With COVID-19 and the related entry restrictions having brought the number of international flights departing out of Tokyo Narita airport to a minimum, most of the airport’s lounges are shut down for the time being. The only Star Alliance lounge open at the airport is the ANA Suite Lounge in Satellite 5 normally reserved for first class passengers and ANA’s top tier status holders.
I had a chance to visit the lounge for a couple of hours before boarding my flight from to Zurich back in September 2020. Continue reading to see what the lounge and its limited level of service are like.
Location, Opening Hours & Access
There are two ANA Suite Lounges at Tokyo Narita airport – one in Satellite 4 and another in Satellite 5. Due to COVID-19, though, only the latter is open at this point.
The Satellite 5 lounge is located one floor above the main departures level and can be accessed using escalators and elevators near gates 53 and 54. Its opening hours remain unchanged from pre-COVID-19 times meaning the lounge is open everyday from 5AM until the departure of the last ANA flight.
As mentioned in the introduction, the ANA Suite Lounge can normally be only accessed by Star Alliance first class passengers and ANA Mileage Club Diamond members. Being the only open Star Alliance lounge in the terminal, though, right now, Star Alliance business class passengers, Star Alliance Gold status holders, and ANA premium economy passengers are welcome in the lounge as well.
Unfortunately, as you will see later, that doesn’t mean that business class passengers are able to enjoy first class service.
Lounge Tour
The lounge shared reception with the ANA Lounge that normally serves business class passengers. Instead of turning left, though, I turned right this time to enter the ANA Suite Lounge.
Right after the entrance, there was a hallway with dark walls and some stools along one of its sides that led to the actual lounge.
The hallway led into the lounge’s (at this time poorly stocked) food and drinks area, but more about that later.
Across from that, one of the main seating areas could be found. It consisted of a few sections with sofa chairs and coffee tables. While they offered limited privacy, considering how empty the lounge was at the time of my visit, that was not an issue.
Next to the seating area, there was also a counter that I assume was designed for taking calls. Since it was open, very little noise would be blocked, though.
Just past the food and drinks area, along the inner wall of the lounge, there was a counter with eight seats as well as the noodle bar. The latter, which I’ll talk about in more detail in the next section of this review, is a signature feature of ANA’s lounges.
Going even further, there was another large seating area. Just like the one near the entrance, it consisted of sofa chairs separated by coffee tables. This time, though, the tables were a bit larger providing a bit more personal space.
Besides the seating in the middle of the lounge, there was also plenty of seating along the windows for those that wanted to enjoy apron and runway views. That consisted of sofa chairs arranged in groups of four, a counter, as well as a row of relaxation chairs with coffee tables.
I spent my time in the lounge in one of the seats at the counter next to the window, watching planes while getting some work done.
Talking about work, the lounge also had a work area with cubicles and a printer. However, it was closed.
On the other hand, an area with semi-private lounging chairs and massage chairs was open.
While showers are available in the lounge, I didn’t have a chance to check them out.
One last thing worth mentioning is that the lounge also had phone booth typical for Japanese lounges. What was interesting about this one, though, was that there was an actual public phone installed in it.
Food and Drinks
As mentioned earlier, there was a noodle bar in the lounge. There, one could order a selection of soba, udon, and ramen noodles, as well as curry rice. While according to other reviews, in the late afternoon (I visited in early morning), sushi is available in the lounge as well, I believe that part of the service is suspended at this point.
Other than the noodle bar, there was a selection of lighter items including rice balls, croissants, sandwiches, cheese, salads, yogurts, and packaged snacks.
Finally, there was a freezer with Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
As for soft drinks, there was a Lavazza coffee machine, a selection of teas, and a soda/juice dispenser. Besides that, there were also pitchers with vegetable juice, tomato juice, and ice tea. Additionally, there was a water dispenser.
Alcoholic drinks included beer (served from Japan’s well-known automatic dispensers), as well as a selection of wine, sake, and liquor.
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo Narita During COVID-19 Summary
All in all, the lounge was nothing to write home about. With the trimmed-down service, it was roughly equivalent to what the ANA Lounge would be like at regular times.
That said, while I haven’t visited the lounge pre-COVID-19, I can imagine that it would be an average first class lounge at best. There is certainly plenty of comfortable seating, there is nothing in the lounge that makes it stand out.
…other than the payphone!
Thanks for the info. Can I access the ANA lounge in narita if I have a premium econ ticket that transits only to Narita from USA to my final destination Manila? I dont have Japanese visa.