Minute Suites BWI Review – A Private Room in an Airport

If you are walking around the BWI airport, you will notice that there is a lack of lounge options. This is very apparent in terminals A through C which have no lounges. While Terminal D has one lounge, The Club at BWI (see our review of The Club at BWI here), it isn’t accessible from Terminals A – C since they aren’t connected. One option that is available is the Minute Suites. For those who aren’t familiar with a Minute Suites (like I was until recently), this will be a comprehensive review of the Minute Suites at BWI. Hopefully, this will give you an idea if it is worth your time while in the BWI airport.

What is Minute Suites?

Minute Suites are very different than your ordinary airport lounge. Each Minute Suites location contains a number of individual rooms that are available for rent for a certain period of time. These provide a respite from the airport terminal and an opportunity to relax, work, and/or nap in a space of your own. Minute Suites’ tagline is “The Traveler’s Retreat”, and it can certainly be this. All in all, think of this offering as a small and simple hotel room in the secure side of the airport.

Access Options

Now that you understand what a Minute Suites location provides, here is how to get access.

Cash Rate

The first method of access is purchasing a period of time. Minute Suites will sell access to a suite for a minimum of one hour. After the first hour, visitors can extend the stay by any number of 15-minute increments. In addition to the hourly rental, several locations offer overnight stays for a discounted per hour price. Any 8 hour period starting between 9 PM and midnight are bookable at the discounted rate. The prices for all these options are shown above.

Priority Pass

The second method of access is Priority Pass. This is the option that I used in my recent visit to the Minute Suites BWI. As a member of the Priority Pass lounge network, Minute Suites provides visitors with a free hour of use. In actuality, the “free hour” is a 75-minute time slot meaning that you have a little more than an hour to enjoy the free suite. In addition to the free hour, Priority Pass members can also buy additional time at the reduced rate of $34/hour (instead of the $48/hour regular price). I find that I rarely need more time than 1 hour in a suite, but having the option for 2 hours in a suite for $34 isn’t a bad option.

Discounted Entry

Finally, Minute Suites does offer discounts off the hourly rate to certain individuals. Travelers eligible for the discounts include pilots, airline employees, military personnel, and first responders. The actual discounts aren’t published so I don’t know how substantial the discount is. However, a discount is still a discount.

Another discounted entry option is possibly one of the most unique and nice to see. Minute Suites will provide a free 30-minute stay to nursing and/or pumping mothers. While many airports are beginning to have breast feeding and pumping rooms available, some still don’t, and they can be few and far between. Having access to a suite where your can spread out and have privacy is a great option. For those who have this need, be sure to take up Minute Suites on the hospitality. Nursing and/or pumping mothers can extend their stay at the same discounted rate as Priority Pass members. However, understand that when you extend your time you will forfeit the free 30-minutes and instead just get the discounted rate for the first hour and all the time after that.

For all the access methods listed above, Minute Suites allows a maximum of 4 people in a room. Personally, I believe that the rooms get a little crowded with 4 people in them unless some are children accompanying parents. However, it’s nice to know this is possible if you are in a large group.

Entrance/Check-In

Upon arriving at the Minute Suites location, visitors will check-in at the front desk. The attendants are generally very pleasant and will help you book a room for the desired length of time. They will take your payment method up front to charge you for the length of time requested. This payment method will also be retained on file in case you stay over the booked timeslot. The front desk also provides a selection of food, beverages, and comfort items. Some examples of products include pillows, sheets, toiletries, chargers, etc.

After being checked in, as long as a room is available, the attendant will take you back to one of the cleaned rooms. However, it is worth noting that all the suites can be taken at popular times. In this case, the attendants will be able to tell you when the next suite will open up. If the time works for you, they will issue you a reservation and send you a text when the room becomes available.

Facilities

Once you have entered the Minutes Suites area in Terminal C, you will be taken to one of five private rooms that the facility has. Each room is named for a local Baltimore landmark, neighborhood, or historical figure. The names include Camden, Poe, Federal Hill, Fells Point, and Mount Vernon. Each of the rooms are fairly identical so there isn’t a real difference in booking one over the other. In addition, at the furthest end of the Minutes Suites location is a restroom for visitor use.

Standard Room

Upon entering a room, visitors will find a small but adequate private room. Taking up one entire wall is a couch with a daybed pullout. The couch is approximately six feet long. There is also a side table level with the couch cushions that add about 6 – 8 inches to the length of the bed. With both of these, all but the tallest people will be able to lay down on it. The couch comes with two pillows, one for lounging/back support and one for sleeping. The day bed that pulls out from the bottom of the couch is a little shorter, but would work in a pinch if a travel companion needs a place to rest. Next to the couch is an Amazon Echo Dot.

On the opposite wall is a small desk, office chair, television, and mini-fridge. The desk is quite small. Due to the fridge placement under the desk, you are only able to use a small portion of it. Given that I am doing work most of the time when I am in airport lounges, I found this slightly annoying. Despite the small desk, the chair was comfortable, and there were an appropriate number of outlets (both normal Type-A and USB outlets). Each room features individual thermostats and an adjustable volume white noise generator.

Finally, the TV on this wall is a smart TV with a variety of applications available including Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, ESPN, and Apple TV. There aren’t any normal cable channels, so you will need a streaming service to access most of the content. Unfortunately, there are no exposed input ports to allow visitors to play content from their own devices or use it as a second screen for productivity.

Bottom Line

All in all, Minute Suites are a nice amenity to have if you want to enjoy a private room to yourself. I imagine they would be really nice for a family who want to keep children contained. I enjoyed my experience because it offered a quite work space. However, the rooms are on the small side. If a full service lounge was available, I think the additional food and drink amenities are worth going there. Unfortunately, lounge options are limited at BWI, so I will likely use the BWI Minute Suites in the future.