T RIED AND TE ST E D LOUNGE
loose-leaf teas and small snacks. The shower area is clean,
Cathay Pacific The Pier, Business, Hong Kong
B A C KGROUND Cathay Pacific’s The Pier, Business lounge is one of six lounges the airline operates at Hong Kong International Airport. In 2016, Business Traveller reviewed The Pier, First lounge, calling it “superb”. CX has recently introduced a yoga and meditation space to The Pier, Business lounge called The Sanctuary, so I thought it was a good time to do a full review of the entire facility.
entering, I went hunting for newspapers and magazines and found a great selection. I then went to the Noodle Bar and ordered a vegetable tom yum, which was delicious. At the buff et to the left of the Noodle Bar, I got some vegetable dumplings, but the turnip cakes were all gone bar one sad and shrivelled one. Fortunately, they were replenished pretty soon thereafter. I also found some
well maintained and the staff member there was polite. If you need to get some work done, the whole lounge has free wifi access and there are several Macs you can use in case you don’t have your own computer with you. There is also a comfortable sleeping area. The Sanctuary is a 700sq ft
space developed in partnership with fitness company The Pure Group. What initially struck me was that there were only two people in there, despite the rest of the lounge being moderately busy. The audio meditation area has four seats in a circle, with privacy barriers so you can meditate in peace. You can choose from four diff erent programmes. There’s also visual meditation,
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which involves sitting and gazing at a patterned image, breathing in a measured way while focusing your gaze on the centre of the image and gradually moving your gaze outward, then back in again. Next to the visual meditation
The food and beverage selection is really quite impressive, and the manned bar has a good range of drinks on off er
WHERE IS IT ? Once you clear security and immigration, you need to go down to the main level of the concourse, L6, then travel all the way to the other side of the terminal using the shuttle train. When you see CX’s The Bridge lounge, turn right and go straight. You will eventually come to The Pier, Business lounge on your left near gate 65.
WHAT ’S IT LIKE? Huge, with a diverse range of seating options, including those with nice views of the tarmac. Upon
AP RIL 20 19
vibrantly coloured juices and decided to try the “Beet the Blues”, which consisted of beetroot, carrot, red apple and mint. I had indulged in a strong whisky cocktail in a Central speakeasy the night before, and this delightful concoction helped take the edge off my whisky head. The rest of the food and
beverage selection is really quite impressive, and the manned bar has a good range of drinks. Tea enthusiasts can also find a section called Teahouse, where they can be served a variety of
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
is an area for guided stretches. There are four chairs with three diff erent stretches illustrated on a board in front of the chair. I got the impression this is more for a female audience. I confess I did
feel a little awkward spreading my legs wide to perform the “Chair Goddess” stretch. There is also an area with yoga mats in front of a TV playing an instructional video of how to perform various yoga stretches. It’s worth noting that Cathay
doesn’t provide a change of clothing at The Sanctuary, so guests wishing to do some yoga will need to pack their own kit in their carry-on luggage. As you leave The Sanctuary, there is a self-serve water station serving crisp and refreshing orange- and lemon-infused water. Bear in mind there are no audio flight announcements in The Sanctuary.
VERDIC T A wonderful lounge that makes you wish you had turned up for your flight earlier. There is pretty much everything you could want here in terms of food and beverages, comfort and amenities. The new yoga and meditation space also adds something special. If I had to think of something for Cathay to improve on, it would be expanding the sleeping area to ensure that it does not get too crowded. Besides that, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and wish I could use this lounge every time I fly out of Hong Kong. Michael Allen
OP ENING HOUR S 0530-0030
LO C A TION
Terminal 1, Level 6, near gate 65
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