffice it to say that this experience is already on a whole other level than the Lufthansa Lounge, which from the start felt sterile and, honestly, not all that hospitable. This lounge visit definitely started on a higher note.
Seating and design
You have to understand that we just came from the Lufthansa Business lounge, and so that may have skewed our perception of this lounge a little. We stopped in our tracks when we walked in, since the contrast with the Lufthansa Lounge was quite stark. Now, I don’t actually think that the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge is necessarily the nicest lounge I have seen, but it certainly is very nicely designed lounge with an elegant, relaxed feel, and certainly more hospitable-looking than the Lufthansa lounge.
As you enter you first come across two communal tables, and behind it is something of a room with various types of couches and chairs.
Off to the right is the buffet, as well as lounge seating by floor-to-ceiling windows with a good view of the apron. It was nice to sit or stand here and watch what was going on outside. Frankfurt is sort of a curious place, for one because you can still see all the 4-engined aircraft that are otherwise phased out with most other airlines, but not Lufthansa: older and newer Boeing 747 variants, Airbus A380 and Airbus A340. Further, you can also see a host of niche airlines that you’d not usually see at other European airports, so that’s fun as well.
All along the windows you’ll find lounge-style seating with comfortable seats and little tables in-between. This is where we chose to sit, though further in the back. The large windows bring a lot of natural light and with the apron views, it’s always fun to look out at the airplanes moving around. the little tables also had power and USB outlets, allowing you to work and charge devices.
As you get to the end of this row of seating and turn left, there is an adjacent area with some couches and chairs. I thought this was a nice area that really feels more like a living room than a lounge. These seats were comfortable, though I thought more tables would be needed.
Adjacent to these couches were a series of odd-looking gaps between walls that eyed like bookshelves in a library. it turned out that these are private relaxing spaces with a day bed and mood lighting. While more private than much of the other seating, it’s not comparable to some of the resting spaces I’ve seen at other lounges, such as the Air France Shengen lounge at Paris CDG.
In front of these spaces was a series ‘rooms’ in the sense that they were sort of walled off from the rest of the lounge. I say sort of because the walls are not continuous with large gaps in them, I suppose to maintain a sense of cohesion in the space while still providing distinct spaces. The first of these included combinations of seats and couches and little coffee tables, that were stylish but perhaps a little too small to be truly functional in this context.
Then the next space was elegant, with a large couch ‘center piece’ bright red and a real eye catcher. Surrounding it, in all corners, were corner couches with some chairs surrounding small coffee tables. I thought this was a very nice design, providing a homey feel that was elegant and mostly practical. I especially liked the little side tables that could be moved around for optimal use.
On the other side of that walled area, which would be at the other end of the lounge from the windows, was an area with msotly restaurant-style seating. Series of tables were arranged for two persons, on one side lined up along a couch, and standalone tables along the other side. What’s nice is that the tables can be moved around, so you could combine these tables for larger groups as well.
There’s another part to this lounge that is a little bit hidden. If you go back to the lobby area and turn left, you’ll go into a corridor that runs behind the reception desk. This is also where the restrooms and shower are. Toward the end of that corridor you’ll find the business center.
When you enter the room, you’ll find a some shelving on the left, with some small snacks and such, and a TV on the wall. On the right there are a series of seats with privacy shades.
These seats all have a small table on the right, a spotlight and larger light as well. As far as aplace to work, this looked stylish and fun, but very impractical. I’m really not sure how’d you use these seats to work comfortably. It may be better to work at one of the high-top tables oevr in the main lounge area.
Overall, I thought the lounge had a lovely design with a variety of comfortable and stylish seating options. I especially liked the lounge seating along the windows, as it seems most flexible. You could eat small meals, work or just relax and watch the airplane traffic outside. Then there’s also restaurant-style eating, some day beds to relax and nap, as well as high-top seating. The one area that seemed lackluster was the business center, so in that sense the Lufthansa Lounge may be more functional, if working is your primary intent.
Food and drinks
The buffet is divided into two distinct sections, one for dirnks and for for food. When you enter the lounge, the first thing you’ll see will be the drinks buffet on the right hand side. If you keep walking forward you’ll find the food buffet sort of behind it, after passing something of a partition. At first glance, the buffet didn’t seem to impressive, but I think the selection here isn’t any worse than the Lufthansa Business Lounge. In fact, I think much of the selection is similar, it’s just more efficiently displayed.
Over at the drinks section there’s a nice selection of liquors, wines and draft beers. It’s not the highest end selection you’ll find, but it’s respectable and should hold over those that’d like to partake in it. For non-alcoholic options there was a soda fountain with the regular choices, and in a separate cooler juices and alcohol-free beers.
Of course there’s also the possibility for hot drinks. There were two machines, which I thought was a good number for the size of the lounge. Options include the usual fare from hot water to make tea, to espresso and everything else.
The food is placed on a separate part of the buffet, on the other side of a sort ‘divider’, and since this was early in the morning, included a very nice breakfast spread. To start, there were various breads and pastries, both hot and cold. The quality of these was very good! I much enjoyed the croissants.
Next were a variety of hot options with accompanying condiments. Available were delicious little pancakes, sausages, hash browns, potatoes and scrambled eggs, and since we were one of the first people in the lounge, everything was basically untouched. I thought the quality of these foods was pretty good overall.
And then, like in the Lufthansa Lounge, was a selection of candy. I’m not really sure why this is a recurring thing, but I guess it’s a German thing?
Then, there was a large cooler with a variety of cold options, which included various cold cuts, including salami, what looked like turkey and ham, and cheese. On the shelf below there were little jars, one type with a fruit salad, and another with a yoghurt with berries.
Overall, I was very happy with the food options at the Air Canada lounge! Although Air Canada seemed to have a larger variety in terms of hot options, I did notice a resemblance in some of the other food options between the Air Canada and Lufthansa lounges. I got the sense that both lounges may be catered by the same company. All in all though, I enjoyed the food and drink here and would be happy to grab a bite here anytime I’m flying through Frankfurt.
Restrooms and showers
The Air Canada Maple leaf lounge of course ahs restrooms and showers as well, and these were all in the same generla space. To access these, you’ll go back to the lobby area, but ratehr than turn right towards the ecit, you’d turn left to a corridor behind the reception desk. Here, you’d make a left into an ante-room, following the restroom signs.
The restrooms are through two sets of doors (men and women), while a shower stall is available through the door on the left wall, shown above. The restrooms were very clean and had a nice design as well. Several urinals were available as well as stalls that were fully enclosed (something that’s not the norm in the US and I can’t figure out why). There were plentiful tissues and hand towels as well, though of course it was early morning. I’d be interested to see the state of the restrooms later in the day.
Over at the shower stall, I was able to take a peek sicen nobody was using it. I do believe these have to be reserved at the reception, so you shouldn’t just go in and use it at random. The design was the same as that of the restrooms, so they looked very nice, and kind of luxurious with the dark tones. There was large walk-in shower, with clean sets of towels provided. You’ll also have access to a toilet and a large sink with a large mirror. Some amenities, such as conditioner, body gel and such, are also available. Overall, a nice facility!
Then finally, by the entrance to the restrooms was also a shoe shine machine, which may or may not be of interest to you…
Summary
I had a chance to visit the Air Canada Maple leaf lounge at Frankfurt Airport’s Terminal 1. I thought this was a lovely lounge with a very pretty design, comfortable seating of various kinds, and a good spread of food and drinks. I particularly enjoyed the pastries, as well s the pancakes. The restrooms and shower were clean and well-maintained, with enough capacity for a lounge of this size. The staff at the reception desk was also friendly and helpful. The one area where the lounge was lackluster, was in the business center: the available seats didn’t look comfortable to work, though their design was pretty.
All in all, having just visited the Frankfurt Airport Terminal 1 Lufthansa Business Lounge, I’d honestly recommend to visit the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge instead. Unless you aim to work: then the Lufthansa Lounge’s business center is probably a lot more practical.
Points to Seats 
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