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Lounge Review: Cathay Pacific’s RENOVATED The Pier Business Class Lounge Hong Kong Airport (HKG)

I’m currently transiting through Hong Kong airport, and I have the good fortune to be transiting just a week after Cathay Pacific reopened their Pier Business Class Lounge. I’ve reviewed the renovated Pier First Class Lounge before, which is one of my favorite airport lounges in the world.

I’ll just go ahead and say that I think the Pier Business Class Lounge might be my favorite business class lounge in the world. It’s a GORGEOUS lounge with everything that you might want in a lounge. People often rave about Turkish Airlines’ business class lounge in Istanbul airport, but I think the Pier is way better.

The Pier Business Class Lounge is located near Gate 65. It’s just one gate further past the entrance to the Pier First Class Lounge. It’s true that this gate might be a little inconvenient depending on your departure gate, and the people mover in the airport only goes one way, but it’s really not that far of a walk to walk from the Pier to the Wing (maybe 15 minutes if you walk briskly).

Entrance to the Pier Business Class lounge near Gate 65
Entrance to the Pier Business Class lounge near Gate 65

I was immediately impressed by this lounge. I love the decor and feel of the renovated Pier lounges. They use much darker and richer colors than they use in the Wing, and the Pier Business Class lounge just seems to keep going on and on.

Entrance hall the lounge
Entrance hall the lounge
Directing you to some of the many rooms of this lounge
Directing you to some of the many rooms of this lounge

One thing that’s a nice feature is that they offer luggage lockers if you want to store your bags for a while. Helpful if you don’t feel like leaving your bags unattended in the lounge.

Luggage lockers
Luggage lockers

As you enter the lounge, there’s an office room of sorts on the right hand side if you want to get some work done. There are computers available for use, as well as comfortable semi-private chairs. And there are tons of outlets everywhere, which is great.

Bureau/office area of the lounge for working
Bureau/office area of the lounge for working
Looking from one end of the lounge down to the other
Looking from one end of the lounge down to the other

As you walk left from the entrance, you first come across the Food Hall. This seems to be an area for western options. For breakfast, there was everything you might expect for a western breakfast (e.g. eggs, hash browns, baked beans, sausage, muesli, pastries). They also have paninis, which is somewhat novel.

Food Hall
Food Hall

There’s a coffee bar staffed with a barista in this area as well.

Coffee bar
Coffee bar
Seating in the Food Hall
Seating in the Food Hall
Salads and such
Salads and such
Cheeses and meats
Cheeses and meats
Western hot breakfast items
Western hot breakfast items
Muffins
Muffins and sweet breads
Pastries
Pastries
Paninis
Paninis and rolls
Drink fridge
Drink fridge

Past the Food Hall is the Bar area. Lots of comfortable seating and a very large bar.

Bar area
Bar area
Bar
Bar
Seating in the bar
Seating in the bar

One of the things that’s incredible about this lounge is the size and variety of seating options. There’s countertop seating, two-person tables, communal tables, lots of sofas, etc. And everything that I sat in was super comfortable. The seating along the windows also features great views.

Seating along the windows
Seating along the windows
Apron views
Apron views
Lots and lots of seating
Lots and lots of seating

Past the bar is the Noodle Bar. This is a staple of many Cathay Pacific lounges around the world. The Noodle Bar features Asian food items (e.g. they had fried rice, stir fried vegetables, congee, and assorted dumplings available for breakfast), as well as a noodle bar where you can order made-to-order noodles (e.g. dan dan noodles). The Noodle Bar opens at 7:00am while the lounge opens at 5:30am.

Seating in the noodle bar
Seating in the noodle bar
Dim sum in the noodle bar
Dim sum in the noodle bar
Noodle bar
Noodle bar

Past the Noodle Bar is the Tea House. The Tea House had teas (obvi), but also a number of Asian and western sweets (e.g. glutinous rice balls, apple cake, earl grey tea cookies) and some tasty-looking juices.

Seating in the tea house
Seating in the tea house
Sweets at the tea house
Sweets at the tea house
Juices in the lounge
Juices in the lounge
Tea menu
Tea menu

Past the Tea House, there’s a desk where you can request a shower, and then at the far end of the lounge is their relaxation area. There are a number of comfortable loungers where you can rest and perhaps take a nap. It’s not super private, but it’s significantly better than what most lounges offer.

Chairs in the relaxation room
Chairs in the relaxation room

Overall, Cathay Pacific did an INCREDIBLE job with this renovation. The lounge is beautiful and functional and an awesome place to spend some time before your flight. Lots of delicious food options, tons of seating, outlets everywhere, decent wifi, showers, areas to take a nap and relax, etc. What more could you ask for?

4 Comments

  1. Thank you for the review. I have really been looking forward to someone talking about this renovation. There’s a high likelihood that as our organization grows that I will be transiting HKG at least a couple of times per year. It’s really tough to find reviews that are not strongly biased by the airline or alliance that operates them or that are written by someone whose viewpoint and demands are quite different from mine (the example being Lucky over at OMAT who I respect but find to be kind of snobby about a lot of things).

    Keep up the good work. Your reviews are always a pleasure to read and quite helpful.

  2. Thank you for this review! Traveling in two weeks and now really looking forward to experiencing the new renovation perks!

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