I spent the bulk of my layover in Tokyo Narita (NRT) in the ANA Lounge, which offers a nice selection of food and drink, showers, and other amenities that make waiting for your flight enjoyable.
ANA Lounge Tokyo Narita Review (NRT)
After stepping off my United Airlines flight from Los Angeles, I headed to the ANA Lounge, which was about 10 minutes way by foot.
Location + Hours + Access
The lounge is located in Satellite 5, but wherever you are in Terminal 1, just follow the signs to the ANA lounge…it’s easy enough to find. Operating hours are from 7:00am until the last departure of an ANA-operated flight.
Access is available to ANA and Star Alliance Gold first class, business class, and premium economy passengers. First class passengers are allowed one guest (and can also use the adjacent ANA Suites lounge). Start Alliance Gold members also have access with one guest. ANA Super Flyers Members also have access.
Proceed up the escalator to the lounge, where you will be checked in and then directed left.
Seating
This is a large lounge with seating for at least 500 passengers. The main room includes rows of seats and couches, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the tarmac.
It was quite crowded, but the rear portion of the lounge was roped off. As the lounge continued to get crowded, that area was opened, though never filled up like the front portion.
By the time I left, the lounge had emptied out a bit.
Food + Drink
If you’re hungry, you can order the the following dishes from the noodle bar:
- Kitsune (Deep-fried Tofu) Soba or Udon
- Grated Yam and Wakame Seaweed Soba or Udon Kakiage(Deep-fried Various Vegetables)Soba or
- Udon Ramen with Pork Broth
- ANA Original Chicken Curry
After placing your order, you’ll be given a small buzzer, which will alert you when your food is ready.
The buffet includes a selection of eastern and western choices, like salads, sandwiches, and even a trio of hot dishes (the full menu is available here). Drinks include coffee, tea, soft drinks, juice, water, sake, beer, wine, and spirits.
I enjoyed some noddles and a glass of Suntory World whiskey. I rarely drink whiskey, but make an exception for Japanese whiskey, which is my favorite.
Pay Phones
A retro feature of this lounge (and Japan itself): pay phones are still a thing.
Smoking
An indoor smoking lounge is available. Signs indicate that no food or drink is permitted in the smoking room.
Great views of the tarmac:
Business Center
If you need to print, scan, or copy, a business center offers wireless connectivity.
Showers
I did take a shower during my layover, which was refreshing. To request a shower, visit reception in front where you will exchange your boarding pass for a shower key. The showers are located on the first class side.
CONCLUSION
ANA offers a solid lounge at Tokyo Narita, with a nice selection of food and drink, fast wi-fi, plenty of seating, and showers. While I look forward to the United Club reopening at NRT, this is the better lounge even when it does.
Great review! I was surprised to see how busy the front portion was of the lounge, but as you said, it wasn’t as crowded in the rear part.
Funny, I used to go through that lounge quite frequently before Covid, and my thought is that I’ve never in my life seen it so empty during the daytime.
Relatedly, tempted to start flying ANA again now that places are starting to open again, but afraid of misconnecting in Tokyo and being stuck at the airport without being able to leave – if I miss a daily flight I wouldn’t want to have to sleep in the airport waiting for the next departure.
I was planning to connect in Tokyo… is it possible to do with COVID restrictions? I would going from a Hawaiin flight to a JAL flight.
No problem connecting. Must be same-day connection via NRT…you can overnight in HND. Pretty soon, Japan will open again.
Whatever happened to the little sake bar they used to have. They usually had a few sakes and some ice sitting out, and I always found that area to be quiet. I haven’t been there in quite a while (say 2013) so maybe it’s long gone.
It’s whisky !
Matt, How did you manage the 1 day prior Covid test for travel to US ?
I took the test before I left in LA.
ANA lounge with the noodle bar vs. the United Club with nada is no contest imo at NRT. What exotic Japanese Kit Kat bars did you bring home?
It’s worth noting that this lounge can also be accessed with Priority Pass. It’s a great lounge, and I look forward to my next visit.
Nice looking lounge! Hoping to someday be able to pay it a visit. And, it’s thoughtful of them to have a smoking area for those who partake. However for stogieguy, that little enclosed space would be positively brutal with even the mildest of cigars. So, I’d have to pass on the smoking lounge and stick with the Suntory.
I stopped in the Ana lounge in haneda recently and the front section was packed!!!!!! Was an average experience. Showers stalls were small, food was only average with a million people hovering over it. Back section was half full.
I’m fact the whole (old) ANA experience was only meh for me. Shame because I remember it so fondly. It’s very tired. Even the Japanese meals on board weren’t great 🙁
Have you ever had the freshly made sushi in the lounge? Awful. And the portions are so small!
This was the worst lounge I’ve ever been to. Checkin took 15 minutes. Long line and only 3 people. No plug ins for phones so I had to wait in long checkin line to get a plug in because no concierge. Food terrible except noodle soup and curry you had to wait in long line for. I had to bus my own table and when I finished eating my tray sat next to me for 2 hours at which time I left. Only a couple of boards lusting flights that are all at entrance so I had to get up every 15 minutes when my flight kept changing time. No tv with news either. Very sterile environment. Very disappointing.