A hot shower at cruising altitude sounds like a gimmick until you try it. Emirates' A380 first class includes two private shower spas at the front of the upper deck, and on a recent short hop from Mumbai to Dubai, one travel writer decided the experience was worth squeezing in between breakfast and a visit to the onboard bar.

These aren't converted lavatories with a handheld nozzle. Each shower spa is a genuinely spacious room with an enclosed shower, woodgrain panelling and gold trim that is unmistakably Emirates. There's room to set down your belongings and change without the usual aircraft-bathroom contortions, and even the area between the two spas plays running water sounds to set the mood. One catch: showers are only on the A380. Book Emirates first class on a Boeing 777 and you'll stay dry.

You book a slot with the crew, and it's worth doing early if you want one just before landing. On this flight, only four passengers flew first class and the writer was the only one to shower at all.

The setup is thorough. VOYA toiletries in gold-capped bottles cover shampoo, conditioner, body wash, moisturiser and face wash, plus individually wrapped soap, dental and shaving kits, a shower cap, combs and cotton pads. You get a large bath towel and a floor towel. Crucially, the water is warm and the pressure is decent — the two things that actually matter.

The famous limit is five minutes of running water, but that's water time, not total time. You can pause the flow while you lather up and restart it to rinse, with an indicator tracking what's left. A 6'1" passenger could stand upright without stooping. Afterward, the crew serves fresh fruit and tea (or coffee) back in your suite, and on this flight they'd turned the suite across the aisle into a bed so the original seat stayed free for dining.

Is a shower on a three-hour flight necessary? Not remotely. But that's rather the point. Even the writer admits the trip was essentially built around flying this aircraft, and the shower is a big part of what separates the Emirates A380 first class experience from other excellent first class products. It won't rescue bad service or an uncomfortable seat, but as an indulgence layered onto an already strong product, it's hard to beat.

For travellers weighing whether Emirates first class is worth the splurge, the shower spa is one of the few experiences in aviation that genuinely has no equivalent — and it's a memorable way to arrive anywhere, even when you could have just waited for the hotel.