Jaunted

It's 5:30am and although the sun is only just considering rising for the day, there's already a hot pot of congee and a platter of shiny-glazed pastries for the picking down in The Cabin, Cathay Pacific's 3,500 square-foot Business Class lounge hidden underneath Gate 23. This lounge, which also happens to be the most convenient to travelers as it sits somewhat mid-way down the terminal, only opened back in October, and thus it attracts flyers even from faraway gates thanks to the updated technology and design.

We drooled over the first pictures of The Cabin all those months ago, and actually descending the escalator to experience The Cabin ourselves was everything we hoped it'd be. For one, those custom Solus Chairs, finished in Italy by Poltrona Frau, are like airport chairs out of our wet dreams. Mmm...the modular design, the red leather, the outlet at your elbow, the illusion of privacy...we'll take two for our apartment, mkay?

If the Solus isn't your thing, there's an IT room packed with Macs and iPads, not to mention Eames desk chairs. And while you're working of just updating your Facebook page, may we suggest a detour through the self-serve food area for snackies. There's the noodle bar, an assortment of hot and cold dishes, two tea and coffee DIY stations, a bar, a health/fruit bar, an a juice bar. We drank so much from the juice bar that we ended up making far too many trips to the airplane bathroom on our flight—true story. We're powerless in the face of fresh Kiwi, watermelon, grapefruit and pineapple juices...but then their breakfast shake probably didn't help, since we also downed its tasty mix of chocolate, banana and espresso.

Although there are no showers in this lounge, like The Wing and The Pier both have, it does have free WiFi, complimentary drinks and food, and dead-on views to the front of planes loading from gates located directly above. As obvious from our pictures of the lounge above, this is sexiest of the Cathay lounges, and we're liking the fresh aesthetic; it's very appealing to younger travelers (we're talking 20s & 30s), who may be otherwise unimpressed by previous lounges visited, but on whom the healthier and more modern touches definitely won't be lost.

Disclosure: We traveled to Hong Kong as guests of Cathay Pacific for this event. Regardless, all images and opinions are completely our own.

[Photos: Cynthia Drescher for Jaunted]