Starlux Airlines has built a reputation for doing first class properly — Think Loro Piana and Huntsman cabin materials, Aesop amenities, and a top-tier Airbus A350 product across the Pacific. So it's a bit of a surprise that the ground experience at its own Taipei hub is, by most accounts, a bit of a puzzle.

The Taiwanese carrier actually runs two separate first class ground experiences at Taipei Taoyuan Airport, depending on how you're travelling. If Taipei is where your trip starts or ends, you get access to the Huan Yu VIP Terminal — a separate airport facility that lets you skip the usual terminal chaos entirely, with fast-tracked immigration and security. Pretty much everyone in that situation takes that option. But if you're only connecting through Taipei, the VIP terminal isn't available; instead you're looked after by a Starlux representative and directed to the first class section of the Galactic Lounge.

And that lounge is where things get strange. Founder K.W. Chang is famously obsessed with outer space, and nowhere is that more obvious. The business class side is styled after a train-style capsule, and the first class section — often almost empty, since few people actually book the cabin — has a look one reviewer described as somewhere between an amusement park space ride and a McDonald's dining room. Hardly the vibe you'd expect from an airline that spends heavily on luxury collaborations everywhere else.

There are some quirks in the details, too. A small private room in the back corner comes with a door the attendant closes behind you — well-intentioned, but reportedly it feels more like being shut in a closet than enjoying exclusivity. The food is entirely à la carte, aimed at full meals rather than grazing, with a first-class-exclusive fish en papillote on the menu. Oddly, every dish lists its calorie count, and not always convincingly — the fish supposedly comes in at 750 calories while a burger is 315-370.

The drinks, though, hold up well: signature cocktails, solid wine, and genuinely excellent barista coffee. So the experience isn't bad — it just doesn't match the polish of the flight itself, or of the PS LAX treatment Starlux gives first class passengers departing Los Angeles. The verdict: the onboard product could rank among the world's top ten, but the lounge wouldn't crack any best-of list.

For travellers, the takeaway is practical: if you're flying Starlux first class to or from Taipei, you'll barely see the lounge at all — the Huan Yu VIP Terminal is the real perk, and it's the smoothest way through the airport. If you're connecting, expect a quiet, if eccentric, space to eat a proper meal and grab a great coffee before your onward flight. Either way, the airline's quirky branding is part of the charm, even when it misses the mark.

Story via One Mile at a Time