This is a part of my trip of my $10,000 Chicago to Manila flights on Cathay Pacific First Class. Total cash paid was $150. To learn how you can easily earn enough miles to fly the same trip as I did in as little as a month, click here.
I woke up late in the morning, as I stayed up all night prior exploring the amazing night life in Hong Kong. Eager to finally experience the renovated first class lounges, I quickly had breakfast and checked out of my hotel and headed to the airport.
Cathay Pacific is one of the few airlines that have not one, but two first class lounges within the same terminal. After clearing immigration, I decided to head to The Wing first, eager to try out the world famous Cathay Pacific private room cabanas. Upon arriving, I was whisked into a marble lined elevator and up to the upper floor, where the first class lounge was located.
After checking with a lounge attendant, I was informed there was a small wait time for the Cabanas, and I decided to explore the lounge.
The floor was lined with marble that shimmered in the glow of sunlight, giving the place a very airy and bright look. Seating was plentiful and well furnished with red leather trimmed sofas and chairs.
Not only that, Cathay Pacific has a self-serve champagne bar, complete with all you can drink Moet. It was a beautiful display, once again showing how much Cathay pays attention to the little things.
If champagne isn’t your thing, there is a full service marbled bar in the main lounging area.
Soon I was notified my cabana was ready and I headed into my private room.
My eyes opened wide as I walked in. The centerpiece of the room was a bathtub and shower. The room is laid out in a studio format, in which there is a couch and work desk within the same room, complete with a sink and a bathroom on the side.
With the sharp angles and minimalist design, this room was by far the best private room in an airport I’ve ever been in. Instead of a standard shower head, water comes down like a waterfall from the heavens. Even the sink looked like it belonged on a spread in a home design magazine.
I decided to take a bath and soak it all in. In true Cathay Pacific fashion, an actual bath robe along with some slippers was provided!
Feeling like Hugh Heffner
After taking my bath, I decided to head to the Pier, the other Cathay Pacific first class lounge which was recently renovated a few months ago. As I left the lounge, I walked through the world famous Cathay Pacific noodle bar. Knowing that I had a feast waiting for me in the Pier, I quickly moved on.
The Pier is located on the opposite wing of the terminal and the going out the night before seemed to have made the pain on my sprained foot even worse. I decided to be like a senior and took a service cart to the Pier.
I arrived at the pier, saw the beautifully designed entrance and knew immediately I was in for a treat.
The first thing you notice about The Pier is that instead of having an open air format where you are above the terminal like The Wing, you are taken underground into an enclosed haven. The end result is a lounge that feels like home.
The living rooms were spacious, with plenty of seating for passengers. The artwork found throughout the lounge was absolutely stunning. Instead of marbled floors, the pier featured mostly wooden and carpet floors, recreating that homely experience.
Most of the tables are made with cherry wood, with the walls lined with green onyx.
Everywhere you looked around the lounge, you can easily see attention was paid to the little details.
Even the napkins on a little prop cart in the middle of lounge were arranged perfectly.
If you need to get work down, Cathay Pacific offers the classiest work desk I’ve ever seen at a lounge. You could almost pretend you were in Mad Men.
If you prefer to read instead, there’s a huge selection of reading materials
At the far end of the living room, there’s a full service bar in an horshoe like shape. Naturally, I had to get another glass of Champagne.
After a few drinks, it was time for a late lunch. I first checked the self-service area, where if you are in a hurry you can grab something quickly to eat. Once again everything was laid out perfectly, and it seemed like I was on set of a TV cooking show.
Since I had plenty of time before my short flight to Manila, I headed instead to the dining room. As to further state your entering a first class restaurant, even the welcome booth was stunning.
The dining room is designed as a typical English restaurant with green sofas that has a gorgeous view of the runway outside.
On the other side is a more traditional full service long bar.
At this point, I was quite ravenous and was looking to forward to try out The Pier’s famed meals. Unlike The Wing, where business and first class passengers share the same dining area, The Pier’s restaurant is for first class passengers only, which means the food is significantly better.
The menu is extensive, even larger than the one I had in the Qantas lounge. I started off with a seared tuna. As a big fan of raw fish, this really hit the spot, the fish fresh and the pepper was not overwhelming.
I decided to try something different from the typical dishes found in a lounge and ordered my first main: the fried glutinous rice cake. It was actually surprisingly good, with the dressing adding a unique flavor.
For my second main, I ordered the pan friend salmon, which was perfect. The salmon was crispy the outside but very moist. I especially liked the grilled pumpkin on the side.
To finish my meal I ordered a Hong Kong styled dessert, mango sticky rice.
As usual, I over stuffed myself at the lounge and was in food heaven. The restaurant is catered by the Peninsula, and the dishes were all spectacular, rivaling restaurants you would find in the city.
Unique among lounges, Cathay pacific offers a complimentary 20 minute foot or back massage to all lounge guests. I was led to a beautiful decorated massage room.
My masseuse was extremely friendly and asked me what kind of massage I wanted. Since my foot was aching from my sprain two days ago, I chose the foot option. The friendly masseuse quickly got to work and found my sore spot.
After he massage my foot felt much better, and I could walk with a much smaller limp then before. For good measure, he gave me a quick back massage which was great as well.
After my massage I decided to spend my remaining time at the lounge in one of the eight day suites. Unlike the Cabanas found at the wing, the suites don’t have a bath tub or an enclosed room. Instead each day suite features a day sofa that is long enough to turn into a day bed.
The highlight is the automated shutter blind. With a push of a button you can go from reading your book to staring outside at the airport runway.
The day suites are separated from the outside with a curtain, so you do hear people when they walk by.
Overall, the Cabanas are better than the day suites at the pier, but with a smaller number of cabanas and more passengers in the Wing, there might be a long wait time to use the Cabanas.
If you decide to take a shower, Cathay does have shower rooms available, which again look straight out of a home design magazine.
Soon enough it was time board, and I headed out of the lounge and headed to the gate, where my short but fun 90 minute journey to Manila was about to begin.
Overall, I would rate the lounges at Hong Kong as among the best in the world, and certainly the best first class lounges in all of Asia. I especially loved The Pier, which was recently renovated, and the attention to every detail in both design and service wise made my experience truly exceptional.
Up Next: Cathay Pacific First Class – Hong Kong to Manila
