As part of my transit between Singapore and New York, I got to have a 3 hours block of time in Narita International Airport Terminal 1, Tokyo. I’ve decided that I’m going to make full use of my time there and explore some of the lounges there.
Armed with Priority Pass courtesy of my Capital One Venture X Credit Card and 2 United Club passes, there were 4 lounges that I could visit. The ANA Lounge, IASS Executive Lounge, KAL Business Class Lounge and the United Club Lounge.
After some initial research and flight timing considerations, I’ve narrowed down my wishlist to the ANA Lounge and the United Club Lounge. To my dismay, the United Club was unfortunately closed indefinitely. This leaves me to try out just the ANA Lounge.
To start off, there are 2 ANA operated lounges at Narita Airport Terminal 1. One is named the ANA Lounge and the other is the ANA Suite Lounge.
Supposedly, only the ANA lounge is eligible for lounge network passes like Priority Pass and Loungekey. However, when I visited, it appears that they’ve merged both the lounges and entrance into the combined lounge is through the ANA Suite Lounge entrance.
Location
The ANA lounge is located in Narita International Airport Terminal 1, within the No.4 Satellite. The satellite consists of a cluster of ANA boarding gates, which makes sense given that the lounge primarily serves guests flying on ANA.
However, if you’re like me and am flying on a United flight, it might be a long walk across the entire terminal to reach the lounge.
ANA Lounge / ANA Suite Lounge
When I entered the lounge, the entire lounge area was very crowded and there were barely any available seats left. This is likely due to the fact that the ANA Lounge was the only lounge open to lounge network pass members in the entire terminal.
Luckily, I was able to find a seat facing the runway. Score!
The ANA Lounge area. It was initially very empty when I arrived. However, shortly after I took my seat, a huge crowd of visitors entered. This caused the lounge to fill up very quickly.
The food area, located within the ANA Suite Lounge was very crowded. Safe management measures were enforced throughout the entire lounge. Seats were marked out and masks had to be worn at all times.
Amenities
The ANA Lounge is considerably full-featured. On top of serving proper food, it also has a printing room, massage room and shower room.
For the shower room, you had to inform the reception staff if you’re interested to visit. I did not get to visit the shower room as it was too close to my flight’s boarding time. Therefore, if you’re thinking of taking a shower, remember to leave an ample amount of buffer time!
There are 3 massage chairs in the room. All of them were empty even though the lounge was packed to the brim.
Toilets in the lounge were very clean and featured Japanese style toilet bowls – bidets and heated seats.
Food
There was quite a selection of food items available. This can be split into 3 sections. The bar counter, the noodle bar, and the beverage section.
The bar counter contains packaged finger foods like onigiri, salad and sandwiches. I find the selection here to be rather lacklustre and basic.
The noodle bar and the beverage section on the other hand were quite impressive.
For a start, there were 16 different types of food available for choice at the noodle bar. Contrary to its name, it actually offers more than just noodles.
The options available ranged from Udon to Soba and Sashimi Dons. During my visit, I chose the Sashimi Don.
Even though it looked good on the menu, the bowl was very small when served. The selection of Sashimis given was also very little. If I were to visit the lounge again, I would definitely select a different dish.
On the beverage front, the highlight has got to be the wide selection of wines and beers. There was also a standard coffee machine and soft drinks available.
Conclusion
If you’re transiting through Narita and have plenty of time before your next flight, the ANA Lounge is a respectable option. By merging both the ANA Lounge and the ANA Suite Lounge, there are bound to be plenty of seats available for guests to relax before their flight.
The food options were decent, but they couldn’t compare to other Japanese restaurants outside the lounge.
We hope to visit the airport again soon to experience other lounges, especially the United club lounge which was highly reviewed by other bloggers!
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