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Home » Airport Lounges » I’ve Fallen In Love With A New First Class Lounge!
Airport Lounges

I’ve Fallen In Love With A New First Class Lounge!

Matthew Klint Posted onJuly 13, 2019November 14, 2023 20 Comments

After so many years flying the most aspirational first class products and visiting the best first class lounges, I finally found the opportunity to visit a new one in Hong Kong…and instantly fell in love.

Last time I flew Cathay Pacific First Class I spent my Hong Kong layover in The Wing, which is a beautiful first class lounge. This time, however, I headed for The Pier…and found it to be even better. In fact, I’d rate it as one of the best first class lounges I have ever been in.

What made it so great?

Beautiful design – I love the colors, furniture, and style of this modern lounge. Some may say it is past its prime, but I view it like the Park Hyatt Tokyo – modern, yet always classic.

a long hallway with a table and plants

a room with a group of chairs

a room with a couch and chairs

a room with couches and tables and chairs

a bar with black chairs and a table with lights

a green booth with a lamp on top

a hallway with a table and plants

A la carte dining – The key to any first class lounge is a nice a la carte dining menu. It is my understanding the menu is nowhere near what it once was, but I enjoyed a superb plate of pasta and cheeseburger (I ordered the latter for an upcoming post comparing hamburgers in lounges).

a bowl of soup with pine nuts on top

a plate of food on a table

Great coffee and other drinks – I began with a Mai Tai (the bartender, Ms. Zepho, and I had a great laugh about what to put in it) before dinner and concluded with a tremendous cappuccino after.

a man behind a bar

a cup of coffee with a spoon

Sleeping rooms – while not as elaborate as the cabanas in The Wing, little private rest areas would have been perfect had I needed to stay longer.

a couch with a lamp on the wall

Massage – complimentary massage (10 minutes – neck and shoulders or feet) was greatly appreciated and something that even the Lufthansa First Class Terminal does not offer on a complimentary basis to first class passengers.

a room with brown leather furniture and a red light

Excellent service – the staff was excellent. I’ll again single out Ms. Zepho, but every staff encounter was pleasant.

a woman walking in a hallway

CONCLUSION

Whether The Pier or The Wing is the better lounge is a matter of personal taste. But as for me, I’ll head directly to The Pier next time. I loved it.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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20 Comments

  1. Gene Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    @ Matthew — The Pier is vastly superior to The Wing. Tine for CX to update The Wing.

  2. Simon Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 12:52 pm

    The Pier is the best.

    • George Reply
      July 13, 2019 at 9:56 pm

      You ordered a burger with all the great choices?.You missed big time on Asian food.The picture of this sorry burger does not help the good image of the lounge…

      • Matthew Reply
        July 14, 2019 at 1:18 am

        The burger was amazing and as explained, is for an upcoming cheeseburger post. But I’ll stipulate I probably missed out on some good Asian dishes, even as the menu has been cut back.

  3. Pete Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 12:57 pm

    Welcome to the club!!! Where have you been???
    Lol, seriously it is a tremendous lounge, recent catering changes notwithstanding.

    • Matthew Reply
      July 13, 2019 at 5:28 pm

      Seriously. I cannot believe it took me so long to visit this lounge.

  4. Mick Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 1:06 pm

    Similar to Cathay biz lounge at heathrow (which I love)

  5. Jimmy Gottfredson Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 1:11 pm

    Matthew, another big fan to The Pier Lounge here. My wife and I had a seven hour layover there a couple years back. Fantastic space, and you couldn’t be more correct about the design aesthetic. Still one of my favorite breakfast was there – baked eggs.

  6. Peter Haas Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 2:31 pm

    I love the Pier, but I’m not crazy about the limited bar supplies (i.e., liquor and liqueurs) and the fact that the a la carte and cocktails menus haven’t changed like, ever. Yeah, I know: first world problem!

  7. Mike Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 3:14 pm

    Intentionally booked 19 hour layovers here just for the pleasure. As alluded to previously catering is less prestigious as before but still fine in comparison to many others.

    So less premium drinks and food as before, but atmosphere still the best. Wish their airport wasn’t so big, as it can be quite a walk.

    • Matthew Reply
      July 14, 2019 at 1:18 am

      It was a terrible walk from my PEK gate!

  8. UAPremierGuy Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    I love that you continue to note AWESOME airline employees, and that we always seem to agree on the awesome, exceptional note-worthy employees in our travels. Ms. Zepho is AWESOME and always extremely friendly, even if she is a contract and not a Cathay Pacific employee. I’m jealous that you actually were able to book a massage appointment at the lounge. Out of the many Pier visits this year, the waiting list has always been 4+ hours for a massage for me 🙁

    The a la carte food dining and service has been significantly downgraded from what it once was, though the burger is still reliable.

    I do love the Cabanas in the Wing, and have had good success booking those as opposed to the horrid wait list at the Pier, though I do love the classy, classic environment at the Pier more.

    Overall, here’s hoping Cathay returns to up their First Class ground game to truly make it compete with the best airlines in the world.

    I can’t wait to return to the Pier next month on my next HKG layover!

  9. Andrew Y Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 4:14 pm

    What took so long? This is #1 for me purely based on design alone. It was designed by Ilse Crawford. Look her up!

    • Matthew Reply
      July 14, 2019 at 1:20 am

      Will do!

  10. Christian Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 4:36 pm

    Your cheeseburger is missing something.

    Also, do the sleeping rooms have blackout curtains?

    • Matthew Reply
      July 13, 2019 at 4:57 pm

      The cheese is under the patty. 😉

      No blackout curtains.

  11. Gordon Chun Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 8:38 pm

    First class hardware maybe, third class software sadly…..the services in the bar & dining area is way below standard.

    • Matthew Reply
      July 13, 2019 at 8:48 pm

      That wasn’t my experience, but I was only there for a couple hours.

  12. John Reply
    July 13, 2019 at 9:51 pm

    Check out the “Abstract: Art of Design” episode about Ilse Crawford. They touch on her design work for Cathay Pacific a bit.

    • Matthew Reply
      July 14, 2019 at 1:19 am

      Will do!

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