As part of my first class ticket I had access to the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge at Heathrow, though I thought I’d be a bit irresponsible not to check out what I’ve heard people consider one of the best business class outstation lounges anywhere in the world – Cathay Pacific’s business class lounge at London Heathrow.
Cathay Pacific’s lounge complex at Heathrow is located by Lounge C near gate 11. The First Class lounge is located nearer to the entrance, whereas the business class section spans the rest of the lounge.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Entrance
The entry requirements to Cathay Pacific’s business class lounge at Heathrow is the same as any other oneworld business class lounge worldwide – you can get in as a oneworld first or business class passenger, a Marco Polo Diamond, Gold or Silver member, a oneworld Emerald or Sapphire member, or if you have a lounge pass.
The lounge itself is expansive and spans a few partitioned areas. Nearest to the entrance is Cathay Pacific’s signature noodle bar, which is decked with Cathay Pacific’s signature cha chaan teng-style padded booth tables, which I quite like. While I didn’t order straight from here, my dan dan noodles that I ordered at the first class lounge came from the noodle bar, and they were really good.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Noodle Bar
Past this is a big seating area that features a lot of comfortable seating. There are numerous huge swivel-y armchairs that face the windows, some bigger seats that face each other in the middle of the room, as well as Cathay Pacific’s signature Solo chairs. During my stay I found all of the seating very comfortable, one thing that Cathay Pacific generally does very well with their newer lounges.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Main Lounge Area
By one of the sides of the lounge is a food spread area, which features a large communal table (given that basically all of the other seating options are more comfortable in one way or another, this table generally stays quite empty).
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread Area
This area featured some hot food options, which I couldn’t get some great pictures of. The food looked good, and consisted of typical Cathay Pacific-style Asian options such as stir-fry noodles and dim sum.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
The main lounge area also features a bar. I didn’t get to order anything this time round (apart from the mimosa and mocktail that were delivered to my table in the first class lounge), but Cathay Pacific’s bars generally have good cocktails and barista coffee. I saved my coffee quota for when I tried out the Qantas lounge, which I’ll talk about in the next installment.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Bar
There’s also a nook near the entrance of the lounge that features a business center, with a few iMacs as well as a quiet space for working.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Business Center
All of the swivel-y armchairs face the tarmac, where there are good views of nearby gates. In this case all that was in sight was a British Airways A320.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Tarmac Views
In addition to the amenities mentioned above, the lounge also features showers. I grabbed one shortly before my flight. These showers are featured near the entrance of the lounge, as they are shared with the first class section. There was no wait for a shower stall, and I was escorted to my shower room after my name and boarding time was noted down.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Shower Room
The shower rooms at this lounge are consistent with those in Cathay Pacific’s newer lounge – they’re elegantly and functionally designed. I love the gold finishes that Cathay Pacific incorporates throughout their newer lounges, and these finishes extend to the bathrooms. In addition to that, the water pressure was sublime, and the rooms are also a good size.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Shower Room
The shower rooms (and bathrooms, for what it’s worth) also feature Aesop amenities.
Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow Shower Amenities
WiFi in this lounge is free and quite reliable. The WiFi here is shared with the first class lounge WiFi, which I didn’t have too many issues with.
My stay in this lounge was brief given I spent most of my time in the first class section, but I wouldn’t have minded spending longer in this lounge. During peak hours (before each Cathay Pacific flight), the lounge was quite busy, though seats were consistently easy to come by (presumably due to the size of the lounge).
Conclusion: Cathay Pacific Business Class Lounge London Heathrow
Cathay Pacific offers a great lounge at London Heathrow, no matter whether you’re flying first or business class. In general oneworld does very well at Heathrow’s Terminal 3 (as Qantas’ lounge is very good as well), though this lounge has it all, from good seating to great showers to barista coffee to a serviced bar. While the lounge isn’t exactly worth getting to the airport early for, I certainly wouldn’t mind a longer layover in here.
Read more from this trip:
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