Naha Airport lounge review: the Korean Air business lounge, Ryurin Lounge, in Okinawa, Japan
After wrapping up our Okinawa trip and heading to the airport for our flight home,
this was the lounge we used at Naha Airport:
the Ryurin Lounge.
It’s inside the international terminal’s duty-free area on the 4th floor,
right near the DFS duty-free shop and across from Gate 42.
Just look for the elevator that goes up to the 4th floor.
It used to be available only to business-class passengers,
but recently I heard you can also get in through the The Lounge app.
We were flying Korean Air Prestige Class,
so we could enter the Ryurin Lounge for free.
Hours are 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
There’s also a list of the airlines that can use the lounge.
Take the lounge-only elevator up to the 4th floor.
The Ryurin Lounge at Naha Airport isn’t very big.
The seating isn’t especially comfortable either—
there are no cushy sofas where you can really lean back and relax,
just fairly upright chairs.
Still, it was quiet and not crowded,
so it worked well for a short break before boarding.
You do need to keep your voice down inside the lounge.
The food selection is pretty minimal too.
What you see here is basically the whole spread.
There’s a coffee, soft drink, and beer station.
There’s a decent variety of soda, and for draft beer
they had two options: Orion and Asahi.
There were a few other alcoholic drinks too,
but honestly, nothing impressive.
Milk and roll cake,
karaage and quiche,
fried rice,
cup udon and egg blocks.
Bread,
some snacky things that go well with beer,
and pineapple cookies.
Once we found a seat, the first priority was feeding the baby.
It’s not a huge lounge, but the space between seats was wide enough
to bring in a stroller without too much trouble,
so that part was actually pretty manageable.
Because the lounge atmosphere was so quiet,
I did feel a little bad whenever the baby suddenly squealed.
One last glass of Orion draft beer before leaving.
If you didn’t get to enjoy much Orion beer during your Okinawa trip,
the lounge gives you one final chance.
The cup udon was salty but tasty,
and those Okinawa pineapple cookies
were surprisingly good too, so I ended up eating a few.
There’s no shower room in the lounge,
just restrooms, a phone booth, and a smoking room.
The lounge itself is small, but there are two restroom areas,
so we didn’t have to wait to use one.
There’s also a diaper changing table in the women’s restroom.
Not just here, but while traveling around Japan,
I noticed a lot of places only have changing tables in the women’s restroom
and not in the men’s.
What are single dads supposed to do?
Since our baby still couldn’t walk yet,
it was actually more comfortable to sit the baby on the office-style desk
than to keep holding them on a regular chair in the lounge.
There was more room, the baby could sit comfortably and hold on to stand,
so we ended up staying in this spot for quite a while.
Overall, this Naha Airport lounge is small, the seats aren’t especially comfortable, and the food selection is limited.
So if you’re a business-class passenger or can get in free with a The Lounge partner card,
it’s a perfectly fine place to rest for a bit before departure.
But I wouldn’t really recommend paying out of pocket to use it—
the value just isn’t there.
That said, if you love draft beer,
you might still be happy just drinking a few glasses before your flight.