Cathay Pacific The Bridge Hong Kong Lounge
Once, the new kid on the block in terms of airline lounge at Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Cathay Pacific Bridge Lounge is very much the flagship feature lounge at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport, at least in daytime.Now, it's getting a little tired, thanks to the vast ammount of traffic.
The lounge is vast - spread over a giant 27,500 square feet - however during the evening it turns into just a long rather dull corridor. It's great if you want lots of space and quiet - not so good if you want a lounge with an atmosphere.
Hong Kong Cathay Pacific The Bridge lounge review
The Bridge is a combined business & first class lounge, and as such has slightly better food and drinks than plain old business lounges like The Pier, however the crucial thing to know is that it is spread over two totally separate sides, which are only connected if you walk all the out to the front of the reception desk and back again.
The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Bridge Lounge is located right at the farthest point of the main 'spine' of the terminal, just after gates 35 and 36, and just before it splits into two, and therefore the lounge Bridges the centre of the Y of the two sub-piers. If you take the train the entrance is just where the escalator spits you out - and you then have to take another escalator down to the main Bridge reception.
The wide reception desk (in Cathay's signature Carrara marble no less) always has staff hanging around the front, and who will always welcome you - but who never warn you that the lounge has two sides, and you have to decide now which side you want. The Bridge Lounge is split in two parts: turn left for the Coffee Loft and the IT Zone, or turn right for the Bakery and the Long Bar.
Assuming you turn right towards the bar, you wiggle down an L shaped corridor, and then arrive at an unusual silver sculpture before the main lounge area, with occasional seats dotted around the vast space: compared to the pack Cathay Wing First Lounge, there always seems to be lots of space and very few people. Really very few indeed, giving you plenty of time to try out the large sofas, or the soft grey armchairs.
Further down inside the Cathay Pacific Bridge Lounge Hong Kong here is the Bakery - with pizza, bread and salads - and then on the left the famous Long Bar. It is one of the longest airport bars in the world, with great seats where you can admire the setting sun and planes taking off on the righthand runway. At the end of the Long Bar is a small Tapas station, although this area is just designed for nibbles.
'Inland' from the Long Bar is a large lounge area with swivel seats and a TV on the wall: however, for watching Telly you really need to head to the entertainment room, which has a vast TV and a giant sectional couch where you can really lie and down. Many passengers mistake this area for the sleeping rooms, but they are inland from the bar too.
On the other side of reception is another Z shaped corridor, and another sculpture. You enter first into a long thin lounge, at the end of which is a corridor on the side, which gives entrance to the Shower Suites: these are some of the best at Hong Kong airport. Next to here is the IT Zone, which has large workstations mixed with a few that have computers at them: noticeably now most people take their own IT with them, so there are but five iMacs in here.
At the far end of the left hand side is the Coffee Loft, which is very popular in the mornings, with a barista here serving you coffee with pastries. There is a tiny Butler's pantry on the left, which in the evening has a few bottles of wine and beer, although in the evening this area is deserted.
There are plenty of very good seats in the Hong Kong Bridge Lounge: indeed, the atmosphere says more 'home' than 'business. Designed by renowned architectural firm Foster & Partners, The Bridge Lounge has a residential design, with bookshelves, coffee tables, lots of warm colours, a timber floor and some deep plus carpet. The only real hint towards work are the power sockets and USB ports hidden beside most of the chairs.
A Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge Review all comments on the peace and quiet: they are the main atmosphere of the lounge, Unlike the hubbub of the First Class Wing Lounge, the Bridge isn't open to the airport, and has no boarding calls or noise of people. It is also often deserted compared to the packed First Class section of The Wing late at night.
Food
There are two main dining areas in the Cathay Pacific Bridge Lounge Hong Kong. The first is the Bakery, the dining room on the 'right' side. It focuses on fresh bread and pizza, but there are also a wide range of other dishes such as local specialities such as Asian and Western soups, sandwiches, pastries, egg tarts and fluffy pork buns.Also on this side you can enjoy Tapas at the Long Bar. The Tapas counter is at either end of the bar, with different selections - you will have quite a walk to check out both.
The other half on the 'left' side has The Bistro. This is a self-service Buffet. Much more Western than the Bakery, it has a lot of hot dishes with plenty of curry and rice and noodles type variants, along with burgers and chicken concepts. The nod towards Asia comes with Dan Dan Mien (chicken in Spicy Crushed peanut sauce), Ramen, and Beef Brisket.
Next to here there is also The Coffee Loft, which is busy in the morning with breakfast. There is of course coffee and speciality tea, with pastries, biscuits, and freshly baked muffins.
Inland for here is a small butler's pantry, with cold cuts of meat, desserts and a few salads.
Bar
Drinking is the name of the game in the Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge, with the iconic Long bar. There is no surprise that it is very long, and gives great views overlooking the bay and the active runways. Alas, the seats here are uncomfortable, being square lumpy stools, just like in pretty much every Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Lounge.
Thankfully the drinks selection is great, with champagne and cocktails mixed by a waiter, however to keep the minimalist look, all the drinks are kept out of sight. There are snacks at the long bar too, with Tapas at either end.
Bathrooms
There are nine shower suites in the Cathay Pacific the Bridge Lounge. Each one is equipped with its own toilet and wash basin, plus a large shower cubical lined with large sandstone tiles, access off a dark black granite corridor. Biotherm cosmetic products are left in the cubicles.Business Facilities
There is a great IT Zone with 12 workstations, next to the Coffee Loft. Six are dual-boot iMacs set up to run both Windows and Mac OS X, while the others just run Windows.
There are plenty of empty desks too, with a pop-up power socket. There are only UK style square pins, plus a US sockets, and a network port.
| Flying on the Cathay Pacific A350 |
 |
Cathay Pacific A350 Seat Map |
Interactive colour seating chart for Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 Pictures and reviews of every seat for the Cathay Pacific A350. |
Video: Cathay Pacific The Bridge Lounge
| Cathay Pacific The Bridge Hong Kong Lounge | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rating |
Video walkthrough and Image gallery by Loungeindex.com
| |
| Location | Airside near gate 35 | |
| Opening hours | 0530-0030 | |