Our favourite Club Lounges in Asia
In the last two years, we have seen some of the - from my point of view - most wonderful properties in Asia. While not most legendary (mostly they do not have a lounge eg Peninsula, Aman or Raffles), the following hotels are truly outstanding and actually made it onto our TOP100 List - meaning the 100 best hotels we have stayed at. From Bangkok via Hanoi to Beijing, the following Club Lounges really outperformed and exceeded our expectations. Even though I would have different rankings for the different categories, eg some were better in food while others were more generous in operating times or did have the more dedicating service, I decided to rank them on a total rating.
1: The Ritz Carlton Club Lounge, Hongkong
Situated in the highest hotel in the world, this lounge has truly been outstanding. We had a terribly bad flight delay from Beijing but as soon as we were served the first of many glasses of Veuve Cliquot, we forgot about everything bad. An etagere with finest finger food arrived and we never even made it to the buffet as the staff members kept serving food and drinks to our window table. Concierge service was good as well and what I liked most was that the staff proactively approached you to do small talk. Without doubt the best lounge in Asia we have seen so far and definitely in our Top Three worldwide. Everyone knows your name and they even ask if they should address you by first or last name. And they actually do call you by name - without any exception. Needless to mention that the Spanish Club Manager did personally greet us to ensure we know all of the staff.
2: The Manor Club at Rosewood Beijing
Although super duper excited for Rosewood Hongkong as everyone, our stay at Rosewood Beijing was a total blast. 10/10 in terms of interior design, features and quality of service and food. I mean they have to limit the complimentary drink selection to a few hours a day, generally happy hour times, but make sure to spend the full two to three hours in house so you can benefit from a few glasses of Roederer Rosé or other upscale French red and white wines. Their food selection though, gosh, it was as if we were eating at the best Italian restaurant in Florence or Milan with best Focaccia, Parma ham and best Parmiggiano. Did I mention the Gin trolley? Well they prepare any kind of Gin with your preferred tonic free of charge. Wow to this lounge. Service could be a bit more proactive and doing small talk a bit more but I guess that is a common thing in Beijing. Once we were sitting on the terrace of the Club Lounge enjoying a cigar outside happy hour, we were charged for our Gin Tonics though.
3: The Ritz Carlton Club Lounge Shanghai Pudong
Situated on the best spot of the house, this lounge enjoys breathtaking views of the Huangpu river and the Bund. Obviously it’s the place to enjoy an etagere with afternoon tea delicacies served with two glasses of champagne. Service was very friendly and they did proactively engage with us and offered champagne whenever the glass was almost empty. Their buffet is outstanding with even a live cooking station (the first Ritz Carlton Lounge we saw that had live cooking) and a huge variety of snacks and food including Chinese dishes and international ones. Outside the food servings they had very delicious crisps and some other snacks. Unfortunately the concierge at the Club Lounge did disappoint a bit not even being able to arrange a taxi for us, however they put efforts into showing us to get to the other side of the river by public transportation.
4: Club Metropole at the Sofitel Metropole Hanoi
Located in the new building of the hotel, the lounge had a beautiful layout. They did offer one of the most amazing Happy Hour with free flow Deutz champagne and a list of cocktails from the famous Bamboo Bar that were directly delivered to the lounge - and all of this on a complimentary basis during the two hours. Needless to say that we almost managed to try all of their cocktails, we enjoyed the stunningly perfect buffet with French products and amazing sweet dishes, just as you would expect it from a Sofitel hotel on the other end of the world. Service was good, however we never used the concierge so we cannot rate that one. Interestingly every single seat in the lounge was occupied during happy hour, while at all other times the lounge was totally deserted (beside breakfast time where the guests arrived peu a peu).
5: InterContinental Club Hongkong
Although one of my personal favourite lounges in the world due to my favourite view and the many memories I have related to that property, the interior feels a bit dated though and service is on the less proactive site with few smalltalk. Their food selection is very nice and of high quality so was the drink offering with complimentary drinks all day plus the happy hour with amazing cocktails and Perrier Jouet champagne.
What are your favourite lounges in Asia or even worldwide? I am right off to enjoy my first Executive Club Lounge experience in London which is the fourth upscale lounge I am checking out in Europe after The Ritz Carlton Vienna & Istanbul and my all-time favourite lounge at the Arts Barcelona which was way beyond any lounge experience can get. Thanks to my father’s SPG Platinum Status (RIP Starwood) I was able to see some more midscale European hotel lounges by Sheraton in Italy, Belgium, Germany and Portugal - and to be honest these ones got actually nothing in common with what Ritz Carlton offers with their Club Lounge Experience. Most interestingly, not a single Ritz Carlton Lounge did disappoint us ever - even though we stayed at Ritz Carlton Istanbul before the renovation, the staff was so above par that it was a 10/10 again. Amazing, isn’t it.
