Qantas (QF)
- Class: Business and First
- Access:
- Oneworld Business and First ticket holders
- Oneworld Sapphire and Emerald cardholders
- Date: January 2016
It is slightly strange that there is no premium fast track facility at HKG but just like the other times I’ve been here, there wasn’t a massive need for one. The security and passport lines were all fairly deep but kept moving at a fast and orderly pace. Within 20 minutes we were airside and making our way to one of my favourite business class lounges in HKG – an airport which is now spoilt for choice (assuming you’re flying OneWorld).
The Qantas lounge is located one floor above the gates and benefits from a huge amount of natural light, which pours in from the floor to ceiling terminal windows. Despite this being a combined lounge, I’ve previously found my experiences here to be superior to those in the Wing F class section nearby.
Nice to see Qantas making a special effort for the festive season.
The cool thing about this lounge is that aside from the times of the QF departures, it is generally very quiet. I really like how spacious it feels and how each section has its own distinct seating type and overall theme.
A lovely image of a partially nude and morbidly obese lady on the TV screen. Well that’s one way to keep the lounge empty…
I fid that having a bit of greenery in a lounge can make a huge difference, especially when you may well be spending 24 hours or more, going from one hermetically sealed environment to another.
Qantas’s HKG lounge has some of the best food of any lounge in the world. It isn’t particularly fancy and doesn’t feature ‘premium’ ingredients like lobster and caviar though. What it does have are some very well prepared, fresh and healthy options, very reminiscent of the food you’d get at a top Melbournian coffee shop. I had previously sampled lunch and dinner food here, so was keen to complete the trifecta and see if QF continued to shine at breakfast time.
Fresh fruit salad (not the canned variety), yoghurts and parfaits.
Deliciously shiny looking, handmade pastries.
At lunch time the bar serves an amazing, freshly sliced char siu pork with Asian slaw. Later in the afternoon the espresso martinis are as good as what you’d expect in a respectable cocktail bar. At breakfast time, the delicious barista coffees are my reason to visit (no judgement from me if you start your day with an espresso martini though, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere in the world 😉 )
Plenty to choose from, the super friendly and efficient staff will happily conjure up a ton of off menu drinks too.
The main reason to visit in the morning. A superbly executed flat white, served in the eternally elegant Mark Newson cup. Something about the way this cup sits in your hand, as the coffee aroma fills the air, is just perfect.
Conclusion
If you are short on time and have to stay near the low numbered gates, the Qantas lounge is the place to be in HKG. The food, drink and service are, on the whole, much better than the CX Wing lounge – that includes the Wing’s First Class section.
The coffee is better than you’ll get in any other lounge or coffee shop at HKG airport.
Unfortunately we were low on time and had a new lounge to check out, so we didn’t spend as long on this particular visit as I would have liked.
To see my previous reviews of this lounge (plus all the others in HKG and elsewhere in the world) CLICK HERE
- Part 1:
- British Airways : Galleries North Business Class Lounge – London Heathrow T5
- Part 2:
- British Airways : Club World (Business Class) – A380 – London Heathrow to Singapore
- Part 3:
- Conrad Singapore : Centennial Suite
- Part 4:
- DNATA Lounge – Singapore Changi T1
- Part 5:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – A330 – Singapore to Hong Kong
- Part 6:
- Intercontinental Hong Kong : Harbour View Room
- Part 7:
- Qantas : First and Business Class Lounge – Hong Kong
- Part 8:
- Cathay Pacific : The Bridge Business Class Lounge – Hong Kong
- Part 9:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – B747 – Hong Kong to Bali
- Part 10:
- Intercontinental Bali : Singaraja Room
- Part 11:
- Villa Kerasan (Airbnb) Ubud, Bali
- Part 12:
- Alila Villas Soori, Bali
- Part 13:
- Villa Jiwa (Airbnb) Jimbaran, Bali
- Part 14:
- Sofitel Nusa Dua, Bali
- Part 15:
- An updated guide to Bali
- Part 16:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – B772 – Bali Denpasar Hong Kong
- Part 17:
- Cathay Pacific : Business Class – B77W – Hong Kong to London Heathrow
2 Comments
Lol I think I’ve seen that documentary about the obese lady, they even showed how her husband bathes her. Gross!
This is for sure my 2nd favorite lounge at HKG, that roast pork alone is worth the visit. The Pier is too damn far and unless I’m flying out on AA my gate is never down there. The Wing only beats this out because of the Cabanas. If you’re traveling as a couple you can use the same cabana, and the cabana attendants will let you bring in food and drink. So all you have to do is have one of you distract the champagne bar attendant while the other snags a bottle 😉
Wow, I love how you transitioned from the horrors of the bathing lady, to the delights of bathing in The Wing. You’re a born storyteller 😉