Review – China Southern Domestic Sky Pearl VIP Lounge, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China

For a lounge that serves domestic flights only, China Southern’s Sky Pearl VIP Lounge is an excellent lounge for premium-cabin passengers and frequent flyer elites.  The lounge is outfitted with comfortable reclining seating, massage chairs, a good buffet, showers, and even day rooms for napping.

The Sky Pearl VIP lounge occupies an area of just over 2,500 square meters and seats 412 passengers.  It is located on the third floor of Terminal 2, the domestic terminal, inside security.  After arriving on a wonderful red eye China Southern flight from Bangkok, it took 45 minutes to deplane and transfer to the terminal, get through passport control and security, and arrive at this lounge in the domestic terminal.

Officially, the lounge is open continuously between the first and last China Southern departures.  It is hard to say what that translates to on the clock, but I know there are departures at least as late as midnight and when I arrived around 06:15 it appeared the lounge had been open for some time.

The Domestic Sky Pearl VIP Lounge actually contains two lounges.  One side is specifically for Gold and Silver Card members of China Southern’s Sky Pearl Club frequent flyer program.  The other side is for China Southern passengers travelling in business or first class.  This review covers the lounge for passengers in business or first class.

Guests encounter the food service area immediately after entering the lounge.

This area has a buffet and noodle bar as well as seating for dining, working or relaxing.

Chefs are stationed at the noodle bar to prepare eggs or hot Chinese dishes on request. 

Even though I had a filling meal on the flight from Bangkok, I had another repast before the flight to Beijing at 11:00.

Comfortable recliners and other seating are found at the back of the lounge.

The Domestic Sky Pearl VIP Lounge even has day rooms.  Nap rooms are the nicest feature and somewhat surprising to find in a domestic lounge.  Perhaps they are meant to meet the expectations of guests (like me) who are flying first class domestically in three- or four-class A330s, A380s, 777s or 787s.  China Southern has international first class seats on many of its wide-body aircraft.  Many of these planes are also used domestically, and China is a big country with some domestic flights of five hours or more.

In addition to beds and soft bedding, day rooms come with power outlets, slippers, bottled water, and other items for personal needs.

Try one of the shower rooms to refresh after a nice nap.

Like any good business/first-class lounge, the Domestic Sky Pearl VIP Lounge has a luggage room and business center.  They are located near the entrance to the lounge.

Not to be overlooked, children have their own play room.

Overall Impression

For domestic travel, China Southern’s Pearl VIP Lounge is an excellent lounge for passengers in business or first class.  It is certainly nicer than the the Japan Airlines domestic lounges at Tokyo Haneda I recently visited.

Up next:  A look at domestic first class on a China Southern 777-300ER.