Both of our credit cards provide us with Priority Pass memberships, and sometimes we are lucky enough to travel in business class. This allows us access to airport lounges all over the world. Our reviews are based solely on our individual experiences in the specific lounge at the time of day we visited. These opinions may or may not be the same as other guests. We visited Sri Lanka in March 2019. Below are our unbiased reviews of the airport lounges we had a chance to visit in Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport.
Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport
Araliya Lounge
The Layout
The Araliya lounge is spacious, with plenty of seating options. One side of the lounge is comprised of different styles of armchairs, complete with a large television showing cricket, setting the mood. 
The other side has a few dining tables and more leather armchairs. Complimentary magazines and newspapers were available, as well as a few computers for personal use. The room was very quiet, despite filling up with guests shortly after we arrived.
Food and Drink
Food options for dinner were vast and varied. 
The hot food selection contained buttered and steamed vegetables, chicken, vegetable biryani, fish and more. 
Before we left, the foods were all replaced with fresh, new options. Also available were a series of desserts, fresh fruit, sandwiches, cheese and crackers. Drinks included soft drinks, beer, wine, coffee, tea, water and a large station of DIY spirits.
Other Amenities/Factors
It was a challenge to find places to charge our devices. However, there was a charging hub station with a few USB ports that we ended using for our smartphones. The washrooms were not particularly clean, but better than the ones in the main terminal. The staff were attentive, regularly cleaning tables and replenishing food.
Wifi Speed
The wifi was excruciatingly slow, with speed tests reaching only 0.19 mb/s DL and 0.44 mb/s UL. The same network is used for all the neighbouring lounges, so that is likely the culprit for the slow speeds.
Conclusion
Overall, the Araliya lounge was a quiet place to relax before a flight, but not a reliable place for decent wifi speeds.
Our overall rating: 7/10
Lotus Lounge
The Layout
The Lotus Lounge was surprisingly similar to the Araliya lounge (see review above). The layout was basically the same.
Food and Drink
The lounge had the same food selection as the Araliya lounge. One difference was that the Lotus Lounge had champagne available for guests!
Other Amenities/Factors
The washrooms were also not particularly clean and there were limited charging ports.
Wifi Speed
The lounge used the same slow wifi network offered by Araliya, but with a different password.
Conclusion
Overall, the Lotus lounge provided essentially the same experience as the Araliya lounge. If they included more options for charging devices and a faster wifi network, our experience would have been better.
Our overall rating: 7/10
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