What Could Be Improved
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Limited food menu
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Tiny kids area. What's the point?!
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Bad tea and coffee
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This review is for the Heathrow BA Lounge Terminal 5. Heathrow Terminal 5 is BA’s global hub, so you’d hope for excellence?! Sadly, this business class lounge doesn’t quite deliver. It’s a decent lounge, but there’s better ones at Heathrow.
I got up at 3.45am, to make sure I got enough time for the review! I got to spend two hours here, before my flight. Frankly, I think 1 hour is probably enough. Maybe the early start made me cranky!
The lounge is a beautifully bright space with floor to ceiling windows. However, it's let down by the disappointing food. I was there at breakfast time, and it was slim pickings!
This review was done at the North Lounge. This is the 1st BA lounge that you’ll encounter in Terminal 5. You go through security and turn left. The North Lounge is at the very end of the walkway. To get to the South Lounge, you need to go down a level and walk to the other end of the terminal. It’s about 10 minutes to get there. There’s a 3rd BA lounge in Satellite Terminal 5b.
With Terminal 5 lounges at Heathrow, there’s also two independent lounges. There’s the highly rated Plaza Premium Lounge. You also have Club Aspire Terminal 5, which is available though Priority Pass.
The Heathrow BA lounge Terminal 5 is a wonderfully bright space. Two sides of the lounge face the runway – with floor to ceiling windows. The lounge is warm, as the windows are so large. The space has a lovely ambience. The lounge has the following facilities
This is pretty standard for a business class lounge. Given that the lounge is in BA’s global hub, I think they should offer more. I would have appreciated some more activities. The China Southern Lounge in Guangzhou offers a local tea ceremony for guests! They also have massage chairs and a games room.
This lounge has modern decoration, with leather seats. There were restaurant style tables and chairs. There were also lots of armchairs with side tables. The large windows give the lounge a modern feel. The furniture was minimalistic and complimented the contemporary look. I personally liked it!
The kids area was tiny. Basically a room with some small seats and a TV. It was empty during my visit. To be honest, I’m not sure why they bothered!
There’s a terrace style room. It’s surrounded by windows on two sides, and has glass on the other side. This made the area bright and warm. Like a greenhouse! There were nice runway views too.
The business zone was just some high seats with a large printer. Not really a business centre! However, I’m not sure who uses business centres these days. Most people have their own laptops.
The BA North Lounge is the most convenient lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5. The most convenient hotel is the Sofitel. Review here. It’s the only hotel in the terminal building. It’s 5 minutes walk from the arrivals hall. the Sofitel has a 24-hour fitness centre and a spa.
The food was the worst feature of the Heathrow BA lounge Terminal 5. There’s a small hot food menu. There’s also cold items in the buffet. The following items were offered:
They didn’t offer a full English Breakfast. There was no toast, hash browns or mushrooms. Most lounges in Heathrow do have a full English.
As a vegetarian, the offering was pretty slim! I ate porridge. I also had bread with cheese. The porridge was pretty nice and the bread was fresh. The quality was good. It certainly wasn’t a well balanced meal!
My daughter had some fruit and some pastries. She enjoyed them – although she is easily pleased!
One thing that BA does will, is their alcohol selection. There was a full bar with wine, beer, prosecco and premium spirits. There’s a beautiful self-serve area in the centre of the lounge. View picture in the slideshow.
There’s also tea and coffee stations dotted around the lounge. This is the same in all BA lounges. I wasn't impressed however! The machine coffee didn't look very good.
I had two cups of English breakfast tea and was disappointed. BA serve Twinnings tea in their lounges and on their planes. I find Twinnings to be cheap and weak. I’m not a fan. Given that Britain is famous for its tea, I think BA should try harder and offer better tea.
These days, airline lounges often have good tea. I had a lovely green tea at the Swiss Lounge in Zurich. Coffee is more hit and miss. Most lounges have cheap coffee machines.
“Could do better” is what I would say! The space is genuinely lovely, with lots of natural light. However, the food isn't up to much. Also, the tea and coffee were desperately poor. Given that the lounge is in BA’s global hub terminal, I definitely expect better. The BA Terminal 5 lounges at Heathrow aren’t the best.
While I was disappointed with the BA lounge, I had a much better experience on board. This article has my review of British Airways Club Suites. Their Long Haul Business Class. The flight was excellent. The seat was fantastic, the food was tasty and crew were friendly.
I was also impressed by British Airways Short Haul Business Class. I flew Club Europe from London to Amsterdam. Review here. The flight was only 1 hour, but they packed a lot in! The guy next to me downed 4 drinks during the flight. He then started a drunken conversation with me – which was awkward!
Staying with the British, I’ve reviewed Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. I flew from London to Mumbai. Sadly, the flight wasn’t the best. The afternoon tea was abysmal. The seat was also narrow and lacked privacy.