HKG Pier Lounge Review: Best Appreciated When Awake
After landing in Hong Kong from my first leg in Cathay First, I proceeded to blindly wander around the terminal in search of their First Class lounge, partially due to exhaustion and partially due to my apparent inability to read a map. We landed at gate 4 (maybe it was 3?) and though I’d been there before, I couldn’t figure out how to access their premier lounge, the Wing, located on the floor above me.
I eventually gave up and took the train to Gates 33-70, only to realize when I got off that my flight left out of Gate 28. (I told you I was tired.)
I was halfway to the surface before I realized this and was fortunate enough to look at my surroundings before going back down the escalator. The train had dropped me off at Gate 36, and it seemed like Gate 28 would be equidistant from either train stop. So then I checked out the map and saw I was about the same distance from both Cathay lounges — the Pier and the Cabin.
I’d heard better things about the Pier, located at Gate 66, so I headed there. Given how hard it had been for me to figure out how to get to my gate, I was glad I could spot the lounge without too much trouble.
I was a little worried that I’d get sent to the business class side, even though as an arriving First Class passenger I was entitled to that lounge. But even though they had trouble with my ticket scanning and asked to see the Business Class ticket, there was no problem getting in.
After 15+ hours in transit, I headed straight for the showers and was shown immediately to a shower room. The pre-supplied amenities were pretty sparse though — things like combs and razors had to be requested, so I headed back to the attendant desk. Apparently the person had just stepped out so I went back to the room and started hanging stuff up, etc. a few minutes later I popped back out. No one.
After waiting almost 10 minutes I finally walked out to the main area and asked the concierge if I could get a razor. They said they’d send someone to the room and about 2 minutes later I was set. I could already tell though that taking a nice hot shower wasn’t going to be as enjoyable as I thought. The individual shower rooms are poorly, if at all, air conditioned. And after 10 minutes in the room without the water running I was already warm.
I hurried as quickly as I could, but not quickly enough to avoid sweating once I toweled off and dried my hair. Still, feeling fresher than before I headed out to the seating area to wait an hour til it was time to board my flight.
As others had reported previously in their trip reports, the lounge was nice but looking a little shopworn. I spotted some free seats right when I exited the shower area and didn’t explore further, happy to sit in a tired stupor.
Shortly after I sat down an attendant came by to take my drink order. I wasn’t particularly hungry, but since I hadn’t eaten much on the plane I decided to grab something from the food area I could see from my seat. I walked up to the counter and looked at the sparse list of options, finally deciding on tomato prosciutto sandwich.
The bread was dry and the filling was a little sparse. I remember being disappointed that there was so little variety for a First Class lounge. Â It was only as I was heading out to board my flight that I saw what I had missed during my beeline for the shower. An entire sit down restaurant immediately to the right as you entered the lounge. Suddenly the “bar snacks” made so much more sense!
As always, except when flying Thai Airways, I got to the gate too early and was killing time way too much time in the crowded gate area. Then suddenly everyone moved en mass towards the boarding door. I guess I’d missed some kind of announcement? But what was funny was that I was the only person the premier/business class line. I guess not too many elites are catching the last flight out of Hong Kong to Bangkok on a Saturday night.
Once onboard I was hoping I’d have one of the planes with the new business class seats. I was out of luck, although I at least had no seat mate. But I was disappointed and tired enough that I didn’t take pictures. The flight wound up delayed by an hour and most of it was spent napping fitfully until we landed in Bangkok at 1AM. My long trip was over and I had a day of spa visits ahead to look forward to!
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I hope you visited The Wing (post-renovation)! It’s definitely one of my favorite First Class lounges, especially their private shower/bath rooms.
do business passengers have access to any of the showers in the 3 cx lounges?