After visiting a bunch of lounges in Terminal 2 of Taoyuan International Airport, I finally had the chance to go over to Terminal 1 and visit the only Terminal 1 lounge in this part of the itinerary: The China Airlines VIP Lounge in Terminal 1. I had heard that this lounge was the best lounge in Taoyuan Airport so I couldn’t wait to check it out for myself!
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Lounge Information
- Location: Terminal 1 Level 4
- Hours: 5:30 AM to 11:00 PM
- Eligibility: SkyTeam business class passengers, SkyTeam Elite Plus members, China Airlines Dynasty Flyer Program Paragon/Emerald/Gold Card members. Full eligibility rules here.
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Entrance
The China Airlines VIP Lounge is located on level 4 of Terminal 1 and is easy to find. There are lots of signs pointing out where to go and Level 4 is just a long hallway of all the lounges arranged together in a line.
The map inside the terminal shows 2 China Airlines lounges in this area but I’m pretty sure the second one is closed. This particular China Airlines lounge that I visited is at the end of the hallway nearer to the B gates while the second China Airlines lounge is at the opposite end of the hallway near the A gates.
After presenting my boarding pass to the front desk worker, I had to wait a couple of minutes as he verified my lounge access. This was because I had already gone to both the China Airlines VIP Lounge and China Airlines Dynasty Lounge in Terminal 2 right before this. The worker called the front desks of those lounges and using my seat number and flight number to identify me, he asked them if I had gone to those lounges earlier.
After those phone calls, he told me I was free to go in but that I couldn’t go to the other lounges again. The worker seemed a little bit annoyed when telling me this information so just a heads up that you may get some attitude if you decide to visit multiple China Airlines lounges.
Once I had the ok to enter the lounge, I turned left and walked down this hallway to reach the main area of the business class lounge.
About halfway down the hallway is a fork where I could turn right to go to the showers, bathroom, and Paragon/Emerald exclusive area.
Since I didn’t have access to the exclusive area, I continued straight down and reached the business class lounge section. The sign with the stone wall backdrop was pretty cool!
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Layout and Atmosphere
The China Airlines Lounge in Terminal 1 is large and is the biggest China Airlines lounge of the 3 lounges they have in Taoyuan Airport. The interior of the lounge has a rustic design accented by stone walls, granite countertops, and wood finishings. The lounge has dim lighting throughout and a very earthy color scheme from all of the different shades of brown and gray that are prominent in the furniture and tiling. All of these elements work together to give the lounge a warm and cozy ambiance.
I read online how so many people had high praise for this lounge’s design and maybe I’m an unpopular opinion but I felt this lounge’s aesthetics were overrated. I didn’t hate the design but I thought that the interior felt lifeless and tired. The couches looked worn down and the lighting fixtures around them felt old-fashioned. There are also glass cases with books and art pieces for show along the sides of the lounge. I thought these were pretty unique but honestly they just made the lounge feel like I was in an art exhibit. These displays coupled with the dim lighting only accentuated this feeling.
This lounge also reminded me of a cave because of all the stone walls and how dark it is. There are no windows except a single large window at the end of the lounge and the majority of the lounge has no natural lighting or outside scenery to look at.
For these reasons, I preferred the VIP Lounge in Terminal 2 for its bright and cozy atmosphere over this lounge even though this one was much bigger and had better food options.
As for the layout of the lounge, the main area of the lounge is a hollowed-out rectangle. The middle part is blocked off for guests because that’s where the kitchen and employee areas are. The first half of the lounge is the dining area where there are rows of circular 2-seater coffee tables. The second half of the lounge further in the back is just additional seating with larger dining tables. All of the food options are found on counters that wrap along the walls of the kitchen area.
The sides of the lounge have a single row of little “booths” comprised of two couches that face each other. Each “booth” is divided by a rectangular lighting fixture that helps add some much-needed light to the space.
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Seating
The nice thing about this lounge was that it was large and had lots of seating. I didn’t have much problem finding a seat even though there were a lot of people in the lounge.
The first set of seating options is in the dining area at the front of the lounge. There are 2 rows of 2 seater circular coffee tables that are pretty close to one another. It’s not a bad area since it’s close to the drinks and pastry counter but I’d personally opt for the couch section.
The bulk of the seating is in these couch booths mentioned earlier. The couches were pretty big and could seat 3 people quite comfortably. I liked how each couch had a coffee table in the middle to divide the couch into two so that strangers could share the couch if needed with some space in between them.
The cool thing is that the displays in the center of the booths are all different and each one is filled with different items.
The booths in the front of the lounge will only have couches but as you move towards the back of the lounge, the booths will start to feature 2 seater coffee tables.
In the back of the lounge past the food options is the additional seating area where there are larger communal dining tables and even more coffee tables.
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Dining
The common theme amongst all the China Airlines lounges is that the food is the best part of the lounge and this lounge is no different. Of the 3 China Airlines lounges in Taoyuan Airport, this one had the widest and best food selection by far.
The main food counter with all of the hot foods in chafing dishes is found nearer the back of the lounge. I saw a variety of hot foods like pasta, bacon, vegetables, and fried noodles.
Along the sides of the kitchen are where the more miscellaneous foods are found. The biggest surprise was that there’s even a dedicated vegetarian section here. This area had tater tots, hard-boiled eggs, and eggs.
On the other side of the kitchen were the dim sum dishes served in bamboo steamers. There was colorful siu mia and some steamed buns.
There was even bak kut teh, which I definitely was not expecting!
The side dish choices were excellent too. I saw a ton of Chinese staples like bamboo shoots, pork floss, and black fungus to name a few.
The front of the dining area is where all of the pastries are. There were lots of options like croissants, breads, and danishes. I didn’t notice until I wrote this review but there were grape danishes! I really wish I had seen that and tried it haha.
However, the best part of the dining experience in the lounge was once again the live cooking counter. It’s located at the end of the food counters and is hard to miss. I could order any of the 4 items on the menu and all I had to do was tell the worker what I wanted.
This lounge’s live cooking counter was easily the best one out of all the lounges I had been to in Taoyuan Airport. It was an open space that let guests watch the workers prepare the food from 3 different sides. It honestly felt like something I would find in a high-end restaurant.
After getting my food I could also pick from the great selection of condiments like green onions and chili sauce conveniently located right in front of the cooking counter.
I ended up just ordering the classic beef noodle soup and it was tasty. The noodles were thick and chewy and the broth was full of flavor. Honestly, I think it tasted the same as the one I had in the other China Airlines lounge but I’m a big fan of how they didn’t skimp on the meat. My bowl had two thick slices of beef that definitely gave me my protein fix.
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Drinks
The drink selection in the lounge was solid and included various teas, sodas, juices, and beer. These drinks are found in mini refrigerators above the food counters along the wall. I’m fairly certain that the drinks were the exact same as the drinks in the other China Airlines lounges.
In the main dining area, there is also an automatic coffee machine.
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Amenities
The amenities in this lounge are decent. There is a business center and storage lockers near the bathrooms. I wasn’t surprised to see a business center but I wasn’t expecting there to be lockers.
I liked how the lockers still kept the aesthetic of the lounge with the metallic frame and wooden doors.
The business center was pretty sad looking though with just a single computer and leather chair in a small room. It kind of reminded me of a jail cell because of the stone walls and lack of color haha.
The one unique amenity was that there’s a mother’s room! It was a small dark room with a curved chaise lounge chair and a side table. I haven’t seen a mother’s room in a lounge so far so this was pretty neat.
China Airlines VIP Lounge Terminal 1 Bathroom and Showers
The bathroom and showers are located near the lounge entrance. I had to exit the main lounge area and walk halfway down the hallway I took to enter the lounge to reach them.
There isn’t much to say about the bathrooms other than they’re clean and that the interior matched the aesthetic of the lounge with all of the dark colors and wood finishings. I thought that constructing the sinks in the shape of large stone columns was a nice design touch.
This lounge has free showers available to guests. There are normally 2 showers available but one was undergoing repair when I was there. I asked one of the workers if I could use the shower and it was good timing as another worker had just finished cleaning the shower.
What surprised me was that before letting me enter the shower, the worker I talked to asked what flight I was on. I assume she did this to make sure I didn’t miss my flight.
The shower was pretty nice but a little dark for my liking. There is a large mirror, toilet, and glass shower stall inside. It’s not shown in the picture but the shower stall has a rain shower head that is flush with the ceiling. I found the controls very intuitive and the water temperature control easy to adjust.
There is also a very low ledge that holds the towels, bath mats, and hairdryer. The counter was so low to the ground that I basically had to squat to use it. This was intentional though as there’s a cute little wooden stool I could sit on.
Besides that, there were various creams and sprays available. Overall, I had no complaints about using this shower and it felt great being able to freshen up after several hours of running around the Taoyuan Airport lounges.
Conclusion
The China Airlines Business Class Lounge in Terminal 1 is solid. It’s large, has fantastic dining options, and offers adequate amenities. I think I would put it at a close second to the China Airlines VIP Lounge on Level 4 of Terminal 2. However, the difference is negligible and I wouldn’t go out of my way to go to that lounge over this one. If you’re flying out of Terminal 1 and have access, I’d say it’s worth checking out this lounge!
What did you think about the China Airlines Business Class Lounge in Terminal 1?
