Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge San Francisco (SFO)

September 15, 2016

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Back in July I took Joanna on a trip to Las Vegas and San Francisco (introduction full details of the trip are here) as a small thank you for being so supportive of this blog and for putting up with all my traveling (there really is a lot!) The trip was a lot of fun but at some point the fun had to end and we had to head back across the Atlantic. This is a look at the Cathay Pacific Lounge at San Francisco Airport which was our first port of call on our way home.

Cathay Pacific Lounge At SFO

The Cathay Pacific Lounge at San Francisco airport serves both First and Business Class passengers (as well as OneWorld Emerald and Sapphire members) and is a short walk from where you exit the security lines at San Francisco airport (take a left and follow the signs).

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Entrance

We arrived at the lounge around 5pm and although the oneworld website says that the lounge opens “4 hours before departure” (which would have been around 9pm – the next Cathay Pacific flight was at 12:50am) the lounge was open…or at least part of it was.

The desk agent was very friendly and it didn’t take more than a few seconds for him to check our boarding passes, hand us a couple of coupons for the noodle bar and welcome us into the lounge.

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

Once you’re past the welcome desk there’s a seating area straight ahead…..

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

….and, next to that is a Business area with iMacs, a printer/copier…..

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Business Area

….and some PCs:

Once you’re past the lounge’s welcome desk the room spreads out to the left and to the right (an elongated rectangle) and, as area to the left was closed off, we headed to the right.

Past the Business area there’s a small side area with a TV screen and some seats…..

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

…and, because the next area along is where the food is laid out and where the Noodle Bar is to be found, the seating is designed more for dining than for relaxing:

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

Past the food area the lounge ended with one final seating area…..which is where most people had chosen so I couldn’t get too many good pictures.

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

I asked the Cathay Pacific agent (at the door) why the rest of the lounge was closed off and, apparently, that’s the section that only gets opened up 4 hours before the Cathay Pacific flight departs.

That part of the lounge (to the left as you walk through the entrance) is a new-ish (2015?) extension to the lounge and, before I even got a change to ask if there was any possibility of having a look and taking a few pictures, the Cathay agent was ushering me in and switching on all the lights! A+ for Cathay service! 🙂

This newer area has a second buffet and dining area which, for some reason, I forgot to photograph (I think I was probably still too busy thanking the Cathay Pacific agent for his kindness!) and then continues on into another large seating area.

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

This area has a variety of different seating options….

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

….from standard armchairs…..

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

…some funky single-person booths….

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

…..and some cool recliners by the large windows:

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Seating Areas

There are washrooms and showers in the first part of the lounge but, as this area was still technically closed and as the fantastic Cathay Pacific agent was happy to let me take a look, I thought I’d check out what the washrooms/showers here had to offer….

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Washroom/Shower

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Washroom/Shower

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Washroom/Shower

This was one of the best washrooms I’ve seen in an airport lounge…heck it was better than a lot of bathroom s I’ve had at hotels!

It really was very cool of the Cathay agent to let me have a look around and take some pictures…I can’t imagine many other airlines having agents who are quite so helpful.

Cathay Pacific Lounge SFO – Dining

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the main dining area is just to the right of the main entrance to the lounge but, as we found out, the bulk of the food doesn’t appear until Cathay’s own passengers are likely to be around.

Still, there was the Noodle Bar……