Plaza Premium VIP Infinity Room HKG Review: To infinity, but not beyond

The Plaza Premium Group recently unveiled Infinity Room, a brand new VIP passenger lounge at Hong Kong International Airport, located within the existing Plaza Premium First Lounge. 

In many ways, this is what the Plaza Premium First Lounge was originally intended to be, before it was converted into a less-exclusive facility due to critical overcrowding in the regular Plaza Premium Lounge. It’s so bad that the lounge has had to introduce a restaurant-style ticketing system: arrive, take a queue number, and wait for it to flash on the screen. 

I recently received a media invitation to the Infinity Room, but even though I had high hopes for this experience, it turned out to be rather underwhelming.

I think a big part of this is because I saw firsthand what the Plaza Premium First Lounge used to be when it opened in 2018- luxurious, exclusive, and in a completely different league from other contract lounges.

In contrast, the Infinity Room is just average. If you squint hard enough, you can see some trappings of finery around the edges, but it’s nowhere near the level that Plaza Premium would like you to believe, much less pay for.

Infinity Room: Opening hours and access

The Infinity Room is located within the Plaza Premium First Lounge near Gate 1 of Hong Kong International Airport, and described as a lounge-within-a-lounge. The concept is similar to what The Private Room was to the SilverKris First Class Lounge at Changi Terminal 3, prior to the 2022 renovation (though technically, that was a lounge-within-a-lounge-within-a-lounge!).

Operating hours are aligned with the Plaza Premium First Lounge at 6.30 a.m to 1 a.m daily, and access is available to passengers departing on Qatar Airways flights in:

• First Class (but surely you’d rather visit the Cathay Pacific First Class lounges instead!)
• Any cabin, with Qatar Privilege Club Platinum or oneworld Emerald status

All other customers can purchase walk-in access at HK$960 (~S$160) for a 3-hour block. Do note that this is the same price you’d pay for walk-in access to the Plaza Premium First Lounge, so you can kind of view it like a free upgrade, in a way.

Any customer who has a bank credit card with access to the regular Plaza Premium Lounge can redeem one visit plus HK$280 (~S$46) for a one-hour visit to the Infinity Room. However, there is currently no mechanism for airline passengers who have access to the Plaza Premium First Lounge to purchase a further Infinity Room upgrade.

All Infinity Room guests also enjoy a complimentary buggy ride to their departure gate.

Plaza Premium First Lounge

Let’s briefly talk about the Plaza Premium First Lounge, because despite the branding, the Infinity Room isn’t so much a lounge-within-a-lounge as it is a dining-room-within-a-lounge. Guests will still be sharing numerous facilities with the main PPF, including the buffet, toilets, showers and the spa.

I remember visiting the Plaza Premium First Lounge back in 2018 and being completely blown away. It wasn’t just the lux interiors, tasteful design, or premium F&B- it was how quiet and private the whole environment was. It really matched the aspirations of being on par with a First Class lounge, and I kept thinking to myself: “a contract lounge can be like this?”

Lounge Review: Plaza Premium First Hong Kong- pay an upcharge for a better lounge?

Sadly, these days it’s a very different story. Perhaps realising that it wasn’t commercially viable to operate a lounge with such low occupancy, Plaza Premium has greatly expanded access. Several carriers including Finnair and Qatar Airways now use this lounge for their Business Class passengers, and here’s what the crowd looked like at 12.45 p.m on a Friday afternoon. 

In many places, it was standing room only. There were long lines at the bar and buffet, the few empty spaces were piled high with plates, and the noisy and crowded environment felt anything but premium.

So comparatively speaking, the Infinity Room was an oasis of calm, located at the rear of the lounge behind a “reserved area” stanchion.

For the record, the Infinity Room isn’t a new build per se. It existed back in 2018 when the Plaza Premium First Lounge opened, but was used as a VIP area for meetings or private functions. This section has since been renovated with a new-look interior.

Infinity Room

The Infinity Room is basically split into two halves, both of which offer dining table seating. I was only able to photograph half the lounge as there was a meeting happening in the other section at the time, but you can see a couple of photos here.

Like I said, the Infinity Room isn’t so much a lounge as it is a dining area, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, you won’t find productivity pods, sleeping nooks, or relaxation areas. This space is built around dining. 

There is no buffet here; for that, you’d need to go back into the main lounge. But the star attraction is the a la carte menu, featuring a three-course meal.

For my starter, I had the arancini with chorizo, parmesan and pumpkin puree. The plating was certainly very beautiful, on par with what you’d expect in a true First Class lounge like The Private Room or the Qantas First Lounge. The arancini itself was lukewarm in the middle though, so I suspected they weren’t quite made to order but rather plated to order. 

After this, some warm bread was served together with whipped butter. 

For the main, I went for the kung po prawn capellini with asparagus, fresh garlic, chili and roasted cashew. This had the potential to be an intriguing fusion dish, only it wasn’t kung po. It was mala, and the chef really went overboard with the numbing oil. I’m no novice with heat; I’ll add a copious amount of chili padi to any dish, but this was well beyond what I could handle. 

For dessert, I took the chocolate mousse with osmanthus berry compote. This was probably the best dish of the three. 

It was certainly a better meal than what you’d find in most airport lounges, but I wouldn’t necessarily consider it on par with what I’ve had at other lounges with a la carte dining, such as the Qatar Premium Lounge or United Polaris Lounge.

In case you’re wondering what the other menu items look like, Plaza Premium has provided the following photos. 

Breakfast menu

All-day menu

Why I think the Infinity Room is poor value

It’s one thing if your ticket gives you complimentary access to the Infinity Room, but otherwise, is it worth paying the upcharge?

I’d argue no. While I would have seriously considered paying for the Plaza Premium First Lounge circa 2018, the Infinity Room just doesn’t fee like good value to me.

Let’s start with the wine list. If the Infinity Room wants to position itself alongside a First Class lounge, they need to do a lot better than this.

These are, to put it charitably, table wines. None of them costs more than $25 at retail, and I highly doubt Plaza Premium is paying retail price anyway. In fact, these wines were identical to those in the Plaza Premium First Lounge, and overlap significantly with the Chase Sapphire Lounge, which is accessible through regular Priority Pass.

Now, I’m not romanticising the past. I remember that pre-COVID, the wines in the Plaza Premium First Lounge were average at best. But at least they poured GH Mumm champagne for all guests, which was a nice little touch. Besides, back in 2019, God Save the Points reported that “it appears that elevating the wine program is something on their radar, and they are looking into bringing wine education into their team training, with a focus on finding great wines guests will really seek out”. Where did it all go so wrong?

I later discovered that the GH Mumm was actually available, just hidden away in the fridge. I was told that you have to request for it because the menu provided is for the Plaza Premium First Lounge. That made little sense to me. If the whole point is to differentiate the two and show that the Infinity Room is a cut above, why would you use the same menus for both?

For that matter, the non-alcoholic drinks and cocktails are identical to what you’d find in the Plaza Premium First Lounge, so there’s no differentiation here either. 

There’s other signs of cost-cutting too. Gone are the high-end embellishments like Acqua Panna and San Pellegrino, replaced by unbranded supermarket water served from bulk plastic bottles (you can spot it in the photo below if you look to the left). There also used to be a whole leg of jamon at the bar – granted, it was only free for Air France First Class passengers – but in any case it’s gone now too.

So, meal aside, what does the Infinity Room have that the Plaza Premium First does not? Well, there’s the opportunity to do a free whiskey tasting. I’m no expert on whiskey, but I sent this photo to a few friends who confirmed the offerings were at least mid-range; certainly better than the wines anyway. 

But if you’re not into whiskey, I doubt that a slightly better meal is worth paying HK$280 (~S$46) (upgrade) or HK$960 (~S$160) (walk-up) for, when you could probably have a very decent meal in the terminal for that price.

The hard truth is this: apart from a quieter environment, there isn’t much else to say about the Infinity Room. You’re still piggybacking on the same facilities as the hopelessly overcrowded main lounge. This means the same wait times for showers, a slim to zero chance of snagging a 10-minute complimentary massage, and even the same glacial Wi-Fi network, which can’t support the load placed on it (for comparison, it clocked at 100 Mbps back in 2019 when the lounge was much emptier).

So that buggy ride had better be worth it, because the rest of the Infinity Room experience felt rather underwhelming. 

Conclusion

The Infinity Room tries its best to rekindle the spirit of the original Plaza Premium First Lounge, but let’s be clear: this is no Lufthansa First Class Terminal. This is no Al Safwa. This is no PS LAX. At most, it’s a mini relief from the warzone that the Plaza Premium First has become, and a pricey one at that. 

If you want to get serious work done, you’re better off going to the Chase Sapphire Lounge or Kyra Lounge, both of which are on Priority Pass and have proper work desks. If you want a nicer meal, visit Intervals for creative cocktails and a made-to-order menu. And if you’re a oneworld elite or Qatar Airways passenger, the Qantas Lounge is much more peaceful and spacious, with a great bar menu and some delicious rotating plates of the day. 

I just don’t see any scenario where I’d be willing to pay out of pocket for the Infinity Room, and if nothing else, it makes me miss the old Plaza Premium First all the more.

What’s your take on the Infinity Room?