Review: Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo Airport Phnom Penh (KTI)

For the next portion of my Iceland to The Residence via Cambodia trip, I had an extended layover at Techo Airport (KTI), which is the new airport serving Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I was arriving in Singapore Airlines’ 737 MAX business class from Singapore (SIN), and was connecting in Etihad’s A321LR first class to Abu Dhabi (AUH).

During my time at the airport, I checked out two lounges. In the previous installment, I reviewed the Plaza Premium Lounge, and in this installment, I’d like to review the Plaza Premium First Lounge. For those not familiar with the Plaza Premium First Lounge concept, the idea is that this is a more premium version of a Plaza Premium Lounge, available at select airports.

Entry requirements are stricter (and buying access is more expensive), but there’s the benefit of getting access to a la carte dining, bartender cocktails and barista coffee, and more. Is it that much nicer, though? Let’s take a look!

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo location

Techo International Airport has a brand new, beautiful terminal. While my transit experience was bizarre, once in the airside departures area, it was all pretty pleasant.

When you’re past the security and passport control area, you’ll find the Plaza Premium Lounge and Plaza Premium First Lounge right in the center of the concourse, with one on each side (the Plaza Premium Lounge is on the right, and the Plaza Premium First Lounge is on the left). They’re one level above the concourse, so can be accessed by elevator or escalator.

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo hours

The Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo is currently open daily from 5:30AM until 12AM, but you can expect that hours will adjust based on the flight schedules throughout the year. Interestingly, the lounge opens 30 minutes earlier than the standard Plaza Premium Lounge, which you might not otherwise expect.

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo entry requirements

The Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo is intended as the more exclusive of the two Plaza Premium facilities at the airport. So, who can get access to it?

• This is a contract lounge, so many airlines send their premium passengers here; over the hours of my stay, I found more airlines used the Plaza Premium First Lounge as the contract lounge, rather than the Plaza Premium Lounge, including Etihad, Qatar, and several airlines from China
• Travelers can purchase access to the lounge on the Plaza Premium website; at the door, the sign indicated that access could be purchased for $72 for two hours, or for $93 for five hours
• If you have access to the Plaza Premium Lounge via select means, you can pay to upgrade to the Plaza Premium First Lounge; the cost varies based on how you’re accessing and how long you’re staying, but I’d expect the cost to be $20-30, give or take

Anyway, I could access the lounge on account of my Etihad first class ticket. Despite that, entering the lounge was a very strange experience, with multiple staff members seemingly not knowing what to do with my mobile boarding pass. They took multiple pictures of it, made some phone calls, etc. I asked if there was an issue, and they didn’t really say a whole lot. However, after around five minutes I was admitted. Very strange.

I should also mention that I was surprised by how many airlines appear to use this as their contract lounge. Presumably it costs airlines extra money to send passengers to the Plaza Premium First Lounge rather than the Plaza Premium Lounge, so it’s not surprising to see access for passengers traveling on carriers like Qatar Airways.

However, I was surprised that most airlines from China (operating fairly short flights) also used this as their contract lounge, rather than the standard Plaza Premium Lounge.

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo layout & seating

The Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo has a similar general design to the Plaza Premium Lounge, but definitely feels a bit more elegant and upmarket.

As you enter the lounge, you’ll first find the area dedicated to dining, given the emphasis on the a la carte food and the bar. This space consists of a variety of tables, mostly seating up to two people.

Over by the buffet area, there’s also some high-top seating, with two seats per table.

Then there’s a space in the room more intended for just lounging around.

There’s some high-top seating at the bar, should you want to sit there.

The facility then has a long hallway leading to the other main part of the lounge, with space more designed for relaxing than eating.

This includes a room with a little over a dozen seats. This space tended to stay quiet, since most guests were sitting in the forward part of the lounge, for easy access to food and drinks.

The lounge has a private phone room, intended to allow people to make calls without disturbing others (which isn’t to say that people actually used that feature, though).

Lastly, the lounge has a terrace area, with some comfortable seating.

All-in-all, I thought it was a really elegant lounge design, which isn’t too surprising, given that the airport is new, plus the fact that Plaza Premium First Lounges are positioned as being a bit elevated.

The one thing I found ridiculous was the lack of power outlets. Almost none of the seating had access to power. Upon request, the lounge staff could provide power banks for charging, which just doesn’t seem like an ideal solution.

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo food & drinks

Conceptually, the main advantage of Plaza Premium First Lounges over Plaza Premium Lounges is that they feature a la carte dining, cocktails prepared by bartenders, and also barista coffee. So how was that execution at the Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo?

During my afternoon visit, the lounge had a self-serve buffet, intended to supplement the a la carte options.

The buffet was very similar to what was found in the standard Plaza Premium Lounge, and it included fresh fruit, salad and veggies, cake, vegetarian penne, stir-fried vermicelli, spring rolls, chicken wings, etc.

There were QR codes on each table for placing food orders, and guests could order as much as they wanted. I decided to order the sautéed mushroom bruschetta with rocket salad (admittedly it wasn’t the most Cambodian dish, but I had eaten almost nothing except Southeast Asian food in the past days, so I wanted to mix things up).

The dish was served within 10 minutes, and I’ve gotta say, it wasn’t exactly exciting. It was perfectly edible, though nothing about it tasted like it was actually freshly prepared, and it was also tiny. It seems like if you’re going to position a lounge as being premium on account of the food quality, you should be able to do a little better than this.

When it comes to drinks, there are some self-serve drinks, like coffee, tea, and juice.

However, a majority of the drinks were available from the bar, where all the wine and liquor options were on display.

There was a printed menu with the wine selection, as well as a display with samples of the signature cocktails.

I was struggling to stay awake, so rather than having alcohol, I instead stuck to coffee, and had both a latte and cappuccino, which were barista made, and excellent.

The lounge also had a second drink station in the back, by the room that’s quite far from the buffet.

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo bathrooms & showers

The Plaza Premium Lounge Techo has bathrooms in a couple of different areas, and they’re pretty nicely designed. In one area, the bathrooms are each individual rooms, while in another area, there are communal bathroom setups, with separate sinks, stalls, and urinals.

The lounge also has showers, which are complimentary for guests to use, though weren’t available during my visit (it wasn’t clear if they were undergoing maintenance, or what).

Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo massages

The Plaza Premium Lounge Techo offers massages, though at a cost. The facility where the massages are offered really feels a bit like a broom closet. Treatments range in length from 15 minutes to 60 minutes, with the choice of a back and shoulder massage, or foot reflexology. Treatments range in price from $18 to $54.

Back when the Plaza Premium First Lounge concept launched, massages in the lounges were complimentary (at least in Hong Kong). So while I guess it’s nice to have the choice of getting a massage at all, it would of course be better if it were free.

Bottom line

Plaza Premium has an impressive setup at Techo Airport, with both a Plaza Premium Lounge and a Plaza Premium First Lounge. The Plaza Premium First Lounge has the benefit of more elegant decor, some a la carte options, and better cocktails, wine, and coffee.

However, beyond that, I’d say both lounges were more or less comparable. The standard Plaza Premium Lounge was actually quieter during my visit, which was a bit surprising. If you have direct access to the Plaza Premium First Lounge, it’s worth using, but otherwise, I’m not sure I’d pay extra for it.

What’s your take on the Plaza Premium First Lounge Techo Airport?