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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
This lounge serves its purpose as a very good dining hall, though otherwise it's not particularly expansive with any inspiring seating or decor |
4.0
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Note: J and I were kindly guested into this lounge by Plaza Premium for review purposes.
In 2025, Plaza Premium opened a second First lounge at Hong Kong Airport. I’m unsure of the motive of why they’d open two First lounges at the same airport, though Plaza Premium does headquarter at Hong Kong Airport, so presumably they wanted a strong showing at their home base. I reviewed their “main” Plaza Premium First lounge many years back, though haven’t visited in recent times.
Plaza Premium pioneered their First lounges at Hong Kong Airport back in 2018. While the lounge itself is meant to be a more serene environment, the main significant expansion compared to typical Plaza Premium lounges is catering, with a-la-carte dining and signature drinks provided. I’d say that at the Plaza Premium West lounge at Hong Kong Airport, that’s kind of the extent to which the lounge stands out, though it does serve its purpose well in that way.
Plaza Premium First Lounge Hong Kong Access and Opening Hours
The Plaza Premium First Lounge at Hong Kong Airport is open from 6 AM until 1 AM. Here’s how to access this lounge:
- It costs HK$979.80 (£93) to buy access outright to this lounge
- You can upgrade to this lounge from HK$150 (£14.25) if you already have access to a Plaza Premium lounge, as per the Asia Miles website – examples include if you have access to the regular Plaza Premium lounge through your AmEx Platinum card
- Finnair and Qatar Airways are among airlines that use the Plaza Premium First lounge at Hong Kong Airport – typically this would be the one by Gate 1, though I presume you can use this lounge as well if you wanted to?
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Location
The Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) at Hong Kong Airport is located just short of gate 35, right by one of the airport’s three “regular” Plaza Premium lounges. You’ll see some signage pointing you down a flight of stairs, and there’s an elevator too if you require this.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Entrance
At the bottom of the flight of stairs you’ll find the entrance to both lounges, with clear signage for the First lounge.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Entrance
Once I made myself known to the lounge attendants, they escorted me past the regular Plaza Premium lounge area and into the First area of the lounge. The regular lounge didn’t look too crowded at this time of day, and is accessible to AmEx Platinum cardholders and Priority Pass holders.
Passing the Plaza Premium Lounge (West)
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Seating and Atmosphere
The Plaza Premium First (West) lounge at Hong Kong Airport is located in a small area located at the far end of the Plaza Premium lounge. The lounge itself is one large room with three different types of seating – there’s armchair seating, table seating, and bar seating facing the tarmac.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport
The colour tones are dominated with green and marble hues, much like their general Plaza Premium First branding.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport
Then by the end there’s a soda and coffee machine, some liquor, and an orange juice and flavoured water dispenser. Unfortunately we didn’t actually get to try the coffee here – even from the press photos it seems like coffee is only available from a machine, though I didn’t verify this during my time here. I would’ve expected this lounge to feature barista coffee, much like the other lounge by gate 1.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport
Generally I’d say that the other First lounge has a much more extensive range of seating, though this lounge has one massive thing going for it – it has natural light. While the other Plaza Premium First lounge at Hong Kong Airport is dark and doesn’t feature any windows, this lounge has massive floor-to-ceiling windows facing the tarmac, where in this case we were treated to a view of a Cathay Pacific 777.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Tarmac Views
So this isn’t necessarily the world’s most inspiring space, though WiFi was free, fast, and easy to connect to, and the lounge was empty. This is a very comfortable space to spend some time dining or catching a drink before a flight, and for that reason I think this lounge serves its purpose well.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Food and Beverages
The Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) features an extensive food and drinks selection, and this is the main differentiator between this lounge and the “main” Plaza Premium lounge. Even at the entrance, there are two welcome drinks for your consumption. On the date we visited, there were two non-alcoholic welcome drinks on offer – a grapefruit-based paloma inspired drink, and a coconut pandan drink.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Welcome Drinks
There’s also a food spread. I’d actually call the food spread fairly exciting in the grand scheme of things – there was a build your own taco stand, some dim sum, and kueh. These are a few things that I’d say would be just as good at a buffet as made to order.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Food Spread
However, the highlight of catering at this lounge is probably the all-day menu. There were seven options to choose from, and all of them seemed quite thoughtfully designed – from plant-based pork rice, to eel banh mi toast, to Vietnamese duck pho.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Menu
We weren’t very hungry, so J and I shared an option. I hadn’t introduced J to fish ball noodles in Hong Kong yet, so that’s what we decided to order. It was good, nostalgic, and fit-for-purpose on the day, though perhaps next time I’d try the duck pho or eel banh mi.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Meal – Fish Ball Noodles
The Plaza Premium First lounge also has quite a big drinks focus. There’s a mobile bar, though I don’t really get the concept – you don’t really make your own drink from the bar, and the crew don’t bring the drink over to your table either. The cart just kind of sits there on display.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Mobile Bar
Apart from that, there is a good selection of wines – there’s prosecco, three white wines, and three red wines on offer, across Australia, France and Chile.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Wine and Spirits List
There was also a dry cocktails list, which looked quite interesting – one of the cocktails had even won a “Best Cocktail Design” award last year. The non-alcoholic options probably could be expanded (especially without barista coffee, and only two juices and very standard soft drinks), and I would’ve loved to see mocktails beyond the ones we were offered at the door.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Drinks Menu
While I wasn’t really keen to have a drink, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a Holiday Mood cocktail, which had won a Best Cocktail Design award at last year’s World Cocktail Championship. It was very good, though I’m not sure if I’d go as far as to give it an award – it was meant to be a gin-based lime and caramel concoction of sorts.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Cocktail – Holiday Mood
Overall, there’s a huge focus on dining and drinks at the Plaza Premium First lounge, and I’d say the experience itself might be worth the small add-on fee from the standard Plaza Premium lounge if you’re hungry. I wouldn’t call the catering here spectacular, and would say it’s on par with what you’d expect at a café bar of sorts in Hong Kong.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Service
The Plaza Premium First lounge offers table service at all seats, and meals were served quite quickly. Plaza Premium had arranged a buggy for me (as part of their ALLWAYS concierge service), and they did a good job of keeping me updated on its availability and whereabouts. The servers were also quite friendly, and encouraged us to try more of their menu (we were quite full from a meal earlier in the day).
I’d say that there were a couple of missed opportunities – for example, we weren’t offered a welcome drink when we first got into the lounge. I also believe service could be more personalised and proactive on the whole, given how few people were in the lounge at the time.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Showers
While the Plaza Premium First Lounge features one shower suite, I didn’t get to check it out.
Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong Airport Shower
Conclusion: Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) Hong Kong
The Plaza Premium First Lounge (West) at Hong Kong Airport is a small, compact lounge with good dining options. I’d say that the lounge serves its purpose – the First lounges are much more catering-oriented than anything else. However, between this and the other Plaza Premium First lounge at Hong Kong Airport, I’d go with the other one, as it’s more kitted out – it has a whisky bar and barista coffee, whereas this one just has an a-la-carte menu and a cocktail selection.
I’m a bit confused about the execution of some of Plaza Premium’s concepts, such as the mobile bar. I believe that there’s a slight mis-investment in slightly gimmicky concepts as opposed to offering a well-rounded experience. However, I enjoyed my time at the lounge, and wouldn’t mind being back.
Have you been to the Plaza Premium First lounge at Hong Kong Airport before?
