Review: China Southern Lounge Guangzhou Airport

Are you trying to get EVERYONE at China Southern demoted, fired, or sent to re-education camps?! (just kidding)

Hi Luck-
After your experiences with CZ and CA, any plans to try Hainan or MU?
Or even Xiamen (Also ST)

The lounge food reminds me of the food at the EVA Air lounge in TPE. Totally random! Love the gloves, by the way... 😉

When I was in the same lounge last June it was STEAMING hot! I too did not know about the departure form and had to get out of line. Had the same problem with wifi. They do have a chef that comes out to make wonton soup and noodles.

Quick question, why didn't you try Uber while in GZ?

Yikes. You just sent that airport manager to the firing range. Hope he had his affairs in order

@Lucky & @Brent -- so I guess the airport doesn't have air conditioning AND doesn't have any heating either?

Anyhow, what is this departure form you guys are talking about? Do I need to fill it out if transiting to HKG the same day (i.e. USA-PEK-HKG)?

I also had my meal on the lower floor which was for CZ elite and elite plus member, however, as a F or C passenger, you can use both. Then I would go upstairs for shower and rest. The Guangdong province doesn't have heating system in most of their office buildings and malls as it usually doesn't get this cold easily. It's the city planning problem. I was in Shenzhen new Terminal 3 last week and found freezing as well. In summer, it was freezing too as they turn the AC down to a very cold temperature like in HK's subway.

@ Qing -- I've actually heard good things about Hainan, would love to try them, but they don't really have any partnerships with any major airlines with good mileage redemption opportunities. Maybe some day!

@ Brent -- Didn't realize they had Uber in Guangzhou. I generally don't use data on my phone when traveling internationally, so wasn't the most practical option, but in the future may be worth it given the alternative.

@ Lucky
I'm going to try it in Shanghai soon. After reading the China thread in Flyertalk someone mentioned that the drivers are young rich kids trying to make connections with business men. You could possibly use wifi from the hotel to get the car there. It could make for an interesting article in the future. For places where not many taxi drivers speak english or are not safe Uber could become a good option.

Lucky - I went through the lounge in early January, and it appears you missed about half of the lounge. Not your fault as it's not obvious, but when entering, go to the right, or when leaving - after the desk but before the entrance take a left. There's another area with hot food, booze, showers, etc. Also since it was not obvious it had about 20% the number of people as the main area.

In November 2012, I had a 7 hour layover in that airport flying CZ and spent nearly all of it in that lounge (if the 72 hour visa option was available I might have hopped into the city; unfortunately it was not yet implemented and as a transit passenger I did not have a current Chinese visa). When I was there, the temperature was fine - maybe I was just lucky? Did you get any feedback from CZ or the airport that indicated an HVAC problem that day? I preferred the second floor of the lounge in that back area near the tea ceremony table (no, I didn't figure that process either. It was a weekend and the lounge was pretty dead/quiet most of the time). By China standards, the quality of the lounge was better than some others that I have visited.

Did you price the wines?

My Chinese friends have told me, in the past, that people who live in southern Chinese cities only rarely have heating in their domiciles, as they're warm-to-hot for most of the year; it makes it miserable for those few weeks in January and February, but other than that they don't need it. It's possible you went to Guangzhou during a cold snap in the middle of the winter. [This is also true for Indian cities like Delhi, where homes are frigid in January.]

That said, I'm not sure why they'd do that in an important construct like an airport, but it wouldn't surprise me that much, either.

Honestly, this lounge is way better than any airport lounge you can find in the US!

about the 1st class queue had everyone on it, its common in china. a country full of contradictions. at a train ticket counter while asking about a ticket, i was pushed aside by someone from behind, who handed the cashier $ for his ticket, both sides doing business as usual. while walking on the street, there are all kinds of signage saying "do not spit/pee in public", "be civilized & polite to others", making me think it's 50 yrs behind western countries.

@Ben S - the ground floor part of the lounge (to the right of reception) is guarded in the morning. If you try to use it you get ushered upstairs. Later in the day when the lounge gets crowded they relent and permit access to the right.

@Lucky - I think you were unlucky with a cold snap. I've been through Guangzhou several times early in the morning this winter and not once was it cold inside the terminal. I was comfortable in just a light shirt.

Looks better then Air China lounge

@Lucky
Hainan actually codeshares with AA and KE. Not sure about mileage redemptions, however. Also they happen to own an airline called Lucky Air:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Air

Perfect!

You have yo "do" Lucky Air even if you have to pay cash!

I can solve the mystery of the lady with the clipboard. i was there a month or so ago and the function of the lady is to take names for the showers. Most westerners at that time of day will probably have come from MEL or SYD connecting through for Europe and will almost certainly want showers. I expect she was checking on you to see if you wanted to put your name down for a shower or more likely trying to work out if you were on her list and it was your turn.

Lucky,
China will be full of unemployed airline and airport workers after your trip.
I would change your name and go as a German on your next trip. Watch your back!

Showers are in the upstairs lounge, but there is no elevator access - only stairs! Must be tough to be disabled in China.

At Air China's First Class Check-In it's kind of similar. They don't tell you which Lounge you can use or where you have to go to get to your Gate.

Next in line being demoted/fired/executed:
- F check-in agent
- lounge dragoness
- IT engineer, who set up the wi-fi
- lounge manager, who set up heating

anyvan elze viz a komment??

Visited that lounge twice last year, both times flying C... once they ushered us to the right, once they ushered us upstairs.

So we saw both parts, and had no idea why each visit we were shown to a different half.

Love this one. The lounge looks comfortable enough. Is that beer in the 750ml bottle with the swing top?

I'd like to see if the airport management will actually follow up on your blog post and actually install heating in the airport. Haha

I've travelled a few times through Guangzhou airport recently and it most definitely can be quite cold, particularly in the morning. The lounge itself is described quite reasonably -- it is a nice lounge but the selection of food is indeed strange.

I have been through that lounge quite a few times in the last 6 months. Agree that the food makes no sense, I tend to just have the coffee and occasionally a chocolate. I noticed that the structural beams were unpainted on the glass side and were rusting badly. The showers had only one of the three available, it was unclean and smelled pretty bad.

The WiFi is totally unusable. The business office is no good if you need the Internet, but acceptable if you just want to print something off a USB drive.

If travelling First or Business, and the transit time is greater than 8 hours, CZ put you up in the on-airport Pullman Hotel, which is great. However just last month they changed the flight time out of London so that the New Zealand connection is 7 hrs and 50 mins transit time, and tried denying me the hotel. I put my foot down and got in, however a guy next to me for Melbourne was refused at 7 hrs 20 mins transit.

I have a question for you about the Guangzhou Airport I am flying with Southern China Airlines I have a 7 hour lay over Coming from Bali going to Vancouver Canada, to go in the Southern China Lounge is there a cost for that.. I am a first time traveller lots of questions I hear such bad things about this airport

@ kristin -- Are you traveling in business class? If so, you can access it for free.

can I leave the airport with 24 hour permission or do I need the 72 hour permit? layover time: 9 hours in Guangzhou

@ ulrike -- Well if you're eligible you can just get a 72 hour transit without visa and then stay less than 24 hours. It would be the same process.

Hello Lucky,
I'd like to purchase a 2-in-1 laptop and smart phone from computer street/city: I am on a 5 hour layover. Would it be possible to use the 72 hour transit to purchase outside of the airport? Has the GZ a duty free shop that sells such items? (I have completed a few searches and am unable to find an answer).
Thank you,
Tom.

Is there a smoking area near the lounge please, or anywhere in the transit area, we only have a four hour stop over there.

Hi
If I am coming on international Business class flight and transferring to an domestic economy flight, may I access the lounge? I have a 10 hours waiting in airport.
And if not, may I buy access to the lounge?

I was at this lounge for a 6 hour layover this week. Yes, it was a little hot and the food was random. But, I was pleased overall with my stay. I was given a sleeping room to use - a nice room with a bed, an air purifier, individual control air conditioning, a light. I slept for 4 hours there - great! I then took a shower there. So, although not the best lounge I've been to, I was very satisfied with my visit.

I flew from Bali to Guangzhou and then Guangzhou to New York. Both flights were late - although this was not a problem for me this time. The flight from Guangzhou to NYC was great. New plane, great seats in Business Class.

All in all, I'd fly China Southern again.

Hi Lucky, that was beautifully documented tour of the Guangzhou airport, fantastic job. I will be on transit and have a 3 hour stopover to catch my onward to Qingdao. I will be traveling economy class. Can you or anyone on this blog who has travelled through this air port let me know if i can have paid access to this lounge and if yes, how much will it cost.
Thanks and keep up the good work.

FYI: They do have showers at this lounge as well. Nice to take a cold shower in the summer and warm up in the winter. I did find it odd they have no heat or air! But you can't beat the price of a business class fully lie down seat on China Southern!

Chad

Hi, I have a 7 hour wait in Guangzhou arriving from Heathrow before onward flight to Christchurch. I am flying economy - just wondered if there is a lounge I can pay to access, or if I can leave the airport and pay to stay at The Pullman for a few hours ?

@Shannen Lamb: Try the "Premium Lounge".

Why no replies to the economy class passengers? Have you been in a plane recently? Can you pay to enter this or any other lounge at this airport if you are traveling ecomony?This is the first time I replied to this site.