Lounge Shower Review: ANA Lounges at NRT

(this post covers the ANA Lounges in Satellite 4 and Satellite 5, since as i have discovered — yes, this is a hard life — both showers are the same. note this review is of the showers for the regular ANA Lounges only; ANA Suite Lounges, i’d assume, are nicer, although i do not know if they are a completely separate facility in Satellite 5.)

ease of access and location:  in Satellite 4 (the one where you have to go DOWN a floor for the lounge), the showers are located past the noodle bar which is to the left of the entrance. in Satellite 5 (where you have to go UP a floor), the showers are located down a hallway to your right immediately after you enter the outer doors. in either case, present your boarding pass to the attendant in exchange for a claim token. both times (once early morning, once mid-evening), there was no wait and frankly, it didn’t seem busy at all. the shower room itself was a good size, although it could have used a bit more shelf space.

the goods: shrink-wrapped bath towel and face cloth, foot towel already placed outside the shower. tiny packets of everything you’d ever want, including lotion, Shiseido shower gel and shampoo/conditioner, toothbrush/toothpaste, comb, hair brush (there is a hair dryer as well), and so on. i would rather have soap/shampoo dispensers mounted in the shower instead of fumbling with little packets, but that’s just me.

Protip: The one marked “skin lotion” seems like a really runny baby oil, “milky lotion” is like runny lotion lotion. I don’t know what to do with baby oil…as you can tell, I discovered this the hard way.

also, of course there’s a washlet!

shower: pretty standard stuff, although (disappointingly) the pressure and temperature fluctuated during the course of my shower. i didn’t freeze or get scalded, but it was odd.

cleanliness and state of facilities: excellent. i don’t need to say more.

overall rating: 3.75 out of 5. definitely on the better end of things, but nothing to write home about. perhaps i expected more given the lounge in general (you know, sushi platters and made-to-order noodle bar and all), but certainly a very serviceable shower. i was about to give it a 3.5 but decided to boost it a bit because of the washlet. (which i realize even the public toilets outside of the lounge have, but in this case i’m easily impressed.)