It was only last month that I mentioned the closure of the Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club HKG. Fortunately, from that dust — relatively speaking — quickly arose another Priority Pass option: a second Kyra Lounge in Hong Kong.
On a recent layover, my only goal was to see if it was open for business. Thus, I skipped the sheep at the transfer security checkpoints close to immigration, and headed all the way to the W1 transfer area; basically, W1 drops passengers off at the escalators closest to this lounge/gate 40.
I made it up the lounge escalators (a second set of escalators) at around 05:57, and happened to be the first one through the gate when it opened at 6am. As far as I know, the hours are the same as the prior one, 6am – 12am.
I saw a couple of familiar staff; they mentioned a couple of big changes (as compared with the Chase lounge):
– the booth seating area behind the buffet (accessible by a narrow corridor to the left of the buffet) is no more. That was pretty much where I always sat, until employees started sending families back there. On that note, the Priority Pass listing for the former lounge mentioned no children, yet this one evidently welcomes them.
– no more ordering from QR codes. It’s strictly buffet-style. However, the bar is still around.
Here are a few photos from the interior; it doesn’t look so different, save for a couple of paint jobs, and the reception desk.
Save for where the booths and food were, I never found the Chase lounge to be so “busy”; the same can’t be said for the Gate 23 Kyra Lounge. Yes, yes, I know that my being there adds to the feeling of crowded, but having a high ceiling and ample space between seating works wonders.
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