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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
A surprisingly well-equipped contract lounge operated by Hanoi Airport, complete with showers, sleeping pods and local food options |
4.5
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Before a flight headed from Hanoi to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, I had access to the ACV Business Lounge at Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport, located in Hanoi Airport’s Terminal 2. Hanoi Airport has two business class contract lounges used by all kinds of different airlines (the airport owns this one, and I believe the Song Hong Business Lounge is privately owned), and Vietnam Airlines also operates their own lounge at the airport, which I didn’t have access to. I visited the ACV business lounge, which was just left of the immigration hall, located just by gate 31.
Here’s a review of the ACV business class lounge, including the available seating, food and beverages, and the surprising number of facilities available at this contract lounge.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Access and Opening Hours
The ACV Business Lounge is open to many airlines operating out of Hanoi Airport’s Terminal 2 (their international terminal), including Asiana Airlines, ANA, Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, etc.. Cathay Pacific falls in this list of airlines, which is how I was granted access. It seems like Priority Pass members have access to the Song Hong Business Lounge, but not this one.
You can also pay US$30 to access the lounge if you otherwise wouldn’t have access. Kids can enter for free with an eligible adult.
The lounge is open from 6 AM to 12 AM, which should cover most, if not all flights out of Hanoi Airport.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Location and Entrance
The ACV Business Lounge is located airside at Hanoi Airport’s Terminal 2, next to immigration. I had access to fast track immigration at Hanoi Airport, so that was a breeze – even the normal lines looked under 10 minutes long, however, and you shouldn’t have to budget too much time in order to get airside at Hanoi Airport.
To access the lounge, turn left after immigration and walk for a short distance, and you’ll find the lounge located on your left. The lounge mirrors the Song Hong Business Lounge, available to pretty much the same airlines (I didn’t visit this one this time round, but here’s a review from One Mile At A Time – it seems like the Song Hong lounge has much nicer decor, though fewer amenities, including no nap pods).
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Entrance
Once you find the lounge entrance, go up a level, where you’ll find a glass door leading into the lounge.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Entrance
The lounge attendant was friendly, and I was very promptly admitted into the lounge.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Seating and Atmosphere
The ACV Business Lounge is one large room with fairly bland decor, but was at no more than 10-15% occupancy during this time (around 5 PM). Beige and brown tones dominate the lounge, though a scattering of succulents brighten it up somewhat.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Seating
There’s not a huge variety of seating here, though you’ll find proper table seating alongside armchairs and coffee tables.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Seating
At the back end of the lounge there were three large sofas, where I spent a good chunk of my stay. You’ll also find rows of armchairs by the tarmac, where most people in the lounge gravitated towards.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Seating
There’s good natural light here, and you’ll also get good views of neighbouring traffic, which in this case involved a Singapore Airlines 737 MAX.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Tarmac Views
Power ports are all floor mounted, and there are a few of them, though they aren’t universal.
If you’re just looking to sit down somewhere and aren’t hunting for any facilities in particular, I’d recommend the neighbouring Song Hong Business Lounge, which seems to have much more inspired decor. But this is perfectly fine for a contract lounge, and all seating was comfortable.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Food and Beverage
The centerpiece of the lounge is their food selection, as it should be for a lounge in one of Southeast Asia’s most diverse food cities. While the food spread is almost entirely self serve (there are staff stationed around the spread, though I’d suspect they mostly manned the pho station), I loved how much Vietnamese flair was dotted out throughout the food spread, ranging from congees to stir fries to various petit fours.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Food Spread
There was a noodle station that featured pho, bún thang (chicken, dried shrimp and mushroom vermicelli), as well as bún sườn (spare rib noodle soup), all of which sounded delicious.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Food Spread
I was absolutely stuffed (I’d gone landside just to have a delicious bowl of pho), though I decided it’d be rude not to at least try some of the food selection. The curried catfish was absolutely spectacular, and not pictured was some red bean soup that I had, which I really enjoyed as well.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Food Spread
There was also a selection of Lay’s chips, all with flavours that you otherwise wouldn’t find in Hong Kong or the UK.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Lay’s Chips
What a gorgeous food selection! Unfortunately I had eaten so much in the past few hours that I could only stomach a little bit, though this is definitely one of the best buffets I’ve seen at a contract lounge.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi WiFi
While I forgot to do a speed test in this lounge, WiFi in this lounge was easy to connect to, free, and reliable – no complaints here.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Facilities
This is where the lounge shines, in my opinion, and makes it a worthy competitor to the Song Hong Business Lounge.
The lounge features showers. Now, I didn’t ask for a shower, and spotted that they only provide a wall-mounted three-in-one shampoo, conditioner, and body wash solution. I’m sure there are towels provided on request.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Shower
The lounge also features eight nap pods. While these all seemed to be full (I didn’t ask), I definitely appreciate that addition to the ACV lounge, and would guess it makes longer layovers significantly more pleasant for some. I don’t think I’ve seen proper nap pods at a contract lounge before.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Nap Pods
Additionally, there’s a little nook with 6 massage chairs, which for the case of my stay, made for about a 3:1 passenger to massage chair ratio. These massage chairs were divine. My back was in tatters after two longhaul flights, and a 15-minute session in a massage chair fixed me up for a third. I’ve definitely seen lounges with one or two massage chairs before (typically in contract lounges), though never six.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Massage Chairs
There’s also a business center complete with power ports and screens if you need to get some work done.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Business Center
This is a very strong set of facilities for a contract lounge, and as far as I know the Song Hong Business Lounge doesn’t feature nap pods, which could come in very handy.
ACV Business Lounge Hanoi Service
While I wouldn’t expect much human interaction in a contract lounge, I wanted to dedicate a section to noting that everyone I interacted with in the lounge was super friendly. When I said it was my first time in Vietnam and wanted to take a few pictures of the food spread, they smiled and said “sure!”.
Conclusion: ACV Business Lounge Hanoi
The ACV Business Lounge isn’t the prettiest lounge in the terminal, let alone the world. However, I was quite impressed by the food, beverage, and amenities on offer here. You’ll be able to get a shower, a massage, and even a nap pod here (subject to availability), and the self-serve buffet has a very strong selection of food.
In hindsight I wish I dropped by the Song Hong Business Lounge myself to compare, since it’s much prettier. Obviously, the facilities available here are just impressive for contract lounge standards, and I wouldn’t go out of my way to arrive early here. However, if you’re stuck at Hanoi Airport for a few hours, this is definitely a good lounge to spend some time in before your flight.
