We spent a majority of our time at Taoyuan Airport checking out all the Hello Kitty goodness, though we also spent a bit of time visiting EVA Air's lounges. EVA Air has four lounges at Taoyuan Airport -- The Garden, The Infinity, The Star, and The Club. If my understanding is correct, The Garden is…
Continue reading: Review: EVA Air Lounge Taipei Airport
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Next time try the fried fiber. Really! It is the Asian version of beef or fish jerky, just somewhat more dehydrated and processed in a way that makes it easy to sprinkle on rice. It's actually quite tasty.
Interesting...I was in TPE several times recently, and the star was always more crowded than the infinity, and it sounds like you had the exact opposite experience.
Regardless, IMO the star and the infinity are pretty much the same.
I've been there numerous times. Being a native Taiwanese, I enjoyed this lounger more so than any others I;ve been to, including all of the states' plus Centurion.
God bless international lounges. They put US lounges to such shame without even breaking a sweat.
You didn't mention the Japanese electronic toilets... always a plus!
More about the robot in some other reviews. I forget its name and functions but it only understands and speaks Mandarin I believe. We tried to say Hello and nothing....
I prefer Movenpick--it's very popular and ubiquitous in Taipei, I'm aware of at least one Movenpick restaurant at the Nanjing Fuxing metro station.
@KL, I agree about the fried fiber--it's delish. Had it served with Congee on China Airlines and at several hotel breakfast buffets.
To my understanding, one or two of the EVA lounge serve fresh made noodle. But that could possibly be the Garden.
@Raj, while I agree with you in principal these are NOT good examples of international lounges and I could easily name a dozen US lounges I would rather be in that any of the EVA's mediocre TPE offerings.
I don't know if you've previously reviewed it, but Cathay has an excellent lounge in Taipei - basically a scaled down version of their lounges in Hong Kong - for one world travellers.
@dmodemd, i sure would have liked this lounge a lot better it i'd encountered the talking toilet
@Charles. You got me there. I guess I prefer some awesome dumplings in the food court and geeking out over the Hello Kitty displays
I was there Sunday morning (The Star lounge). I was not really impressed with the food selection and it was hard to get a seat. EVA Air is a great airline, but I find their lounges sub-par compared to China Airlines, Singapore, Cathay, JAL or Korean Air. Still better than any US "regular" lounge...
The biggest difference that I've noticed is the shower rooms.
In the Infinity lounge you get a fairly huge room with a toilet and a nice shower.
The Star has the smallest shower room I have ever been in (except the SAS lounge at CPH). The dressing area is tiny and there is no toilet, but the shower itself is decent sized.
So be sure to get a room in the business class lounge.
Timely - I'm heading there later this week. And thanks Jacob - might end up using those lockers if I go meet up with my friend in town.
Star gold lounges are usually much better than business class lounges?
Are they aware of who is paying the bills? Star golds are just exercising status, usually gained from another airline. Meanwhile J pax are actually paying 3-6 times as much as the star golds in cold cash.
Seems like the J lounges should be the very best. Except F lounges, of course.
According to the ice cream brands, for most people in Taiwan, Haagen-Dazs is considered higher end than Mövenpick.
You know you're a frequent traveller when you visit the Infinity lounge and think its "ok". Just from the pictures it looks INCREDIBLE and gorgeous. Guess you're used to that though Ben hahah.
BTW- Haagen Dazs is very high end. Premium ice cream around the world thats for sure! 😉
Umm the photos make this look better than it is. It is not super clean, food is not special, drinks either. This is way better than the lounges that used to be herein Taipei, but not great at all. In-fight on either CI or EV is way better than on the ground.
Being Taiwanese I guess I'll chime in on this one. No lounge in TPE is worth arriving early for. If flying on Star Alliance, head to the SQ lounge for the food, it's minimal but the quality is better than the cafeteria fare in the EVA lounges (You can also eat at the Plaza PP lounge). Then head to The Infinity to take a shower. They have stupid names for those shower rooms but the shower rooms are MUCH NICER than The Star, and The Infinity showers also has more hot water than The Star, which on 2 occasions I have showered cold/lukewarm. The Star has hideous furniture, and The Infinity has disgusting lighting like an arcade or nightclub. Grab some ice cream and head out. I prefer Movenpick.
China Airlines has a nice lounge in T1 for SkyTeam flyers, and Cathay Pacific has probably the best lounge in TPE, also in T1 for the OneWorld flyers. The Cathay Lounge blows all of the EVA and CAL lounges out of the water.
Note the dynamic queue for the showers. I arrived at 5:30 AM with an 11 hour layover and requested a shower with a noted 1.5 hour wait and some 10 or so people in queue. Well 1.5 hours later the queue was some 6 people. The staff noted for the second time the afternoon departure. A few well placed questions resulted in the staff admitting the individuals with a short layover were moved to the top of the queue. A few minutes of complaints to the staff and the queue was some 2 people. A few minutes of complaints to the manger and the queue was some 0 people. I intentionally booked the long layover with the intention of participating in the free tour but in the end the free tour was a missed opportunity of sorts. The train to the city is an excellent option. Note the number of individuals in queue at the time of coordinating the shower and indicated the dynamic queue is not acceptable (or risk waiting hours for a shower). And yes the shower names are confusing at best. The showers rooms are quite nice and the products in the shower rooms are quite nice. In the end I took a shower in the morning and yet again in the afternoon. A long day walking the city is better ended with a nice hot shower.
I visited both lounges today and Star was much less crowded (3.30 pm).
Chose Infinity for the showers but it was pretty crowded with a baby who was not happy
Star was more relaxing and had some reclIners in the back of you wanted sleep.
Btw - they flipped the ice cream around with Movenpick now in Star - maybe they read the review ?
Would love to see a review of "The Garden". Very curious to see how EVA treats its top frequent flyers and whether it's more like a first class lounge with much higher quality food.
EVA Royal Laurel class is considered one of the best trans-pacific business classes for a reason. EVA seems to not compromise on quality for each detail including everything from the seat to the amenities to the food to the wine/champagne. But the Taipei lounges just don't seem to live up to that on-board standard.
Anyway you put it or compare it, Eva Air lounges are much better than any standard US lounges. Your view can be understood, however. Chinese food is not as appetizing to you as a Westerner. As a Chinese (though very accustomed to western food), I will choose Eva's lounges over United Polaris any time.
Ben
about how long to get from one of the eva lounges to the other terminal thai gate?
can go with out passing security again ?