What I Liked
- Lovely ambience and design
- Large lounge
- Cool kids play area with model airport
- Large drinks selection
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Runway views
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There are three BA Business lounges in Heathrow Terminal 5. This review is for the Business Class Lounge – South. It’s next to the First Class Lounge and the Concorde Room. It’s also a pain in the butt to get to! The lounge is big and very nicely designed. As with most BA Lounges, I wasn’t happy with the food! I took some lovely photos for this review. You’ll know exactly what to expect for your visit.
On this occasion, I visited the South Lounge. There’s another BA Business Lounge at the North End of the Terminal. There’s also a BA Lounge in Satellite Terminal 5B. Elsewhere in Heathrow, there’s a 4th BA Business Lounge in Terminal 3.
All of the photos can be clicked and pop out into a slideshow.
The lounge location is painful. You pass through security on level 3. You walk to the very north of the terminal and take the elevator, down to level 2. At this point, you’ll pass BA's North lounge. You then walk the length of the terminal to the south end. You need to go up 2 levels to level 4. Then you’re at the BA’s South Lounge!
The whole walk is 10-15 minutes. On this occasion, I was travelling with my son and his buggy. Ultimately, Heathrow need you to walk by those expensive shops!
The South lounge is British Airways main business lounge in Terminal 5. It’s next to the Galleries First Lounge and the Concorde Room. The Concorde room is for people flying in 1st class. The galleries 1st is mainly for people with Oneworld status. There’s also an Elemis Spa. In theory, business class passengers get a complimentary treatment. In practise, they never have slots available. If you fly in First Class, you call up and pre-book a time.
The lounge is BIG, as you would expect in BA's global hub. It has the following features.
The lounge has lots of seating. There’s restaurant style tables and chairs. There’s high tables with stools. There’s also lounge style armchairs.
This British Airways Heathrow Lounge has some nice runway views. Sadly, I was in the lounge at 5.30am. So there wasn't much light coming in.
The buffet is in the centre of the lounge. There’s self-service alcohol and tea/coffee stations throughout the lounge. As always, the coffee stations are Union branded. There’s also showers available to use.
There’s a kids play area. I thought it was really cool. There’s a model airplane and runway. I love funky and unique features like this. The kids area was empty, so I was able to get a nice photo.
I should mention that I enjoyed the ambience of the lounge. The lounge was half full, with dim lighting. There was also relaxing music playing. It captured my mood perfectly at 5.30am, before a weekend break. I was tired, but excited for the trip ahead.
I liked the décor of the lounge. It was modern and the furniture was in good condition.
The BA South lounge is the flagship lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5. The flagship hotel is probably the Sofitel. Review here. It’s the only hotel in the Terminal 5 building. It’s a 5 minute walk from the arrivals hall. Under a covered walkway. The hotel has a 24 hour fitness centre and a spa.
This lounge pails in comparison to the Air France Business lounge in Paris. That lounge is absolutely massive. They have free flowing champagne, lovely food, spa treatments and wonderful runway views.
The food at BA lounges is normally disappointing. This visit was no exception! The options were desperately limited. You shouldn’t expect a proper meal. The following was on offer
I had some porridge and a bread roll. The food wasn’t bad, but it’s not a proper breakfast. The porridge was well made, but they didn't have any maple syrup. That's close to a crime in my view!
The bacon looked ok, but the sausages didn’t look good. British Airways don’t offer a full English Breakfast in their lounges. This makes no sense to me. British Airways should show off the local cuisine. Most Heathrow lounges have an English Breakfast.
The drinks selection was very good. There was a full bar, with premium spirits, beer and wine. Everything was self-pour. There were drinks stations throughout the lounge. There were beautiful counters in the centre, that had the wine. Presentation is one area where BA really stands out.
There were tea and coffee machines in the lounge. As always, BA have Twinnings tea and Union coffee. In truth, I don’t like either. I’ve mentioned this a few times on this blog, so I would labour the point!
I had an English Breakfast tea. My wife had a latte from the machine.
This review is for the British Airways Lounge in Heathrow Terminal 5 – South. It’s their flagship business lounge. The lounge is pretty good. As always, I was underwhelmed by British Airways’ Lounge food. I’m used to it at this point! If you can look beyond that, there’s a lot to like. The lounge is large, well designed and has a lovely ambience. There’s also nice runway views.
British Airways have a business class lounge at the other end of the Heathrow Terminal 5. It’s called the North Lounge, review here. The North Lounge is smaller, and there’s no spa. However, it’s easier to get to than this lounge. The food and lounge décor are identical.
I flew British Airway Club Suites – review here. That’s the name of their long haul business class. I had an absolutely fabulous flight, from London to Los Angeles. The suite is a fantastic business class product. The food and drinks were also terrific.
I was equally impressed by British Airways Short Haul Business Class. I flew Club Europe from London to Amsterdam – review here. The flight was impressive. It was only an hour, but there was a full meal and drinks service in that time. I also got a great price for the flight – which helps.