REVIEW – Intercontinental Hong Kong
October 20, 2016
REVIEW – Cathay Pacific : First Class – Hong Kong to London (B77W)
October 20, 2016
Cathay Pacific (CX)
- Location: Hong Kong (HKG) – Gate 63
- Class: First
- Access:
- OneWorld First Class ticket holders
- OneWorld Emerald cardholders
- Date: October 2015
THIS IS A FOLLOW UP TO MY FIRST REVIEW OF THIS FACILITY: REVIEW – Cathay Pacific: The Pier First Class Lounge, Hong Kong (Breakfast service)
This time around the Kowloon station check in was fast, friendly and courteous.
I don’t often travel with checked bags (usually only when I have diving gear) but I appreciate that a lot of people do. If you have checked bags the in town check-in facility makes so much sense.
Security was fairly clear on this cloudy Sunday afternoon, which meant that I was in The Pier within 20 minutes of arriving at the Airport station.
The Dining – Lunch Service
The lunchtime menu (depth of field on my new camera, unfortunately not very conducive to actually making out the contents)
I love the solid silver cutlery and crisp white linens, also little details like the silver tray under the salt and pepper mills, to prevent crumbs getting on the table.
I started with a delicious papaya and fresh prawn salad
The sweet, salty and sour were very well balanced but I would have liked it to be a lot more spicy. Still, a great plate of food and far, far better than the breakfast dishes.
I then went for the braised pork belly and mixed vegetables, which was really good too
Braised pork belly and mixed vegetables
The Pantry
I snapped a shot of The Pantry on the way to the Day Suites. The freshly squeezed juices were gone at this time of day, unfortunately. I really would have loved a little bottle of the watermelon juice.
I had around an hour to kill and once again, having asked immediately upon entering, I found out that the wait for a foot massage was at least three hours.
I think that passengers ticketed in Firs should be given priority, much like at the Qantas First Lounge in SYD and the Concorde Room at LHR. My next layover at The Pier will be for three hours and I’ll be arriving on one of the first flights of the day, so hopefully I’ll get to experience the foot massage then. (SPOILER ALERT: I didn’t)
In any case, an hour was the perfect amount of time to spend in the peace and quiet of the Day Suites.
The Day Suites
I was surprised at how large and spacious the suites are, regular photos never really seem to capture this. The GoPro on the other hand, tells the story quite well:
The lighting is subdued and calming, the natural wooden walls also contrast beautifully with the metal and concrete outside.
The design is very thoughtful overall, the AC vents however are very badly positioned. They point straight down into your face as you lie on the daybed. I feel that this would be relatively easy to fix, simply placing a wooden slat a few inches under the vents and directing the airflow out to one side.
Making myself comfortable
I could watch this all day…
After a very enjoyable lounge visit it was finally time for me to try Cathay Pacific First Class on a long haul flight for the first time!
- Part 1:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class Lounge – London Heathrow T3
- Part 2:
- JAL : First Class – London to Tokyo Haneda
- Part 3:
- Park Hotel Tokyo
- Part 4:
- JAL First Class Lounge – Tokyo Haneda Airport
- Part 5:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class – Tokyo Haneda to Hong Kong (Take 1)
- Part 6:
- Ritz Carlton Hong Kong
- Part 7:
- Cathay Pacific : The Pier First Class Lounge – Hong Kong Airport (Breakfast service)
- Part 8:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – Hong Kong to Jakarta
- Part 9:
- Mesastila Resort, Central Java : Arum Villa
- Part 10:
- Garuda Indonesia : Economy Class – Semarang to Bali
- Part 11:
- Villa Bulung Daya – Tabanan, Bali
- Part 12:
- Villa Amrita – Ubud, Bali
- Part 13:
- The Definitive guide to Food, Culture and Nature in Ubud, Bali
- Part 14:
- The Edge – Uluwatu, Bali
- Part 15:
- What to do in Uluwatu, Bali
- Part 16:
- Garuda Indonesia Business Class Lounge – Bali Denpasar Airport (Domestic Terminal)
- Part 17:
- Garuda Indonesia : Business Class – Bali to Jakarta
- Part 18:
- Pura Indah ‘First Class’ Lounge – Jakarta Airport
- Part 19:
- JAL : Business Class – Jakarta to Tokyo Narita
- Part 20:
- Conrad Tokyo : King Executive City Room
- Part 21:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class – Tokyo Haneda to Hong Kong (Take 2)
- Part 22:
- Intercontinental Hong Kong
- Part 23:
- Cathay Pacific : The Pier First Class Lounge – Hong Kong Airport (Lunch service)
- Part 24:
- Cathay Pacific : First Class – Hong Kong to London Heathrow
