Sitting like an oasis on the third floor of Noi Bai Hanoi domestic terminal is the Vietnam Airlines' Lotus Lounge. The spacious lounge was recently renovated in late-2016 and has plenty of seating, a great view of the tarmac and lots of extra features like a massage room, smoking room and workstation area.
I checked into this lounge at 3pm on a Wednesday, before our flight from Hanoi to Da Nang, and found it to be busy but pleasant.
What I liked:
Lots of seating. The lounge was busy when I visited, but because of the large amount of seating, it never felt overcrowded. The seats themselves looked brand new and were quite comfortable.
Storage lockers. There was a storage cupboard section where you could leave your belongings.
Airy and pleasant. This lounge has high ceilings and a full tarmac view, unlike the SkyTeam lounge in Sydney or the Vietnam Airlines lounge in Da Nang, which are both quite cozy.
New furniture and seating. The lounge looks fresh, with everything from tables to television screens looking only a few months old.
Massage room with massage chairs. The lounge has four massage chairs in a room next to the smoking room. This is a nice extra touch for weary travellers.
Smoking room. If you're a smoker, you don't have to leave the lounge at all, with the smoking room being located right next to the main food area in the lounge.
Excellent tarmac view. If you're an aviation geek, you'll enjoy plane spotting, with part of the lounge overlooking the runway.
Lots of beverage options. The lounge had a large drinks section, including bottled water, beer, soft drinks, ice tea, milk and three coffee machines. The addition of a barista would've made this even better.
Make-your-own-pho station. This is a great feature of the Vietnam Airlines lounges that I visited on this trip. This particular lounge had a station where you could take a bowl of noodles and add a soup base, select your meat and fill your bowl with vegetables to make a fresh pho.
Large workstation. There were a number of private desks and computers for last-minute work before take off.
Large shower room. There were three showers with cleaning attendants on-hand when I dropped in. There was no booking required to use the showers and they were clean and well maintained. The bathroom was also stocked with toothbrushes for those wanting to freshen up.
What I didn't like:
Hot food options were a bit light. Apart from the pho station, there were four metal serving bays for hot dishes, but only one of these was in operation and it only had sausages in it.
Very noisy. The SkyTeam lounge in Sydney was the perfect place to be cooped up in for eight hours straight because it was nice and quiet. This lounge was constantly barraged with announcements, which detracted from my enjoyment.
Slowish Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi here was good enough to make WhatsApp calls, but I found it to be a little slow.
Points Finder Lounge Rating: ★★★★★☆
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