Review: Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge HKG

Review: Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge HKG

As part of my return trip home from Asia, I had the opportunity to layover in Hong Kong and check out some really awesome lounges like the Cathay Pacific The Wing First Class Lounge and now the Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge. I rushed through this lounge and wasn’t able to spend as much time as I wanted to in here so take this review with a grain of salt.

Lounge Info


  • Location: Terminal 1 Level 6 near Gate 63
  • Hours: 5:30 AM to 12:30 AM
  • Eligibility: OneWorld first class passengers, OneWorld Emerald passengers on a OneWorld flight, or Cathay Pacific members with eligible status. Full eligibility rules here.

Layout and Atmosphere


The Pier First Class Lounge is located on the opposite end of Terminal 1 away from The Wing First Class Lounge. The lounge is actually on the ground floor below the main concourse level and is accessed via an escalator. This “underground” entrance made the lounge feel pretty exclusive since there’s nothing else down here besides the lounge so if you see someone taking this escalator down, you know that they’re going to The Pier First Class lounge.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has its entrance on the bottom floor of the terminal that you must take an escalator down to
The Pier First Class Lounge Entrance

Before we go any further, I have to apologize in advance for some of the low quality photos. I thought I had taken more photos when I was there but the only other media I had besides the few photos in this review were videos. So I had to screenshot frames within the videos and that really degraded the quality of the photos. I decided to include those blurry anyways since I figured having that were better than no photos at all. Hopefully, you all can forgive me.

I had heard lots of great things about The Pier but to be completely honest, I found the lounge to be a little bit overrated. To be fair, it’s probably because I didn’t get to check out the main amenities like the Day Suites or Massage and that I also had to rush a little bit through the lounge in order to not miss my flight home lol.

The main thing that surprised me was how small the lounge was relative to The Wing. I thought that since this is one of Cathay Pacific’s signature lounges, it would be a larger and more wide open space. But in reality, the lounge is pretty enclosed with the chairs and other furniture being closer together and not as spread out as The Wing. You could literally walk around the main seating area in about 5 minutes.

However, where the space and size are lacking, the lounge interior more than makes up for. The interior design of this lounge is fantastic and if I had to pick one word to describe the space, I’d use “elegant”. You can immediately tell that the vibe of this lounge is vastly different from that of The Wing’s.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has terrific interior design
Very Elegant Interior Design

For starters, the lighting is much dimmer and comes almost entirely from the various lamps throughout the lounge which is a direct contrast to the Wing’s bright ambience that comes from the natural light of the terminal. You’ll also notice how there are lots more plants, lights, and decorations. Throughout the entire lounge you’ll encounter various hanging lights, accent tables, storage cabinets with tabletop lamps, and just various different plants that help to provide some color and flavor to the otherwise monotone color scheme of the furniture.

Overall I would say that this lounge actually had a very cozy ambience despite its size. I think this is only possible because of how few people there are in the lounge at a time. I can easily see this space feeling cramped if there were more people wandering about.

As for the layout of the lounge, it’s basically just a giant rectangle. You enter the lounge right in the middle of this rectangle layout and have the option of turning left to go to the bar, The Pantry, and the main seating areas or turning right to go to the dining area. A little bit to the right of the entrance but still in the middle of the lounge is where the bathrooms, business center, shower suites, Day Suites, and massage are located.

This picture below is the main hallway that connects the left and right halves of the lounge. On the left are the Day Suites, shower suites, and massage and to the right are the bathrooms and business center.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has a middle section that leads to the bathrooms and Day Suites
Middle Area of the Lounge

Seating


The seating area of The Pier is composed of several smaller rectangular subsections that make up around half of the entire lounge’s size. So although the the lounge isn’t the largest out there, there is still a lot of seating and that coupled with how little people there were meant that I could pick almost any seat I wanted.

The seating subsections are all pretty similar in terms of style in that they feature couches and different types of lounge chairs with dark brown or gray colors. Some of the sections like the one pictured below actually remind me a lot of the seating area in the Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge at TPE airport because of the similar style chairs and lights.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge seating area has ornate decorations
The Pier Seating Area

At the end of the left side of the lounge is the largest seating area and is the one that also features the lounge bar. For this area, the bar evenly divides the section into 2 parts. The picture below is of the right half and it has your standard lounge seating consisting of coffee tables and lounge chairs. The nice thing about this area is that it is lined by large floor to ceiling windows on one side and this wall of windows spans the length of the lounge until the middle section.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has lots of seating options
Sitting Area To The Right of The Bar

The left half features similar lounge chairs but in addition to those has some differently styled black chairs that are unique to this area. There is also a set of large decorative mirrors along one side of the room on the opposite side of the windows.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge additional seating options
Sitting Area To The Left Of The Bar

The middle subsection is the one that connects to The Pantry and is my favorite seating area. It’s not the largest section but it looked the best aesthetically in my opinion. I especially liked the hanging lights and all of the plants in the area since they made the area feel more modern and interesting.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge main seating area has large windows that peer into the runway
Main Seating Area

This area also allowed you to get some close up views of Cathay Pacific planes which is pretty awesome.

You can get close up views of aircraft from the Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge
Close Up Views Of Aircraft

The one thing that was annoying about the seating area was that I couldn’t find any power outlets anywhere. I checked several rooms and chairs but still didn’t find anything. The only area I saw with power outlets was the business center which was surprising to me. I probably was too hasty and missed it but if you’re in need of an outlet, this is something to be wary of.

Dining


The Pier has two (well more like 1.25) dining areas. The first one is a large dining area called The Dining Room which is a fitting name since this section of the lounge is literally a large room. I was surprised how big it was compared to the rest of the lounge and it was probably my favorite area to be in.

It offers plenty of seating with booths that stretch along the walls of The Dining Room and into the center of the area as well. Each of these booths had several tables with chairs facing across it and the tables came preset with silverware, napkins, and sauces.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has a large dining area called The Dining Room
The Dining Room

There are large windows on one side of the Dining Room that let you peer out towards the runway.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge gives good views of the runway from The Dining Room
Tables and Windows Overlooking Runway

Similar to The Wing, when entering this area, a waiter will ask you for your party size then escort you to an available seat. Once there, they’ll bring you the food and drink menus.

It’s nice to see that The Pier and The Wing have a different set of menus from each other which allows you to try a wide variety of dishes if you visit both lounges with an empty stomach. Unfortunately I was still really full from all of the eating I did all day but I still decided on ordering the Mapo tofu and the Hong Kong style milk tea.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has an exclusive first class menu
The Pier First Class Menu

The Mapo tofu was just ok. It wasn’t super spicy and was more watery than I expected. It was still tasty but I thought it would be more flavorful.

You can order mapo tofu in the Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge
Mapo Tofu

However, the Hong Kong style milk tea was INCREDIBLE. It might be the best hot milk tea I’ve ever had. They froth the top so that it’s light and creamy and has just the perfect texture. I was actually blown away by how good it was and I would highly recommend giving it a try.

You can order Hong Kong style milk tea in the Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge
Hong Kong Style Milk Tea

In addition to the Dining Room, there is also The Pantry. This is where the 0.25 comes from because it’s just a small room that’s indented into one of the walls. There is no seating in this room and it’s meant to be a grab and go kind of place.

This little area has small bites, desserts, and some drinks that are distributed across the prominent center island and the counters on each end of the room. When I was there, the center island featured some cookies, pastries, and cake.

The Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has a small food room called The Pantry
The Pantry

On the counter on the left, there was bread, cheese, and fruits. Below the counter were lots of different sized dishes for guests to conveniently use.

There is additional food in The Pantry at the Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge
Fruits and Small Bites

The right counter just featured a water dispenser, an automatic coffee machine, and some other little bites. I’m not sure if it was because I came at an odd time (3:00 P.M) but the food selection here was very underwhelming. I wasn’t expecting a full on buffet but I felt that the left counter with the fruits just looked a little sad. I was hoping for maybe some dim sum or other appetizing snacks but that wasn’t the case here.

The Pantry is a cute little area that offers some refreshments but other than that it felt like more of a novelty thing due to its mediocre offerings and lack of seating.

Drinks


The bar in the lounge is probably one of the most aesthetic airport lounge bars I’ve seen. It’s a semi circle counter with bar stools all around and there are unique cocktails exclusive to the lounge that you can order here. There wasn’t anyone working the bar when I was there but I’m sure you could ask any of the attendants and they’d be able to find someone to assist you.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has an in lounge bar that is beautiful
The Pier First Class Lounge Bar

Amenities


The Pier offers two unique amenities: a complimentary massage and The Day Suites. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to check out either of these so I don’t have pictures to share 🙁

The Day Suites have 8 private suites complete with a privacy curtain, reading light, and a day bed that you can reserve for 90 minutes. They’re pretty much just mini relaxing rooms that have direct, close up views of the runway.

I will say that the views do look incredible if you’re into plane watching. However, the room itself looks kind of small and doesn’t offer much except your own quiet space. It seems a little claustrophobic and the lack of entertainment makes it hard for me to see why someone would want to spend an extended period of time in here except for napping.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has an private Day Suites
The Pier Day Suites

On the other hand, the massages looked much more interesting. There are different kinds of massages offered like head or foot massages and you get to pick which one you want for your 15 minute session. However, I have heard that it’s very hard to get an actual time slot for this service. The nice thing though is that you can put your name down and they will inform you when it’s time for your session.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has a complimentary massage service
The Pier Complimentary Massage

Besides these two amenities, there is the standard business center which has different cubicles with a monitor, phone, and printer for your use.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge has a business center with monitor, phone, and printer
Business Center

Bathroom and Showers


This lounge does have pretty nice shower suites and you can ask to use one at the desk where the massages are.

The bathrooms are located across the hallway from the massage/shower area and are clean and tidy but pretty standard.

Cathay Pacific The Pier First Class Lounge offers shower suites
The Pier Shower Suites

Conclusion


The Pier first class lounge is a cozy, elegant lounge that showcases terrific interior design and decorations. However, the lounge is a bit on the smaller side but makes up for it by offering unique amenities like private Day Suites and a complimentary massage. The food and drinks are solid so overall it’s still a nice place to relax before your flight but I believe The Wing offers a superior experience. What is your favorite lounge in Hong Kong International Airport?

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