During my recent trip trip to London on Thai Airways Business class, I opted to use the Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge preflight. It’s a lounge I’ve visited several times. With a plethora of Star Alliance lounges in BKK – with Thai alone having 3 currently open in their home base – eligible Star Alliance flyers are spoilt for choice. The Prestige Lounge is the newest of the Thai Airways lounges in BKK, having just opened in late-2019.
I’ve always found the Royal Orchid Prestige to be a pleasantly quiet environment, with arguably the nicest showers of all the Star lounges in BKK. While I didn’t make use of the showers this time, the lounge was quiet as usual. It may not have champagne unlike the SQ SilverKris Lounge (SKL), but nowadays I value a peaceful and cool environment more in a lounge. The Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge ticks those boxes, and with a tended bar and acceptable food options, it remains a strong choice for eligible Star Alliance flyers.
The lounge
Location and access
The Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is located near the D gates, specifically the main entrance is opposite gate D4. It’s actually located next to the Royal Silk Lounge D. That facility is older, so flyers looking for a Thai Airways lounge should really opt for the Prestige.
The Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is open to Star Alliance business class passengers, Royal Orchid Plus Platinum and Gold members, and other Star Alliance Gold members. On this occasion I was in business, but I’ve previously accessed the lounge by virtue of my KrisFlyer Elite Gold status.
The space
The Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is a longish space. According to Thai Airways, the lounge spans a size of 2,088.59sqm and has a capacity of 463 passengers. The decor of the lounge is more modern that its other Thai Airways Royal Silk counterparts next door, and at Concourse E. It’s also much brighter thanks to stronger lighting. There’s also extensive use of greenery in the lounge, which I personally find a little odd, but does give a slight nature feel to the lounge I guess. One minor annoyance is the occasional awkwardly positioned column, which makes some seats difficult to get to.
The seating in the lounge is largely consistent throughout. This consists of chairs in either purple or brownish pink, with side tables between chairs. The only exception to this is the dining area, which has a different type of chair and circular or rectangular dining tables.
Regardless of table type, almost all tables have built-in universal power outlets and USB-A ports. This makes it convenient to keep devices powered wherever one decides to set up camp in the lounge.
I’ve only ever visited this lounge during the daytime, and not in morning or late night peak. In all the times I’ve been in here, it’s always fairly quiet and far from capacity. There’s never an issue finding a somewhat empty spot to sit. That’s a good thing.
The lounge also has an area exclusively for First Class passengers and Royal Orchid Plus Platinum on Thai Airways. This is in lieu of the fact that Thai Airways currently doesn’t have a dedicated First lounge, despite offering First on selected flights to London, Tokyo and Osaka.
Toilet and shower
The lounge is fitted with showers, and I would say they’re arguably the nicest of the Star lounges in BKK. The SKL doesn’t have any, the EVA ones were fine, and the one time I was at the Turkish lounge the shower was positively disgusting. I didn’t use the shower this time, but did so back in Jan 2020 when transiting.
The toilet was spotlessly clean on this visit and looked well-maintained.
Food & beverage
The Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge has a few F&B areas scattered throughout the lounge. When entering the main entrance, the manned bar is to the left, along with a small area with a couple of snacks and drinks.
The main F&B area is roughly in the middle of the lounge. This is where the main buffet is. The buffet had a good variety of hot and cold food. Some of the presentation was quite lovely actually.
Besides the buffet, there was counter with a couple of cooked-to-order dishes. There was a choice of hot and sour soup or noodles with pork meatballs that day.
Beverage-wise, there was the usual soft drinks, coffee machine and tea. The alcohol seemed to be only available at the bar. My main complaint here is that the drinks fridge wasn’t cold enough.
The dining area had proper tables for dining if preferred. This area seemed to have the largest concentration of passengers.
At the end of the lounge near the Royal Silk Lounge D, there was yet another F&B area. This was stated as the Halal corner. There was a bigger soft drink fridge here.
I didn’t try much of the food on this visit, having gone to the airport immediately after breakfast at the Conrad Bangkok. I did try the turnip cake and baby clam pizza. The former was actually not bad, while the former was decent for what was undoubtedly frozen food. The chocolate cake dessert was passable as well. Overall, good enough for a quick bite. I personally prefer the offerings at the SKL, but the Prestige Lounge isn’t far behind.
Conclusion
The Thai Airways Royal Orchid Prestige Lounge is a pretty decent offering. While it lacks any particular outstanding feature, the fact that it’s usually mostly empty is a strong plus point. It offers a cool environment from the otherwise warm Suvarnabhumi Airport. It’s also fairly centrally located in the terminal, making it a viable option regardless of departure gate.
While others may prefer the SKL for the champagne and more interesting bartender-prepared drinks, the Prestige Lounge has a soft spot with me for its environment. The F&B is still acceptable, and the showers are a major plus. It’s a strong competitor in the crowded field of Star Alliance lounges in BKK.