Cathay Pacific’s newest First Class lounge at their Hong Kong hub is ‘The Pier’, re-opened following 18 months of extensive renovation in June 2015. It’s another design by Ilse Crawford of London-based Studioilse, also responsible for the latest Cathay lounges in Bangkok and Singapore among others.
We visited the lounge in July 2018 prior to a First Class flight to London.
General details
Opening Times: 5.30am to 00.30am
Showers: Yes
Spa: Yes
Bar: Yes
Wi-Fi: Yes
Multi-standard Power Sockets: No (UK / Singapore three-pin)
USB Charging Sockets: Yes
Location
The Pier is located near gates 61 – 63 in the northwest concourse of Hong Kong International Airport. You’ll need to descend the escalator by one level, as unlike The Wing First Class lounge, which is suspended one floor above the departure concourse, The Pier is one floor below it.
A lift down to the lounge entrance is also available.
As the map below shows, the location of this lounge won’t necessarily suit you unless your flight is departing in the 29 – 71 gate range. The Wing, which we reviewed last month, is much better located for flights departing gates 1 – 28.
Lounge access
This lounge is available to passengers departing on a Cathay Pacific or Cathay Dragon flight, or on a oneworld member operated flight:
- in First class (+1 guest permitted); or
- in Business, Premium Economy or Economy class and holding Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Diamond status (+2 guests permitted), or oneworld Emerald status (+1 guest permitted).
- in any class of travel provided they are connecting between oneworld marketed and operated flights on the same day of travel having arrived in First Class with a scheduled flight time longer than 5 hours (e.g. British Airways First Class LHR-HKG followed by Cathay Pacific Economy Class HKG-SIN, admittance is permitted).
Any accompanying guests must be travelling on a flight operated and marketed by a oneworld airline. Admittance based on arrival in oneworld First Class from your previous flight requires you to retain your previous boarding pass.
Arrival
We arrived at The Pier around 12.45pm, 2 hours before our flight to London. The lounge was relatively quiet at this time.
The reception staff are waiting at a podium at the bottom of the escalator to welcome you. Quickly enough our boarding cards were checked and we were invited through into the lounge.
There is also a larger reception desk for lounge guests, head here if you need to store your luggage or have any ticketing queries for example.
Pro tip: One benefit of the oneworld lounge access policy is that provided you are connecting from a long-haul oneworld operated flight in First Class onto another oneworld flight the same day, the onward class of travel is not relevant and you can access the First Class lounges based on the class flown during your previous sector.
This was not the case for us, however it is very useful if you’re flying in First Class from Europe for example then on to Singapore with Cathay, as most flights from Hong Kong to Singapore do not feature a First Class cabin and you will likely be downgrading to Business Class for that sector. Remember to retain your First Class boarding card from the previous sector in this case, as you’ll need to show it when you enter the lounge.
The corridor
Here’s a section I never thought we’d write about an airline lounge. Kind of like writing a section on ‘the aisle’ in an aircraft review, what exactly warrants a dedicated section about a corridor in a lounge, you might ask?
Well welcome to The Pier, where the corridor (like many others in the world), links everything in this place. It’s also beautiful, homely and has incredible lighting and features.
Quite opposite to The Wing First Class lounge, with its open-air feeling on the airport mezzanine level, The Pier is tucked away downstairs. The designers have therefore adopted a completely different approach, the homely ‘exclusive apartment’ feel.
Large illuminated ceiling panels give the impression of a skylight running the length of the corridor, ‘lifting’ the relatively low ceiling and creating a feeling of space.
Separate areas of the lounge are defined by plush carpet interspersed with tiled flooring. The long wooden tables with plants and modern decorative items sit under stunning light fittings.
It’s certainly one of the most impressive central features of any airport lounge we’ve visited.
Restaurant
One of the standout features of The Pier is the à la carte restaurant – The Dining Room.
You are greeted by the server at the entrance podium like in a normal restaurant. Inside tables are located in three ‘U’ shapes alongside windows overlooking the aircraft and runways.
The Dining Room even has its own bar to prepare all the drinks orders. You can sit here too if you like and order directly from the bartender, ideal for a pre- or post-dinner tipple.
As it was lunchtime the dining room was actually reasonably busy, however the staff seated us a good distance from other diners. It seems to be the policy to spread out the groups where possible to maintain privacy, especially important if you’re dining alone.
We were presented with food and drinks menus while water was served.
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| Breakfast Menu (click to enlarge) |
All Day Menu (click to enlarge) |
Drinks Menu (click to enlarge) |
Unlike The Wing, where only 2 white and 2 red wines were offered, there were four red wines and four white wines on the drinks list at The Pier. A dessert wine and a port were also on offer. Here are the Vivino ratings out of 5:
White Wine
- Berry Bros & Rudd Own Selection Burgundy (2016). 4.5 stars on Vivino
- Sileni Estates Cellar Selection Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand (2017). 3.8 stars on Vivino
- Weingut Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Bankett, Austria (2015). 3.5 stars on Vivino
- Brand’s Laira Coonawarra Chardonnay, Australia (2016). 2.6 stars on Vivino
Red Wine
- Dourthe – La Grande Cuvée Bordeaux, France (2015). 3.5 stars on Vivino
- Parker Coonawarra Estate Favourite Son Shiraz, Australia (2016). 3.8 stars on Vivino
- Isabel Marlborough Pinot Noir, New Zealand (2016). 3.9 stars on Vivino
- Hayes Ranch Merlot, USA (2014). 3.0 stars on Vivino
Dessert Wine
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Brown Brothers Muscat – Flora Orange (2016). 3.7 stars on Vivino
Port
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Quinta do Noval William Pickering Port. 4.3 stars on Vivino
The Champagnes served were the same as at The Wing – Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut (NV), Louis Roederer (2012) and Henriot Rose (NV).
Interestingly the port was a different variety from that offered at The Wing, much better rated too (and yes, we visited both lounges on the same day).
It was a bit early for port however! We went off-piste and, in need of a pick-me-up after The Wing review, each ordered an espresso martini with lunch.
Even though it’s not on the cocktail menu two very good ones were presented only minutes later, prepared by the mixologist at the bar in The Dining Room itself.
We didn’t try any appetisers as we wanted to still be hungry enough to do justice to lunch on board, however we have had an appetiser before in this lounge and they are good.
Selections include smoked salmon with fennel salad, gado gado salad and roasted duck with asparagus.
I went for the cheese burger with homemade fries which was excellent and a significant portion. Again to save room for the onslaught of caviar on board I didn’t even finish it.
Eddie chose the Wonton with noodles in soup, which was very tasty as you’d expect.
Food at The Dining Room is prepared to order so you should allow some time for a meal here, or let the staff know if you have to leave soon for your flight. Having said that our main courses arrived promptly, within around 10 minutes.
Bar
One of the highlights of The Pier is the manned cocktail bar and lounge. You’ll find this at the opposite end of the lounge to The Dining Room, take a left once you enter if you wish to go straight to the bar.
Here you have the option of sitting at the bar stool seating or the low seating. There are options to the left in a smaller quiet area close to the bar or on the right with runway views from the large windows.