I visited the Schengen/domestic Alitalia lounge at Rome Fiumicino at the end of December as I was connecting through between Abu Dhabi and Brussels. This connection time allowed for just over an hour to spend at the Casa lounge. This will be a review of that experience.
Getting to the lounge
Without seeing much lounge signage as I transferred aircraft, I made the very incorrect assumption that this Alitalia lounge would be located close to my Alitalia flight - so I first made my way towards the gate where my flight would be. However, I quickly discovered that there were no lounges in sight and that there was just the one Alitalia lounge near the D gates of the airport. This required 15 minutes of walking back through the terminal and going up to another level.
Access to the lounges is reserved exclusively to the following passengers in possession of a travel document, in departure or in transit:
- Business Class Long Haul - Magnifica Class
- Business Class Medium Haul
- Members of the Freccia Alata Plus, Freccia Alata and SkyTeam Elite Plus clubs
- Holders of an Alitalia American Express Platinum Card
- €35 for online purchases (online check-in or in the My Flights section on the homepage), via the Customer Center or at affiliated travel agents
- €45 at the airport
Space and seating
The lounge has more of a cozy feel rather than a large-wide-open vibe. This can be attributed to its lower ceiling and ultimately smaller area. Corridors connecting seating areas and leading to the bar and food stations are on the narrower side.
As you can see from the photos, there are a few 'high-top' chairs and tables closer to the bar. There are also a few cafe/restaurant style chairs and tables. However, the lounge has a majority of low, wide, comfortable lounge chairs. This means the only way most people can look out the window is if they're standing up. At least it lets in a lot of natural light.
Beverages
For drinks, the lounge has a seemingly endless supply of bottled water - including some decent Italian sparkling water. There is also the 'usual' selection of carbonated soft drinks that you would find in an airport lounge.
For alcoholic beverages, you can ask the bartender staffing the bar. There you'll also be assisted with coffee and tea.
Food selection
The food here was all cold but quite good nonetheless. There was a nice selection of sliced meats as well as some rice and pasta salads. Clearly the pizza squares were popular as they disappeared quickly after being put out.
Conclusion
I can imagine this lounge getting quite busy and crowded during (non-holiday) weekdays as it would likely fill up with business travelers going between other major European cities. It certainly is nowhere near as big as KLM's Schengen Crown Lounge or Air France's two Schengen Salons (of course Alitalia is a much smaller airline than the two SkyTeam partners).
The staff at reception were polite and helped me with a smile. The service overall was good but the food was nothing special. In the end, the lounge definitely offered me a comfortable and relatively quiet place to get some work done during a short stopover.