ekscrunchy

I have a long layover..from about 4:30pm until about 11:30pm, in JBG in a few weeks. I see there is a lounge available for a fee...has anyone used this and if so, how is it? (I am flying the dreaded coach but my companions will be in bus class)

Are there day rooms in the airport? How do others handle this? Nearby restaurants?? How long in advance is it possible to check luggage on KLM (bound for Ams and JFK) ? Many thanks!

ekscrunchy

..anyone?? Thanks!!

canadian_robin

I don't know about day rooms, but friends used the lounge (I believe it was a SAA lounge) and loved it - they were able to shower and then snooze on the very comfy couches - they said it was money well spent! Robin

Lynneb

I don't think the KLM desk will open until 3-4 hrs prior to the flight leaving.

I've checked a couple of websites where it says that there are left luggage facilities available on the upper level of the underground parkade, just off the main lift lobby of Terminal A2 at international arrivals area.

Lynneb

There's also an intercon hotel nearby which others may have used?

Patty

Where will you be arriving from and will your bags be through checked? If you have an international to international connection with through checked bags, you can pick up your KLM boarding passes at the transfer desk (just follow the international transfers sign as opposed to immigration sign on arrival at JNB).

jasher

Hello,

As Patty points out, a lot depends on where you are arriving from and whether your bags will be checked through. If you do have to reclaim them, you should check with KLM re how many hours before departure time they can be checked in.

You can certainly get a day room at one of the airport hotels. The Intercontinental is within walking distance, or if you don't mind taking a shuttle there are others which are less expensive. Personally I'd choose a day room over a lounge, unless it was the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, but it depends on what you plan on doing with your time.

The airport itself is rather short on restaurants (unless you count the various fast food places...I don't). The restaurant at the Interncontinental is decent though you may struggle to get served in the later part of the evening as they drop down to a skeleton staff. With the amount of time you have you could theoretically go into the city for dinner if you felt like it.

Cheers,
Julian

ekscrunchy

Thanks, all! We will be arriving from Bots and bound for Ams...flight to AMS is KLM...it is wonderful to be able to summon so much help here! I will look further into the various options. My friends will be in business class and the TA will inquire if I can be admitted for a fee, but I strongly doubt that that will happen!!! (only gold elite and platinum elite allowed in AMS; I have silver)

AlwaysOnTheRoad

There is a better selection of restaurants at the Domestic Terminal. If you like steak, burgers, etc. - try the Spar outlet.

jasher

Hello,

I had a feeling you were on the Air Bots flight from Maun -- with Air Botswana's record for (lack of) timeliness you may not have to wait for 7 hours after all...

Cheers,
Julian

ekscrunchy

Here is an update on my question. In addition to the Sun hotel just outside the airport there is a Protea Transit Hotel inside the JBG terminal. We did not use it, however....

The KLM business class lounge is currently closed due to renovations..passengers eligible for this lounge are referred to the Premiere Class Lounges, which are quite crowded, or at least they were when we were there last Saturday...

ekscrunchy

More info on the transit hotel:

http://www.proteahotels.com/protea-hotel-transit.html

We ended up having dinner in the ground-floor restaurant of the Sun Hotel located just outside the airport entrance. Afer dinner we retrieved bags that we had stored the previous week in the left luggage area next to the indoor parking lot (quite costly at 40 R per bag per day, but we had no problems) and proceeded to the departure gate for the KLM flight to AMS...

napamatt

I was away for this thread. But there is a lounge upstairs, I believed called Premiere which can be used for a fee. They also have a lounge in the Sun Hotel with breakfast and showers for a fee.

knlaw

The Sun is right across the street from the airport. The resturant at the hotel is really nice and not very expensive. They have a GREAT South African wine list and the lobby is really relaxing. We also used the lounge on a long layover flying home. Our travel agent gave us a free pass for the day. The lounge is quiet. Has showers, free food, drinks (even alcholic) snacks, television. It was crowded but we were there so long we watched people come and go. We stayed in the airport because we didn't feel like messing with security.
Kim

ekscrunchy

Yes, we were given passes to one of the Premiere lounges because the KLM lounge was closed. Normally I believe the price is $27 US per person. But there was barely a seat free in the Premiere lounge when we peeked in. And most of their lockers for luggage were broken..all in all the place needs some work. We opted, instead, for dinner at the Sun which was a good way to pass the time....

Matt I enjoyed your report...I was also at King's Pool and will do a report once I get back to earth..

Patty

The AF lounge is also closed, so KL, AF and probably DL passengers are using the Premiere lounge. It's going to be pretty packed in the evening until the new AF lounge opens which will supposedly be in the new section of the airport closer to their current boarding gates.

annhig

hi, ek,

when we transitted throguh JBG in July there were lots of building works going on which made our schlep from domestic arrivals to international departures quite exciting.

but you are arriving and exciting from the same area so it may be better. there was a quite nice restaurant [behind a cafe]near the "out of Africa" shop which was close to the KLM gate [we were on KLM too] and the shop was ok for half an hour of so, but for 7 hours, I'd definitely look at getting out of the ariport, especially as you should have no luggage to worry about.

You may want to know that everything at the airport closed at about 10pm, so if you want to buy supplies for your trip [the food on that particular KLM flight was not very good] make sure you've got them before that.

Have a great trip,

regards, ann

ekscrunchy

Thanks, Ann...I returned home last week. The construction in JBG is still going on. We wasted a lot of time looking for the KLM lounge (closed), checking out the Premiere lounge (crowded wtih no lockable storage) etc. So we ended up eating at the Sun Hotel which has a nice restaurant. (The restuaurant we found inside the terminal, Kaya, looked more like a food court-type place, not so conducive to spending a few hours; we probably missed other options inside) Next time I would plan better and have a restaurant in mind to taxi to... Or even set up a tour of the city, which would have been difficult this time since we were there at the end of the day on Saturday...

I will post a short trip report once I get settled back home..I LOVED SA and the rest of our trip...

annhig

hi, ek - welcome home.

sorry I found your thread too late to be any help!

looking forward to your trip report,

regards, ann