Lounge Shower Review: EVA Air’s INFINITY Lounge, TPE

sidebar there seems to be a variety of EVA lounge options at TPE. the complex includes four lounges, two of which are connected, the STAR and the INFINITY. i went to this lounge and got directed to the INFINITY side (i presented my business class boarding pass; maybe Star Alliance Gold gets directed to the other side?).

ease of access and location: my flight got in at around 5:15 in the morning and by the time i made it to the lounge there was already a wait. i traded my boarding pass at the reception desk for a beeper.

Yes, welcome to fabulous Las Vegas, except they play creepy music (worse than your normal Chinese muzak) here.

it took about 45 minutes(!) to go off. i returned to reception and was led to the shower rooms by one of the front desk people. she asked me if i had ever showered on this side (i.e., INFINITY, vs. STAR) before, to which i replied no and asked if it was different — she said yes. she gave me a keycard like at a hotel which you use to unlock the door and then place in a slot (like at a hotel) to power up the room. (return the keycard to reception to get your boarding pass back — double-check your name since they gave me the wrong one at first.)

I was in the “Smile Zone” room LOL.

And yes, you really do have to press the unlock button to unlock the door.

the room itself was a decent enough size with a nice, large shower.

there was a small stool which i used to prop up my carry-on but i wouldn’t have minded a separate bench.

i could not fully figure out the wall control panel (which i determined worked the ceiling-mounted HVAC unit) due to my lack of Chinese skillz, but let me just say, the blue button is your friend. air conditioning FTW, especially after a nice long, hot shower.

I tried to scribble in the characters under the yellow t-shirt icon from the control panel into Google Translate but couldn’t do it. I thought I got it right with “Dry blasting” but upon double-checking the second character, it’s wrong.

the goods: Harnn-branded errythang! soap and shampoo bottles in the shower, hand soap, lotion, and facial mist by the sink. in case you missed it in my Royal Laurel report, cymbopogon = lemongrass. you also get a toothbrush set, shaving kit, comb, cotton swabs, and a shower cap. there was a plastic-wrapped bath towel waiting for me on the counter and a floor mat in front of the shower. a hair dryer is mounted near the sink as well.

not found: power outlet, but oh well. tons of outlets in the lounge.

i’m not quite sure why they had such a fancy toilet — i think it was a heated seat; i couldn’t find any sort of washlet control panel.

OH! Research shows the Apricot model is quite fancy, but I didn’t see a control panel! I was robbed!!!

shower: definitely one of the fancier models i’ve used!

the top knob controls water flow to the overhead or the handheld (one or the other), the bottom knob controls water flow to the three nozzles in the middle. water pressure was great as was the hot water temperature. so much nice hot water flow = so much shower pleasantness.

cleanliness and state of facilities: you can tell it’s a relatively new build, so everything was in great shape. it was also very clean, except for the bowl behind the toilet seat lid, which could have used a wipedown. *shudder* not nasty, but uhh, just not as clean as it could be. overall, though, no complaints at all.

overall rating: 4 out of 5. i loved how new and fancy everything was, but i wouldn’t have minded a slightly larger room and that toilet could have used a better cleaning. i guess they just don’t expect anyone to flip down the lid, eh? (ha, i did!) just keep in mind that the showers seem to be quite crowded so be prepared to wait.