The Plumeria Lounge — Local services in Honolulu

If you have a credit card that has LoungeKey passes, you can forget about going here. I followed my bank’s policy wherein I show my credit card to gain access to participating lounges (as my LoungeKey passes/vouchers are loaded on there), but the initial front desk lady said no to me because she had given another credit card LoungeKey access to another person earlier and she supposedly got in trouble by her supervisor for doing so. She said that her supervisor said they ONLY allow LoungeKey physical cards or QR codes, which is something I don’t have because my bank partners with LoungeKey directly, not me, and policy states that I do not get QR codes or physical cards because my bank’s credit card IS my LoungeKey pass. After being refused inside, I immediately called the LoungeKey department for my bank, asking what I should do to get access to the lounge as it’s part of the LoungeKey program. The LoungeKey representatives told me the same thing: just show them my credit card as my LoungeKey pass is loaded on there. I went back inside the lounge and the other front desk lady confronted me and became unprofessional and directed her anger towards me and REFUSED to help me. I still had my bank representative on the phone so I handed my phone to her and she just rambled on saying that they don’t accept credit cards for LoungeKey access and then THREATENED to cancel the LoungeKey program. She then handed the phone back to me and refused to help me. I cant believe this happened to me. The level of unhelpful, unprofessional treatment towards me and the bank representative on the phone breaches basic principles of customer service and staff code of conduct. After hanging up with the LoungeKey representative, I then called my bank asking if I could have a physical LoungeKey card; they said I don’t need one because the policy of the program is that I simply show my credit card. I explained to them the unfortunate interaction that happened earlier, and they concluded that I must’ve gotten unlucky with the front desk ladies because I have every right, under the LoungeKey policy, to have access to the lounge. They said that I should’ve escalated to speak with their manager/supervisor and then had a bank representative on standby on my phone so the manager/supervisor can speak to my bank directly. At this stage, from the level of anger I received from the front desk, I didn’t want to do this in case the front desk lady’s emotions and attitude get even more out of hand. SO, we never got access to the lounge because the front desk ladies refused to help me. If you encounter the same issue, I would recommend following my bank’s advice and ask to speak with their manager and let the manager talk to your bank’s representative through your phone. Also, management at this lounge should revisit the LoungeKey policy and reinforce more training on staff on how to behave and conduct properly and professionally while on the job. What a terrible and unpleasant experience I had. What an...

The old Hawaiian lady smiled when she checked my boarding pass. Real warmth, the kind that makes you believe in aloha for exactly thirty seconds. Then you walk into the lounge proper and understand that authenticity dies hard in beige rooms with fake plants.

The bromeliad on my table wasn't fooling anyone. Perfect plastic leaves, that unnatural red flower screaming "made in China" louder than a factory whistle. In Hawaii. Hawaii. Where actual bromeliads grow like weeds in paradise. But here we are, in Hawaiian Airlines' flagship lounge, surrounded by artificial flora because apparently maintaining real plants is too much trouble.

I've eaten bad airport food on six continents, but there's something particularly soul-crushing about watching scrambled eggs slowly mummify under heat lamps while you're supposedly being treated to premium hospitality. The rice looked like it had been sitting since the Clinton administration. Hard little kernels scattered across warming trays like dental work.

The seating was comfortable enough. Everything was comfortable enough. That's the problem with the Plumeria Lounge – it's aggressively, relentlessly adequate. Beige chairs facing beige walls under beige lighting. The kind of place where dreams go to file paperwork.

You want Wi-Fi? The login process feels designed by someone who genuinely hates human happiness. Click here, enter there, wait for a text that never comes, start over. Meanwhile, travelers slowly lose the will to live, one failed connection at a time.

But institutional mediocrity isn't accidental. Someone decided fake plants were acceptable in a tropical paradise. Someone approved those desiccated eggs. Someone thought Priority Pass members deserved to wait forty-five minutes while empty seats mocked them through glass doors.

The wine dispenser held Sycamore Lane – bottom-shelf stuff you buy when you've given up on life but still need to appear functional at dinner parties. Self-serve, naturally, because paying someone to pour would cut into profit margins.

The Hawaiian staff, especially the older women, carried themselves with dignity the space didn't deserve. They smiled like they meant it, somehow maintaining aloha spirit in a room designed to crush the human soul.

That's the real tragedy. Hawaii is magic – actual, honest-to-god magic. The land, the culture, the people who built something beautiful from volcanic rock in the middle of the Pacific. But corporate efficiency has strip-mined that magic, leaving us with plastic flowers and institutional eggs.

Outside these windows, waves crashed against shores that Polynesians navigated by starlight. Inside, we got fake plants and dried rice.

The Plumeria Lounge isn't the worst place I've waited for a flight. It's something worse – a missed opportunity wrapped in beige mediocrity, served with artificial paradise. In a place where the real thing grows outside every window.

The old Hawaiian lady was still smiling when I left. I hope they...

Update - visited again in early May 2023 at about noon and it was crazy crowded. Staff would seat you wherever they can find an empty seat. HNL needs to add more lounge options given the number of passengers who pass through this airport. Food & drinks are still adequate, not great.

Initial review - This is 1 of the 2 Priority Pass lounges available at HNL. The other is IASS Hawaii Lounge, which is more centrally located and a much closer walk if your gate is in the G numbers. However, not sure if it's the case all the time, but yesterday, they IASS warned folks before checking in that they only had drinks and if we wanted food, we should go to Plumeria lounge, which is located all the way at the end where Hawaiian Airlines' gates are located (NOT recommended to walk if you have to drag a suitcase or have less than 15mins to get to G gates). Luckily, there is a Wiki Wiki free airport shuttle service a few feet away from the Plumeria lounge that you can take to get around the airport - plan your time accordingly.

Maybe because IASS didn't offer food, Plumeria was very crowded during the afternoon when we were there. However, all had a place to sit (almost no vacant seat), and staff were very efficient in seating people and refilling food etc.

Not a 5 stars lounge because its location is not centrally located and a bit difficult to find - don't be shy to ask airport employees (the location description in the PriorityPass app can be a lot more precise), and because food choices can be better - instant noodles bowls, sandwiches that were very skimpy with meat/vegy, an automatic espresso maker that makes only espresso and not lattes or cappucinos ;/ However, the selection of basic snacks is good - chocolate, chips, cookies, party mix, etc.

It'll be great if Priority Pass can sign up more restaurants/food places for HNL to gives its members more choices than these two not so great lounges (e.g. at SFO, there's only 1 lounge (Air France) that PPass members can enter, but PPass has now signed up two restaurants where members can get $28 credit for food/drinks - Yankee Pier and Giants Club, both in Terminal 3...