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#939427 by CommanderB
05 Nov 2017, 06:39
Good evening from the Plaza Premium lounge at HKG! (Actually good morning from LHR arrivals, first passenger in too!)

After a successful review of the lounge at DXB, and the good karma it brought (Op-Up at the gate).. I decided to continue the trend. The karma is continuing too as I got upgraded from 22G to 9G on check in using miles, Y and W were overbooked, so I kind of regard this as a mini Op-Up, as someone was definitely getting moved anyway. UC upgrades were on offer for cash at around £500, but with my ticket already being in W, a cash upgrade to Z was totally pointless. :cool:

The lounge is located near gate 40; you will be handed an invitation on check in which has a map on it. You can take the transit, or walk (I prefer the walk). There is a lift, next to the Armani shop - which is easy to miss, and escalators up to the lounge level just a few yards past the Pandora shop. Its quite far from the main duty free shops, so if you are buying duty free, do it before the lounge otherwise you will be to-ing and fro-ing as VS usually depart from gate 26/27 or something in that vicinity.

The lounge is sandwiched between another Plaza premium lounge (for priority pass holders) and the Thai Air lounge.

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Its quite new and modern, definitely up there on the good end of the scale. I probably prefer it here over DXB. Seating for around 40 ish, so if UC is full then it will be crowded. Due to the seating arrangements, there are a number of 2x2 clusters - which tend to be occupied by couples or singles with things on seats etc. So as the lounge becomes more full, it can be more difficult to find somewhere private to sit. There is also a mini terrace looking out onto the tarmac, but due to the late nature of the flight, there is not much to see.

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Food offering is decent, tonight its Pepperoni Pizza, Seafood Quesadilla, Vegetable Dumpings, Shrimp Har Gow and Chicken Satay, as well as the usual snacks like crisps, nuts, sandwiches, soup, salad etc. It was different last time I was here, but cannot remember the options, so there is likely some kind of rotation. There is a kitchen at the rear of the lounge and occasionally you see one of the chefs coming out to check how the food is going down, so when it runs out - it usually gets a refill.

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Open bar with waiter service, or self service and a large fridge stocked with the usual soft drinks. There is only one waiter, and she can become a little overworked as the lounge fills up, but its always service with a smile.

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Wifi is abysmal, almost fine for browsing and social media, but about nothing else. Quite a departure from the DXB lounge unfortunately. It was taking so long to get the images uploaded, I decided to wait until I was at LHR arrivals to finish the post! I couldn't even load Ookla to test the speed it was that bad.

Overall, the lounge is quiet and has good enough amenities and good service. No VS representative on hand like other lounges but thats a minor thing.

I will hopefully be doing SEA later this month, so if anybody has any metrics they'd like included - please let me know.
#939428 by SlimpyJones
05 Nov 2017, 08:15
Thanks very much Commander, very helpful as before!
Looking forward to seeing what you think of the skyclub at Seattle, it's supposed to be one of the biggest and best.
#939429 by CommanderB
05 Nov 2017, 08:53
Yeah, I have seen the Seattle promo video Delta made, and it looks SWEET. Hopefully it will make the 4 hour layover bearable ;)

Mods, what do you think about making a sticky lounge review thread that can link off to these individual reviews? It would be nice that they don't get lost. And I am sure some of the V-Flyers visiting the destinations that I don't frequent (leisure routes) could possibly weigh in with more reviews..
#939438 by marshy11
05 Nov 2017, 12:13
Lovely detailed review, it's great with the photos too. Thanks for taking the time to put it together. Very helpful and a great read even if I'm not going that way!
#939439 by spacedog
05 Nov 2017, 14:28
This is a very helpful review, thank you! We are heading to HKG with VS in February so it is nice to know that there is a pleasant lounge offering. I am still a bit sad about the Clubhouse no longer being there, but this definitely helps to soften the blow!
#939440 by Bretty
05 Nov 2017, 17:52
Nice review, thanks for posting.
I’ve recently passed through SEA and the new Delta lounge. It’s big and shiny, very capacious with lots of natural light. Opposite end of airport to where the VS flight departs. Staff schmaltzy but ultimately unhelpful - nowhere to hold your hand luggage if you want to pop out shopping, take it with you or leave it lying around for anyone to interfere with.

Food offerings aren’t bad, but not spectacular and drinks in two tiers, the limited inclusive drinks and the ‘premium’ paid for drinks. Champagne sadly is on the premium list. But overall not a bad place to pass the time.

For those who might want duty free, if you’re at this new lounge you can’t buy duty free - cigs, booze, perfume etc - since at SEA it’s taken from you and you collect it on the jetway as you board. They won’t send stuff to another terminal so if you do want some duty free, head for the gate a little earlier as there is a shop there.
#939446 by CommanderB
06 Nov 2017, 11:12
Thanks Bretty!

Fortunately I am arriving on the inbound VS105 and transferring to a DL flight, so as long as its near the DL departures i'll be happy!
#939463 by DragonLady
07 Nov 2017, 22:11
I was here in March ( not long after the CH had closed). My experience was much poorer so glad to hear things have improved. We arrived early ( the drive from Kowloon achieved in record time) but found the service slow from the sole wait staff and this got progressively worse as it filled up ( it was heaving as we left).I found the food offerings very poor and actually went and ate in the main PP lounge next door as I was hungry and wanted to go straight to bed once onboard ( I used my PP card so have no idea if I'd have got in just using my boarding card- probably not given the separate UC facility). The temperature in the lounge was unbearable and wifi ( as already noted )awful. There is no in lounge shower facility - you have to use the generic facilities available to the general customers using bought access to the paid lounge . Whilst not a huge issue this really didn't feel like a premium experience.
I loved the old HKG CH and had managed to hook up with a couple of v- flyers there over the years.This lounge is OK but given the offerings that other carriers now provide ( both in the air and on the ground) it's unlikely I'll be using VS again to HKG (I'm usually en route to Oz or elsewhere in Asia) now the CH has gone .

DL
Virgin Atlantic

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