Plaza Premium Lounge - Hong Kong

Gate 1:

I was walking towards gate 1 when I saw Plaza Premium Lounge First, assuming that was it since it was also close to gate 1, but apparently that’s a first class lounge that Plaza Premium Lounge offers. I can still use my Priority Pass however there’s an additional charge of HK$250 and that includes a 10 minute massage and champagne.

I didn’t think it is worth paying double the price to enter the first class lounge, so I went on and look for the regular lounge, which is actually right next door. Upon entering, I asked if they have a shower facility and got told that it needs to be booked in advance, so I booked it 30 minutes later.

After sorting out the shower booking, I headed into the lounge, greeted with a packed and extremely busy lounge. It took me 3 rounds to find a free seat, and there is still a queue outside to enter the lounge, which I am surprised because the lounge is supposed to be a relaxing place, but this feels more like a buffet restaurant with people hawking for a free seat.

I got a seat in the lounging area, without any table I had to eat with the tray on my lap, it feels worst than being in a restaurant outside of the lounge, heck even the normal lounge area around the airport for passengers are probably better and more relax.

After some observation and going for my second round, I have found that the staff takes a long time to replenish food and drinks, they are also quick to be gone as people take a large portion since they do take a while to be refilled.

There is a kitchen style fresh food that you can order, with a choice of vegetarian noodle or (). I went for the Vegetarian noodles which aren't too bad, however given the weather is very warm in Hong Kong, having hot soup is not exactly the best way to cool down.

At 5pm which is my booked shower time, I went to the front desk where the staff escorted me to the shower area, and then handed the key over to the cleaning staff, which then she escorted me to the shower room. The shower room is pretty basic but clean, there is air conditioning inside which makes it rather cold. After finishing my shower, I open up the drawer where they store the hairdryer and the drawer was falling down, which is not very helpful nor safe. Throughout my shower there have been people trying to open the door, I am assuming it is because the male toilet is under service so people are using the shower room instead. After exiting the shower, 2 cleaning crew were waiting outside ready to clean up the bathroom.

By that time, the lounge has actually gotten less crowded and I could get a free seat with a table, which allows me to eat properly and also get some work done. 1 hour before departure time, I left the lounge and headed to the gate given it is on another building, and while waiting for the train I take a look at the departure board and it says final call for boarding, at 45 minutes before departure time. You can read more about what happened on my flight report.

Gate 40:

On my second trip through Hong Kong, I have decided to visit the other Plaza Premium Lounge near gate 40.

There are 2 sections for the Plaza Premium Lounge here near gate 40. The enclosed lounge is for airline invited guests only, and the open air section is for general passengers, this is different to how the lounge near gate 1 is as they only have a 1st class lounge that passengers can also pay to enter.

Their shower facility is located at the Aerotel building about 3 minutes walk away, looking at the pricing chart, it would cost about the same to have a 30 minute shower as it is to enter the lounge and also have a shower.

The food choices here seems to be slightly better compared to the one near gate 1, with the same choices of chef prepared noodles but also an additional choice of rice rolls. There are also veggies station and a larger selection of self service buffet.

This lounge is also being used by airline crew, so I can see why they would choose this lounge instead of the other one.

Since I only have a little more than an hour total to use the shower and eat, I didn’t hang around the lounge after my meal. This lounge seems to be larger than the one near gate 1 however it is also very busy and most seats are also occupied, but somewhat better than the lounge near gate 1.

Conclusion:

I think Plaza Premium Lounge shouldn’t be admitting more people than they have seats for (seems like they do this on all of their lounges). The lounge is supposed to be a peaceful getaway from the crowd at the airport but the rest of the airport is actually more peaceful than the lounge. The food is fine but often run out and took too long to be refilled. Plaza Premium Lounge might want to limit the amount of admission and do a headcount so they will only have the maximum people that the lounge can fit in. The shower facility is kept top notch which is something I have to give it to the team that is working hard to keep it that way, but that’s probably the only positive experience I have had in the lounge.