The Private Room, Singapore Changi

Up very early the next morning, it was through the darkness all the way back to the other end of Terminal 3 to the First Class check-in.



It’s as nice as ever, with a small lounge of its own for the rest of one’s entourage to wait in.




Checking in took us only a couple of minutes; there was a small delay as I asked the agent if she could through-check our bags onto our later Cathay Pacific flight. After quite a bit of typing and calling supervisors over, she decided it wasn’t meant to be and tagged our bags just to Hong Kong. Boarding passes and lounge invitations in hand, we made the very short walk across the terminal lobby to the immigration checkpoint, whence we were invited to use the automated gates to exit into the airside transit area.



After that, it was straight across and up the escalator to the lounge complex.




At the top of the escalator, a whole crew of people were waiting to welcome us to the lounge. They took our lounge invitations and escorted us through the First Class section to The Private Room.






The Private Room is unchanged from our last visit a year and a half ago. It’s pretty unbeatable for what it is: just enough seating so that it feels neither crowded or eerily empty; spacious enough so that it feels neither cavernous nor cramped; staffed to the point that there’s always somebody to serve you at a moment’s notice but nobody is standing around.











In addition to the main area, there’s a dining area and a couple of small spaces for even more privacy. (I suppose that makes them Private Room private rooms.)




We started in the dining area for a light breakfast.





The menu is short and sweet.







There’s also a buffet for no good reason.



The laksa and dim sum were delicious.





Three guesses what I had to drink and the first two don’t count.



After we finished breakfast, we had an hour to relax get giddy with anticipation before it was time to go to the gate.

The review

Everybody has different tastes. At least at this point, this lounge still topped (foreshadowing alert) my list of favorite lounges of all time. I spent a while at the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and the Concorde Room in London a month ago; we’d been to the Royal Orchid Spa in Bangkok earlier on the trip; we’ve been to all of the first class lounges in Tokyo.

I’d still rather be at The Private Room.