After a fabulous stay at the Grand Hyatt Taipei, one of the hotel’s Mercedes limousines took me to Terminal 2 of Taipei Taoyuan International Airport for my EVA Airways flight back to Manila. Although I was flying coach, the royal treatment continued at the Plaza Premium Lounge.
There are four Plaza Premium Lounge at the airport, two each in the two terminals. All the four are spanking new, having been inaugurated only in July 2016, and as with any Plaza Premium Lounge, all are independent pay lounges that anyone can access, regardless of class of travel.
As I did my research, I found that I had two choices in Terminal 2—the one at Zone A or the one at Zone A1. As it turned out, the two were just adjacent to each other, and it came out to a choice between the enclosed lounge (Zone A) and the more open lounge on the concourse (Zone A1). I chose the former.
After handing over my boarding pass, the soft-spoken but friendly lounge attendant gave me a wi-fi password stub, as well as a meal and drink stub. Unlike others, the lounge offers set meals—which are limited to one per passenger—rather than a buffet, hence the stub.
The lounge, as expected for a Plaza Premium Lounge, was gorgeously modern. The color scheme consisting of mostly earth tones were pleasing and relaxing to the eyes, while the furnishings were sleek.
As I didn’t have dinner yet at the time, I first sat at the spacious dining hall, where an attendant promptly offered me a meal off the all-day dining menu. The choices were Western, Chinese, or Japanese; I went for the Japanese set. And since I was extra hungry, I also opted for the minced pork rice, which can be ordered on-demand along with fresh noodles. Promptly, my orders were brought to me from the live-cooking station.
The Japanese set consisted of miso soup, curry pork, breaded tofu, rice, and a garnished tomato. Everything was unexpectedly good. The minced pork rice, meanwhile, was hearty and just as tasty.
Beverages may be requested at the counter, and on offer were a selection of juices, hot drinks, soft drinks, and some alcoholic drinks.
Since I still had time, I proceeded to the lounging area and sat on one of the comfortable seats. Unlike the dining area, there were no tables, but there were countertops besides the seats. There was no shortage of power outlets for charging, and these enabled me to work on my laptop for a while. By the way, the lounge’s wi-fi is blazing fast for both downloading and uploading.
I later checked out the toilets, and they were spick and span. The shower looked immaculate that I wanted to try it myself, but I had already showered before leaving the hotel, so I decided against it.
I waited for maybe an hour more before my flight started to board passengers. The lounge doesn’t do boarding calls, which to me is a good thing, so those inside wouldn’t be disturbed. The lounge does have a flight board by the door, however.
PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGE (TERMINAL 2 ZONE A)
International Departures, 4th Floor, Taipei Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 2
Telephone: +886 3 393 1796
Website: www.plaza-network.com/location_detail?city=Taipei
Social Media: Facebook and Instagram
