If staying in a penthouse suite, which now does not come with Chairman's Lounge included as you said, any idea if one can still use the private elevators to the penthouse floors from the lounge without paying the $150/nt?
ETA: I got in touch with someone at the hotel, who confirmed that you do get to use the VIP elevators without paying the $150/nt, but you can't use the amenities in the lounge (obviously).
Just to clarify (as there are several issues here that shouldn't be conflated):
- The south elevator bank to floors 29-36 is not really "private" - the floors are access-controlled by key card, but the elevator bank itself is open to the public - 24 hours a day.
- The lounge adjacent to that elevator bank is VIP check-in (for RFBL+ guests), not the Chairman's Lounge.
- Anyone with a room key for floors 29-36 can access the respective floor via that elevator bank. Access to that elevator bank has never been tied to access to VIP check-in or Chairman's Lounge.