Malaysia Airlines First Class Lounge Review KUL (2019)

My Malaysia Airlines First Class lounge review from 2019 in Kuala Lumpur is part of a longer installment of my flights back to the US. Although there were some interruptions on my travel plans, I reviewed this lounge thanks to the delay. The Malaysia Airlines Golden Falcon First Class lounge is excellent. With KUL becoming a more important Oneworld connecting airport, I am very excited for any passengers that get to enjoy a layover at this lounge.

Note:

Dear Reader,

Before you begin this review journey with me, I want you to know that this review is a bit dated. It is from before the COVID pandemic. I had planned on publishing this one and others slowly during and after the pandemic. However, my job at the time requested I not write them. As some of the airlines were their clients, they explicitly requested I refrain from writing anything that could imply any conflict of interest. Recently, after starting a new job, I have decided to publish this one and others. I will note wherever I can what has changed, and include a year for when the flight happened, in the interest of clarity. Please enjoy this review!

Arrival at KLIA

I had flown in from a flight from Delhi the night before. For some reason, that was never properly communicated, my flight to Tokyo that night was canceled. I was initially booked in business class on Malaysia Airlines A330 (which I have reviewed previously). After the cancellation, I was booked on the Malaysia Airlines A350. Imagine my surprise when I saw that I had been booked into Business Suites! I was very excited, and since I had 36-hours buffer in Tokyo, I did not mind. After booking a hotel for the night (using my travel interruption insurance from my AMEX Platinum), I left the airport to return the next morning.

In the satellite terminal, where most of Malaysia Airlines (and other international carriers) depart from, the First Class Lounge is across from the Golden Falcon business class lounge. The lounges are on the second level. In order to access the lounge, you must be flying Malaysia Airlines (or other Oneworld carrier) in business suites or First class. Other ways to access the lounge include being an Emerald Oneworld elite status holder.

Entrance Sitting Area

Once the lounge agent scanned my boarding pass, she welcomed me to the First Class lounge. The lounge entrance was a grand hallway, dotted with comfortable arm chairs and small tables. The area was spacious and was well decorated.

Down the entrance area, you go down a couple of stairs into the main lounge area. Next to the stairs is a small staff station, where there was a coffee machine. This area was always staffed by at least one person.

Main Sitting Area

The main sitting area consisted of a long hallway-type area. There were multiple seating arrangements with some groups of four arm chairs, some single chairs with small coffee tables next to them, and seat pairs facing the windows.

Unlike the business class lounge, I had difficulty finding power outlets. I intended to spend most of the day catching up on work (given my trip’s delay). After finding a side table with outlets, I decided it would be my camp spot for the day.

The area was pretty quiet for most of the day. Malaysia Airlines has only a few Business Suite departures. As this cabin class is only on their A350s, the flights are limited to London and Tokyo (and occasionally on other routes, such as Sydney and Seoul). However, in the afternoon, the lounge got pretty crowded with all the afternoon/evening departures. Although there was always seating, the lounge got relatively loud and the dining area was almost full.

Dining Area

The main dining area is located on the other side of the wall of the entrance hallway. There are a little over a dozen tables, mostly for two people, but there were a few round ones set for four people. There was a small buffet at the end of the dining area. It was not intended for guests to use; the goal being that staff would get you any of the items there. I peeked around it and it was stocked with pastries, desserts, coffee and drinks. This was the main theme for the lounge, where staff would be happy to get you your choice of drink or snack outside of the dining area as well.

Throughout the day, I had three meals at the lounge. I started with breakfast. The menu read as follows:

I had some Kaya toast with coffee. It was promptly served along with a glass of water.

This was the lunch and dinner menu:

For lunch, I had the salmon. It was served with a breadbasket and some water.

For dinner, I had asparagus soup and the Laksa Johor. Both were amazing. The asparagus soup was warm and flavorful, and the Laksa Johor was very spicy but manageable. Along with water, I asked for Malaysian beer.

All three meals were excellent. The service was top notch. Spending the whole day there, I had lounge staff ask me if I needed anything to drink or some coffee about once every hour. They were also happy to “schedule” a coffee for me, as I wanted to grab a cup around 6pm.

Around 6pm, a very friendly staff member brought me my coffee. He asked about what type of work I did and had a pleasant conversation about Malaysian food and culture.

Semi Private Rooms

There were also some semi-private rooms at the end opposite of the dining area. These were more similar to living rooms with couches. There were no TVs there, and it was the quietest area of the lounge.

Nap Rooms

Next to the semi private rooms, there is a nap area. There were loungers separated by a short wall. The area was kept dark and cool (the coolest area of the lounge). There were blankets next to the loungers. I ended up taking a midday nap there. The seats were comfortable but a bit firm.

Bathrooms and Showers

The bathrooms were individual stalls and were kept immaculate while I was there. There were also a couple of showers, each stocked with the essentials. I ended up taking a shower just before leaving for my flight to Tokyo.

Conrado’s Thoughts

The Golden Falcon First Class lounge is an excellent lounge. It is not as fancy or flashy as the Qatar or Emirates first class lounges, but the service was top notch. The staff were extremely kind and attentive, the food was pretty good (restaurant quality, even if limited selection), and the coffee was strong. With excellent views of the tarmac and runway, I much enjoyed my day in the lounge. I would be happy to visit the lounge again.

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