A first-class-only lounge at Taipei Taoyuan that's private, attentive, and largely forgettable — with standout coffee but little else to remember.
They should just gut the place and start all over. It looks unfathomably depressing.
For the East Asian market, their offerings do reflect the best Taiwan has to offer, and its quietness is reflective of the high prices, so even if one could afford it, they may not have the appetite to book at those crazy First Class fares.
https://youtu.be/xt88bgoxC6k?t=765
Great review! Btw I fly to/from Taipei multiple times per year and am still sometimes confused by the layout of the terminal as well.
This looks terrible. A combination of institutional office vibe with a corner for "socializing" and the 2010s-American Airlines' hospital aesthetic of its lounge decor. I would expect a lot more for a brand that is noisy about its offering. Nothing there screams premium or luxury.
I’m not familiar with TPE but is the reason they don’t use the VIP terminal related to immigration processing?
@ JustinB -- That's a great question, maybe others can chime in? It does seem that parts of the lounge are located past immigration, so perhaps that's a consideration. Then again, I imagine most Starlux first class passengers can enter Taiwan pretty seamlessly.
Taking a look at the reviews online, it does look like a large part of the terminal is located landside, with facilities shared by both departing and arriving guests. Also keep in mind that a number of premium credit cards in Taiwan provides access to the VIP terminal, so while I can't imagine the space getting crowded, it's definitely also not as exclusive of an experience as Starlux's own lounge.
I asked this before on the preview article for this lounge, but I dont think you answered. You originally called Starlux F one of the "most consistent" first class products in the world, or something to that effect, in the first preview (LAX-TPE). After the F lounge experience, would you still call it that? This lounge seems like a pretty large speed bump in the whole experience, considering price paid and the onboard soft product. First world problems, I know.
@ GuruJanitor -- Sorry I didn't answer the last question. I think your question was in reference to this comment, which I made:
"After Air France, I’d argue that Starlux has the most consistently excellent first class ground experience of any airline in the world, in terms of the consistency with which you’re looked after."
Perhaps I should've phrased this better, but I think the point stands. I'm not saying it's the best first class ground experience in the world in absolute terms, but instead it's the most consistent in terms of end-to-end service. I can't think of any other airlines (beyond Air France and Starlux) that escort you the entire way on both arrival and departure at all stations.
To be clear, this lounge doesn't even crack my list of the top 10 in the world. But my point is simply that the airline consistently looks after you, and that's something to be said for that in terms of minimizing the hassle of the ground experience.
Thanks, Ben, that is the exact quote I was referring to, and your explanation makes perfect sense. No worries about no answer last time!
This was also your opportunity to visit the Galactic J lounge in Terminal 2 — since you hadn’t seen that before (though you did see the much tinier T1 lounge) — unless there was no time for it… And did your flight use the new T3 gates?
@ Proximanova -- Well this is part of that Galactic Lounge. I was able to briefly walk around the business class area, but a) the top level was largely under construction, so it wasn't really practical to review and b) the lounge was packed, partly because the construction going on. So unfortunately I'll have to save a review of the business class section for next time.
If you think this is bad, just wait till Elon Musk designs his first class lounge for spacex flights….
Should've ordered an Asian dish instead of fish en papillote, you're in Taipei after all.
Ten Forward vibes.
Good, bad, or confusing, do passengers arriving in F but departing in J get the first class experience in Taipei?
wait so you don't have access to any of the "snacky things" as you put it that are usually in the business class lounge? The macaroons, small ice creams, etc?
That seems like a definite miss.
@ Cy -- Presumably one could walk over there and help themselves to it if they wanted. That being said, it's a totally separate lounge, the attendant never mentioned that option, etc. So you'd be doing so under your own initiative, and it seems like that's something that should be made clearer.
But did you actually ask about that? Seems like if they have an attendant looking after you, you could've requested some of those?
While I get F is about proactive service, and fair to dock some points, it doesn't seem like a real limitation here. I'm 99% confident if you asked one of the staff during your stay, they would've gotten you some of those items.
So the main “first class” aspects of this are the person escorting you, the menu, and the shower room.
Thank you! I've connected in Taipei ~10 times in the last 2 years, and generally consider pretty good at navigating places.....but that airport drives me nuts. I just cannot understand it (even though when I look at a map it isn't that complex). Agree T3 at least gives a bit more of a consistency to it, but still need to navigate the maze otherwise (is it that there are too many unique spaces? i really don't know).
There's something odd about their terminal structure in that they have central areas, then long halls for their gates on each side. And because the terminals are connected airside, they don't do a good job of explaining which terminal you are at.
Really they need better signage and directions, like the lounges are towards A/B/C/D gates or something like that.
I remember my first time looking for the older JX lounge, and I was dropped off at T2 and really struggled to realize that I needed to head to the T1 area.
Amen to that. I've flown through twice with my kids. Both times wanted to get them a bubble tea before heading to the lounge and I swear I had to ask five different people for directions. Such a weird layout.
Basically, Terminal 1 has A & B wings on opposite ends (Gates A1-A9 & B1-B9), Terminal 2 has C & D wings (Gates D1-D10 & C1-C10) on opposite ends. The respective wings have gates and some concessions, while lounges and immigration facilities are located in the center of each terminal. With the exception of the CI Lounge at T2 (near Gate D4), and the JX Lounge at T2 (near Gate D7).
Where it gets confusing is the fact that A & D wings and B & C wings are connected airside. So Gate A9 (T1) is adjacent to Gate D1 (T2), and Gate B9 (T1) is adjacent to Gate C1 (T2). It gets extra confusing when your flight docks at a gate at a different terminal, but you're still expected to check-in or immigrate at the terminal indicated on your ticket.
The new Terminal 3 currently has Gates D11-D18, and is adjacent to Gate D10 (T2). The main terminal is not yet complete, so travelers are suppose to check-in and use the facilities of Terminal 2 then trek over.
So there's some logic to things...but you can definitely feel like it's an airport from the 1970s that has been repeatedly (attempted to be) modernized rather than something built with modern traffic volumes and people flow in mind. The low ceilings definitely also doesn't help with your sense of space.
Personally, this score seems harsh to me. ANA's Suite lounge at NRT got 3.5, this doesn't seem strictly worse than it. If anything, I'd say it's tied with it or even 3.75, even if you don't want to give it 4 stars.
The overall service level is better from what you described. I strongly believe you just chose a suboptimal food option, they had plenty of what looks to be solid Asian food on the menu. ANA Suite Lounge at NRT's food is not better than this, and you recognize the coffee is a tier above here as well.
While I know you don't eat pork, you are visiting a country with one of the highest pork consumption per capita in the world. It's akin to Nonstop Dan giving La Premiere low scores because he's vegan.
Overall, I agree this lounge is in an awkward spot, and there are critiques about the design/layout, but 3/5 seems off. This is still one of the better lounges in TPE/East Asia as a whole.
The soft product offerings looks pretty nice. Wonder if we could have got a glimpse of the lunch menu.
But the hard product belongs in that 70's show. Even the shower suite looks very ordinary. I wonder if the shower suite in the business lounge is exact same ?
Growing pains for a young airline. Sometimes they will miss on execution and this seems to be one of those times.
But, at least they try, unlike many airlines...
Were the bomber jackets for sale? Seems strange that there was a rack with a few of them on it.
Okay maybe I answered my own question. Available here for NT$8,880, which is about USD$280.
https://shop.jx-starlux.com/pages/starlux-jxstyle-a350-prestige-bomber-jacket
I'll be keeping an eye out for Ben and Ford in matching Starlux Bomber jackets on my next trip.
The design is an odd mix of mid century/the 70s/space. Hopefully the materials and finsihes were at least good.
Was there no artwork? The walls look very blank.
And I assume the photos are pre-sunrise? Was there any natural light?
@ DENDAVE -- No artwork, and the only natural light was the small window in the private room I was sitting in. Yes, the pictures were taken before sunrise, but with a lack of natural light, I don't think that made a difference.