In addition to ANA Lounges that ANA operates at various airports around Japan, the airline also operates better-stocked ANA Suite Lounges for its highest-tier frequent flyers. These can, however, be found only at the largest airports it operates from – Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Itami, Fukuoka, Sapporo, and Naha.
I had a chance to visit the last of those – the ANA Suite Lounge at Naha airport in Okinawa – last month. Continue reading to see what the lounge was like.
Entry Requirements
Unlike the ANA Lounge at Naha airport which can be accessed by the airline’s mid-tier status holders and Star Alliance Gold members, the ANA Suite Lounge is limited to the following passengers traveling on ANA:
- ANA Diamond status holders including one companion (additional companions can be brought in for 2,000 miles or 2 upgrade points per companion)
ANA Million Miler Lounge Access Card holders including one companion (additional companions can be brought in for 2,000 miles per companion) - ANA Suite Lounge coupon holders (one coupon per visit)
One notable omission from the list above is Premium Class passengers who can, unfortunately, only access the ANA Lounge.
In my case, I was traveling with a friend who is an ANA Diamond member.
Opening Hours & Location
ANA Suite Lounge at Naha airport is open every day from 6:05AM until the departure of ANA’s last flight.
The lounge is on the domestic terminal’s second floor. It’s located airside, just past security checkpoint C. Passengers that are eligible to enter the lounge, though, can also use a dedicated premium security check which leads directly to the lounge’s reception. The reception is shared with the ANA Lounge located next door.
Lounge Tour
The ANA Suite Lounge at Naha airport was fairly small and very simply equipped; essentially, it was one large room.
That said, between the reception and the room, there were a smoking room and a few phone booths. These are my favorite feature of Japanese domestic lounges as they allow those who need to do so take phone calls without feeling awkward/disturbing other passengers.
Entering the main part of the lounge, there was a buffet counter along the wall nearest to the entrance. More about its contents later on. Along one of the other walls was a hallway leading to the lounge’s restrooms. There were no showers in the lounge.
Seating consisted of a couple of rows of sofa chairs, each with a side table.
There was also a large communal table some pottery displayed in the middle. Along the table were a dozen or so chairs fixed to the ground.
Lastly, along part of the walls were large sofas with small coffee tables separating each seat. Those sofas lined a large coffee table that spanned the width of the lounge. Each of the seats had two pillows on it.
The one thing that the lounge lacked were windows – and thus natural light.
Food and Drinks
The thing that separated this lounge from the ANA Lounge next door was the food and drinks selection.
Like in the ANA Lounge, there was a dispenser offering a variety of soda and other soft drinks, as well as a separate aojiru (Japanese vegetable drink) dispenser. There were also pitchers of tomato juice and milk in the lounge’s refrigerator.
In addition to that, though, there were also pitchers of jasmine tea, guava juice, and shikuwasa (citrus fruit) juice.
In terms of hot drinks, while the coffee machines were the same in both lounges, the ANA Suite Lounge offered a better choice of tea than the ANA Lounge.
Lastly, the alcoholic drinks selection was more extensive than in the ANA Lounge too.
There were exactly the same beer and highball dispensers as in the ANA Lounge. Not only were the four major brands including Kirin, Suntory, Asahi, and Sapporo offered, but also Okinawan Orion beer was available.
Awamori (an Okinawan spirit) and one of the whiskies were the same as in the other lounge too. That said, the ANA Suite Lounge offered multiple whisky brands, as well as wine and sake.
The ANA Suite Lounge also offered a considerably better food selection than the ANA Lounge which offered just packs of rice crackers. Those were available in this lounge too, by the way.
More substantial items to eat included cheese and matcha bread, and chicken and yukari (shiso) rice balls.
There was also a soup dispenser with corn soup, consomme, and miso soup.
Lastly, there was a freezer with Okinawa’s signature Blue Seal ice cream. Vanilla, chocolate, and sweet potato flavors were available.
ANA Suite Lounge Naha (Okinawa) Summary
There was a limited amount of seating compared to the larger ANA Lounge and the lounge lacked natural light. That said, the lounge offered at least some food beyond prepackaged snacks which are the norm in Japanese lounges. Because of that, if you are looking to just relax and have a cup of coffee, the ANA Lounge might be a better option due to the extra space.
The biggest downside of the ANA Suite Lounge is the entry requirements. Unless you are ANA’s top-tier status holder, chances are you won’t be able to enter the lounge. It would be nice if ANA allowed at least its Premium Class passengers to do so – just like JAL allows its domestic first class passengers into its JAL Diamond Premier Lounges.
