Plaza Premium Lounge

Out of all airport lounges I have been to, Plaza Premium Lounge at HKG Gate 40 was not the most comfortable one. But to be fair, it had the best selections of food I have ever seen. It was also clean and updated. Plus it had showers, the hot kind, so 5-​star is well-​deserved IMO.
Back to the food, they offered super local Hong Kong food like fishball noodles, XO sauce, stir-​fried noodles, etc. Drinks were decent, they had the Hong Kong style soymilk and lemon tea besides the regular coffee and tea. As far as complimentary booze, they only offered beers.
They also offered massages for an extra cost.

Pathetic lineup incompetent staff at check-​in. Worst Plaza Platinum Plaza wth huge wait.

Service sucks… i expected something better from such a nice airport. The general public can pay to go in for a small fee. The lounge was loud and filled with people.

Plaza Premium Lounge saved us on a 15 hour layover in Hong Kong. YES, you heard it– 15 grueling hours. We first went to the west wing based on the reviews on Unilocal but weren’t really feeling the vibe over there. And the private rooms were all booked so the kind gentleman called the lounge near gate 1 to see if they can accommodate us there and they happily did.
My fiancé and I each purchased a private room for 3 hours to nap, shower and just have our own space. They don’t have rooms to accommodate 2 people so we each had to purchase single rooms. No biggie. The room was just enough space to hide out and nap. The shower was amazing, with a rain shower head. They provide q-​tips, comb, shampoo, body wash, lotion, shower cap, toothbrush and toothpaste. The bed wasn’t the comfiest but in comparison to the airline seats and chairs at the gates, it was heaven. There’s an adjustable AC in there as well. It was expensive for the room (600HKD) but what was great is that they weren’t strict on the times allotted in the room. We got in at 2:30pm and they offered for a wake up call at 5:30pm. They called at 5:40pm and gave us plenty of time to wake, gather our belongings and move out to the lounge area. They allowed us to stay in the lounge as we pleased, where I slept for another 4 hours or so and just lounged and ate. The food was just ok but enough to hold us down. We had the fish ball soup which was good but not all the rave. They also offered fried rice, «Italian» chicken (definitely not italian), boiled veggies and create your own salad. There was also a little snack bar with Doritos, Asian snacks and cookies. Near the front desk, there was a bar with alcohol you can purchase, and desserts that are free. The drink offerings however were off the hook. They had everything from coffee and espresso machines, to canned sprite teas coke and beer, to orange and apple juice. We were pleased with the service and everyone seemed very nice. It wasn’t overly crowded. We enjoyed our time at the Plaza Premium Lounge and are very thankful for the hospitality of the workers.

If you don’t mind the queue during busy dinner hours, Plaza Premium is a great place to chill while waiting for your departure. You can get in for FREE with your Amex Cathay, Citi Premiermiles or Priority Pass. Once you inside, get yourself a bowl of signature Hong Kong fish ball noodle to start off and follow by various dim sums, salads and finish off free flow of Carlsberg. Now you are totally chilled for the flight and do this once again for your next journey

This is a lounge open to the general public for a fee, or to those holding certain credit cards (i.e. Platinum Amex gets you in here for free).
The big highlight for the Plaza Premium Lounge for me is the HK style fishball soup and also if you’re on an early morning arriving flight before 0530 you can also use this to hole up in (the plaza premium lounges are 24 hours!) before the CX lounges open at 0530. Although you’d have to have an onward flight to be able to do this.
As another reviewer said, the the lounge at the other end of the terminal (near Gate 40) is much more quieter than the «zoo» that is the one near Gate 1
While it’s not like the Airline lounges, it sure beats sitting at the gate as long as you’re getting in with your credit card. Not sure I’d pay HKD$ 480 for 2 hours though. You can probably do something really nice in town for that kind of money.

I spent a few hours at this lounge to relax, clean up and finish off my work. I was there at around 11 plus at night. As my flight was at 7am, I decided to use this lounge to save money to stay at a hotel and also waking up in an ungodly hour to take public transport to the airport.
It was empty at that time, had the whole place for myself. There was a little snack bar which is free flow. Sandwiches, cup noodles, bread and cookies were available, as for drinks, you have choices of coffee (machine), water, soft drinks and orange juice, not bad for midnight snacks.
Every seats have two AC electrical sockets for you to do my work, I used those to charge up my portable devices and did some work on my laptop. Atmosphere at that time was quite and great for catching up with my stuff.
After that, I went to use the shower, had to ask the staff to unlock a door for you. Service was pretty average, wasn’t very helpful. Once I was inside, I had a very nice shower and was all set for my flight after that! Always great to feel fresh before your flight.
So the next time my flight leaves HK at a very early hour, I would probably come back here.

This is referring to the one near Gate 1:
When rolling in at 530AM from JFK, this place is clean and orderly. After 7am, it’s a f*cking hellhole of people. The food offerings are okay with many different HK and western choices, though the drinks/​beer in the fridges need to be much colder. 12C doesn’t suffice for chilled. Maybe it’s a chinese thing where people don’t like drinks served at 1−2C.
For a lounge this size, there aren’t too many toilets (2 urinals/​2 toilets in Men’s) and the line does get back up. Last thing you want to do is walk into a toilet stall after a mainlander drops a nasty deuce all over the seat and walls and you gotta go bad.
My return back to the states was worse than the AM hours as the place was ridiculously packed with no seating available.
I have been to the other lounge across the terminal and it’s much airier/​open. Maybe I should hit up that lounge next time.

Plaza Lounge upstairs was very lovely and chill. They have a noodle bar, which had HK Fish Ball Noodle and Roasted Duck Rice Soup. There were also some egg rolls and tarts, a salad bar and a place to have some milk tea.
The hot food area was quite small but the best thing there was the heaping pile of cauliflower and broccoli with onion and carrot. The broccoli was SO good, though it was salty with little bits of fried garlic and shallot. Apparently I was not the only one who thought this was the bomb because there were a lot of people coming back for more!
There was also japchae, teriyaki chicken, fish shumai (the ones you get off the street in HK/​Doll brand shumai), and some vegetarian pizza (don’t get that– you’re welcome).
There was also an area with cereal, marshmallows, cookies and cakes, along with a snack mix and crushed Doritos (nacho cheese– sorry Cool Ranch lovers).
There was tea and coffee area, and bottled water, beer, juice, and Vitasoy milk in the fridge area. I had a tall can of lemon tea, which tasted quite like the Vitasoy one.
Overall, pretty good. The business side of the lounge had a nice restroom area and little areas where you can work quietly. But otherwise the whole area was fairly quiet.

I travel frequently and use the Plaza lounges at HKIA on a weekly basis. They one near Gate 40 is still pretty good but the one near Gate 1 is pretty badly run. The drinks are often not cold and this is done on purpose to sell the same stuff at the bar for a premium. Passengers need to ask for sandwiches which are kept at the pay bar and the Filipino staff don’t seem to pleased to give them away. There is also a influx of Mainland Chinese using the lounges of late and they tend to be very rude and ill mannered.

There are 2 Plaza Premium Lounges at HKG — The West and the East Hall.
The East Hall, which most people visit due to the convenience location near Gate 1 is just like a hell hole. The lighting in here is dim and dark as there is no windows at all. Good if you want to have a nap. But this place is so noisy and busy, I doubt if you can have any peace or quiet at all during your stay.
The food area was such a mess… I know people want some food before going on the plane but this place is just like a war zone!
I would avoid this location unless my gate is close by.
Plaza Premium Lounge really needs to do some renovation or face lift for this lounge ASAP!

I frequently travel so having a pass into the plaza premium lounge is a benefit for me.
I used to come in here more often when less people were allowed in, now, most major credit cards allows people to come in here, making it sometimes more packed than I would prefer. What I mean by packed, is that a lot of the times, all the sofa seats are taken, the tables to eat are taken, and get this, a line up starts to form outside the lounge for people to get in. I have waited for nearly fifteen minutes just to get in! The last few times, I just decided to ditch the lounge and shop around instead.
When the lounge is quiet however, I do enjoy my time here. There is a small selection of warm food, so when I don’t want to go to the food court to line up for tsui wah or mcd’s, i come here instead. I usually get the fish ball noodle soup, i think that is always a safe bet. Their chilli oil is pretty good as well. I’m pretty fulfilled after my serving. One other thing I like about the lounge is that they have fridges full of drinks, making it convenient for me to grab a couple bottles before i board my flight — sometimes a beer or two won’t hurt either. After boarding, usually we won’t get served drinks for another hour so it is nice to stay hydrated before that.
Another thing that I like about the lounge is that there are a range of magazines for us to take or read while waiting. They often have bloomberg magazine, business week and sometimes Times magazine. I can read that while my computer and phone are charging on the side.
I’ve noticed that there are progressively more mainland chinese travellers in this lounge, that’s something that really annoys me. Not because I don’t like them as people but a lot of them have no sense of courtesy, one person can take up 2 – 3 seats in an already packed lounge. They take off their shoes and socks, put them on the table… and then expecting us to be able to eat at that table afterwards? I think not.
If only the lounge expanded just a bit, I would be happier with the facilities. Asking for too much perhaps?!

Since making the decision to abandon my efforts to maintain Cathay Pacific Gold Status (it’s just too expensive!) I’ve found myself with only single access to the lounge. Given that I rarely travel alone, this has proved problematic which is why I was happy to discover Plaza Premium Lounge.
I remember Plaza Premium Lounge from years ago and must say things have changed considerably. I was really impressed with the lounge, particular the plug sockets at every seat. I hate boarding a plane with less than 100% battery on my phone/​laptop/​iPad as flights are one of the few opportunities I get to read or listen to music.
The main difference for me is the lack of free alcoholic beverages at Plaza Premium Lounge. However, I tend to feel guilty as hell when I drink before a flight as I know my skin will suffer for it, so I took this as the universe’s way of reminding me to look after myself.
There was however, an abundance of food which was freshly prepared in front of me. The open kitchen set up is a new one to me as far as airports go and I have to say it made me feel pretty good about what I was eating. I loved the Chinese soup with pork and the fish ball noodles which tasted as good as any street restaurant (generally the best place to snap up this snack).
Around the corner from the kitchen I found the perfect spot to relax before my flight — I walked along the balcony railing and discovered a large living room set up with a gorgeous view over the airport. As a child I loved watching the planes take off, land and taxi and I was captivated with this sight right up until I boarded my plane this time.
I snapped up a couple of bottles of water from the fridge before I flew (again keeping my complexion in mind) and was grateful for them on the flight when it can be awkward getting a hostesses attention if everyone else is asleep.
Even though it was approx $ 400 to enter the lounge, my plane ticket was far more than $ 400 cheaper than the Cathay flight so I didn’t mind the price.
All in all I didn’t miss my gold membership at all.