The flagship business class lounge for EVA Air at its Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport hub in Taipei is by no means a bad lounge, but it’s also a disappointment, especially when compared to the phenomenal product offered onboard in Royal Laurel class.
EVA Air Infinity Lounge Taipei Review (TPE)
EVA has four lounges at TPE, including:
- EVA Air The Infinity Lounge – open to all EVA Air business class passengers + Star Alliance first and business class passengers
- EVA Air The Star Lounge – open to all Star Alliance Gold members
- EVA Air The Club Lounge – open to all Star Alliance Gold members + Infinity MileageLands Silver members
- EVA Air The Garden Lounge – open only to Infinity MileageLands Diamond members
Location + Hours + Access
The lounge complex is located in Terminal 2 just past the security checkpoints. I stopped at this lounge after visiting the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Lounge, but it is not the easiest lounge to reach if you are connecting and signs are not clear.
The lounge is open each day from 4:30 am until 11:30 pm.
Inside, Star Alliance Gold members traveling in economy class are directed left into The Star Lounge and business class passengers are directed right into The Infinity Lounge.
Seating
As you enter the lounge, you’ll turn right and encounter a large seating area on the right (with bathroom, showers, and food on the left) and a more seating in the rear of the lounge. It was fairly crowded when I arrived at 6:00 pm but emptied out a bit over the next hour as many of EVA’s transpacific flights departed.
I took a seat at the counter along the window (which has no natural lights, but looks down at the terminal check-in area two levels below) and was able to work efficiently.
Newspapers + Magazines
Digital magazines (via QR code) are available while using the lounge’s Wi-Fi network.
Lockers
If you care to leave your larger carry-on bag, there are 14 combination lockers near the entrance in a side room.
Food + Drink
The lounge has a large buffet area with hot and cold Western and Asian food items, a salad bar, soups, and sweets. The evening selection included:
- Stir-fried chicken with oyster mushrooms
- Stir-fried pork with vegetables
- Fusilli with “German Sausage tomato sauce” (uh, no thanks)
- Asparagus with mixed vegetables
- Stir-fried rice vermicelli with vegetables
- Stir-fried mushrooms with sesame oil and soy sauce
- Dim sum
- Chinese noodles with beef
- Salad bar
- Soup bar
- Cookies
- Bagels
- Croissants
- Cake
- Yogurt
- Ice cream (from Häagen-Dazs) [self-serve scoops with four flavors]
- Blueberries & cream
- Vanilla caramel brownie
- Coffee
- Strawberry cheesecake
Drinks included soft drinks, juice, water, tea, coffee, beer, wine, and spirits: all self-serve.
I had already eaten in the Singapore Airlines Lounge, but made myself a flat white ahead of my long flight (as long as I use a single shot of espresso and not a double shot, it really does keep me awake) and also had a glass of cold-pressed strawberry and guava juiced (suspiciously sweet, but good).
Restrooms + Showers
This lounge has four shower suites, each with a different name (Metro Forest, Smile Zone, Fantasy Flow [okay…], and Star Drops). All were occupied during my visit.
The restrooms were also crowded so I only have a picture of the toilet…that was a Toto with a bidet.
CONCLUSION
No, this is not my favorite lounge and I find it fairly underwhelming for a flagship business class lounge at EVA’s hub airport. It’s especially lackluster considering the above-average product you will experience when flying on EVA Air in business class. That said, there was a respectable selection of food and drinks and I was able to get a lot of work of done ahead of my flight. So I would not arrive early to use this lounge and prefer the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Lounge, but it’s also not a bad lounge.
It’s better than sitting in Taipei’s over crowded and bleak airport concourses but, as you said, this lounge is the a disappointment compared to the great food and service on EVA flights.
It’s been a little while since I was at TPE, but I’m glad to see their lounges are still doing well. The ice cream reminds me of the SQ business class lounge at T3 in SIN.
A note on access for United flyers – UA872 pax are routinely denied access to this lounge. Across over a dozen UA872 flights over the last two years, I haven’t made it into either this lounge or The Star even once, and am either directed to the overcrowded Plaza Premium Lounge or the SQ lounge, which is much better, but only opens some 30-40 mins before UA872 starts boarding. I’ve heard UA852 pax fare better, but I cannot personally attest to that. If you have Priority Pass, you’d be best served by the Oriental Club Lounge.
That’s really problematic. Thanks for the data point.
I was recently there – dismayed they have gotten rid of the hot dogs.
True, not the best, but it’s decent. The food is decent. I have ended my mindset of trying to get the most out of every lounge visit. I have gone there for a shower and then snack. Then maybe walk around the terminal, shopping, and gate area.
Shower reservations can be made when first entering the lounge.
What a complicated lounge set-up for all the different types of premium passengers.
Love the individual shower room names … Does each offer a slightly different nuanced decor or experience ?
Maybe the lounge could also assign each stall and/or urinal an enticing moniker ! … lol
The food is just so bad at that lounge. Actually, ALL of the lounges at that airport are bad. Just like supermarkets, Taiwan can’t seem to do airport lounges well. The ladies at the front desk can be really snooty. The airline operates four lounges, but only members of the higher‑tier loyalty levels are allowed into the premium lounges, while the other lounges remain cramped, noisy, and under‑served.