What I Liked
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Restaurant quality food
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Wide variety of drinks including champagne
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Attentive service
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Natural light
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Runway views
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The Virgin Lounge Heathrow is regarded as one of the best business class lounges in the world. I was excited to find out what the fuss was about! I was excited to do this review!
I loved my two hours in the lounge! It’s a large lounge with dine on demand food, bottomless champagne, attentive service and a beautiful bright and airy design.
This is the lounge that you arrive early for! I myself had woken up at 4am to get to the airport. It was pure darkness as I travelled. Worth every minute of lost sleep!
Heathrow Terminal 3 is one of best terminals on the world for airport lounges. And the Virgin Lounge Heathrow is one of the best in the Terminal. My review of the American Express Lounge is here. Also is Terminal 3, it’s fantastic too.
This review is an in depth guide, with loads of photos. Each photo can be clicked to open out the full slideshow.
I uploaded a video review of the lounge on my Youtube channel. I did the video before I did training on Youtube videos. So forgive me if it’s rough around the edges!
You can enter the Virgin Lounge Heathrow by one of the following methods:
I got access to the lounge as I was travelling in Business Class with Virgin. From London to Bangalore. I booked my flight with 58,000 Virgin Miles + £550 in taxes (an absolute steal). If you don’t have enough miles, you can buy them here. During a promo offer, you can buy 58,000 miles for as low as £510.
If you want to book your flight with cash, then I suggest you go to this page. It has all the best current offers for upper class bookings.
If you don’t have access to the Virgin Lounge Heathrow. There are other options in Heathrow Terminal 3.
The Club Aspire and the No1 Lounges can be accessed with a Priority Pass Card. Priority Pass is a membership program that provides access to over 1,700 airport lounges worldwide.
You can signup to Priority Pass here. If you use my exclusive link, you get a 30% discount.
The cheapest membership is £48. Standard Plus membership costs £183 and comes with 10 free lounge visits per year. So each visit costs £18.30. Crazy good value for free food, free alcohol, fast wi fi and your own personal space.
If you travel at least once a year, you really should be a member of Priority Pass. Airport food is so expensive. If you are going to signup, make sure you use my link. You won’t get the discount otherwise.
If you do have a Priority Pass Card, then save this link! You can pre-book a time slot for Priority Pass Entry. It costs £6. So even if the lounge is full, you’ll still get in.
Interestingly, you can access all of the Virgin Clubhouses in the USA with a Priority Pass. But not the one in Heathrow (sucks I know!). My review of the New York Virgin Clubhouse is here. It’s FANTASTIC!
If you want to know more about Priority Pass, I wrote a guide to their lounges at Heathrow. And below is a video guide to Priority Pass on my Youtube channel. Well worth watching for two minutes – if you’re on the fence!
Virgin Atlantic operate from Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport. The Virgin Lounge Heathrow is a 3 minute walk after security. Just walk through the duty free.
Conveniently, all the lounges in Heathrow Terminal 3 are next to each other. The Virgin Clubhouse is next to the Club Aspire and the No1 Lounges.
There’s loads of ways to get to Heathrow Airport from Central London. I strongly suggest that you don’t take a back taxi as it costs £150! There’s cheaper and faster ways to travel!
The cheapest way to Heathrow Airport is via a National Express Coach. Fares start at £5 if you book online. The coaches are nice too. With leather seats, free wi-fi and toilets!
The Heathrow Express is cheaper than you think! It takes 15 minutes to central London. Book online and fares start at £10 one way. And kids under 16 travel free.
If you want to book a taxi, then Minicabit are a good option. They’re a taxi comparison service, so you can choose the best value deal.
If you want an airport hotel, I’ve got some reviews on my website. I had a really good experience at the Sofitel. Which is a luxury hotel next to Terminal 5. Two minutes walk via the covered walkway.
There’s a lot going on at the Virgin Lounge Heathrow. It has the following facilities
The lounge is located over two floors. Ground floor is the main part of the lounge. The 1st floor is more of a mezzanine level, with a small sitting room. The 2nd floor is an outdoor terrace with runway views.
90% of guests were on the ground floor. The upper floors are extremely quiet.
There’s lots of seating. Low style lounge seating, restaurant tables and chairs, booths, shared tables. And much more.
For some reason there’s a small gym. With yoga mats and equipment. Given that guests are here with their hand luggage and their passports. It’s not exactly practical to get changed and have a workout. Nobody was using the gym - obviously!
The lounge itself had nice runway views and was bathed in natural light.
The design of the lounge is sleek and modern. With lots of white surfaces and light wooden flooring. I liked it!
London is the Virgin’s home city. It’s also a global city. There’s so much to do when you visit.
London does has a reputation for being expensive. But it doesn’t have to be! As a native Londoner, I think there’s more free (and cheap) stuff to do. Compared to anywhere else in the world.
There are some amazing museums. The British Museum, Science Museum, Tate Modern, V&A Museum, National History Museum and more are all free to enter.
You can see the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace. It’s absolutely free and lasts for 45 minutes.
The Sky Garden has amazing views over London. It’s also free to enter - book here!
The London parks are amongst the best in the world. There’s too many to list here. But the most famous ones include St James Park, Hyde Park and Regents Park.
You can book a 3 hour comedy show on the River Thames for £10. What a bargain! The show is rated 4.6* from 134 reviews. London has a THRIVING comedy scene. And live comedy is one of my very favourite things to do.
You can book a 2 hour walking tour with a local guide here. Tour is rated 5* from 72 reviews and costs £9.40. You’ll see Downing Street, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and other landmarks.
If you did all those things when you visit London. You'll have an amazing trip and a lot of money to spare!
There is something unique at the Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Lounge Heathrow.
There’s an outdoor terrace on the 2nd floor with lovely runway views. It’s pretty small and there are some tables and chairs.
Also, there’s no service out here. So you need to take your food and drinks with you.
It was a nice day when I came. And I enjoyed sitting out there. It’s really cool to have outside space in an airport lounge. And the runway views were really nice.
The food at the Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow is restaurant quality. I would happily pay for the food they offer.
Most of the food is ordered from the menu. There are QR codes at each table. You make the order. The food arrives in a few minutes. I really like this. It creates a more comfortable experience.
There’s also a continental buffet. With fruit, yoghurts and pastries.
I was there during the breakfast service. I had a veggie breakfast and one avocado on toast.
The veggie breakfast had mushrooms, veggie sausage, beans, roast tomato and mushrooms. I don’t eat egg, so I asked them not to provide it. It was good. The field mushroom was large and well cooked. A minor complaint is that the breakfast was a little bland.
The portions were pretty small. Nowhere near as big as you get at your local cafe! I like this, as it means I get to try more dishes.
I also had an avocado on toast. A humble and much maligned dish! But also delicious! The avocado was smashed and served on sourdough bread. It was good although also a little bland. Normally, the smashed avocado should have some lemon juice and chilli flakes. For a bit of a kick.
I liked the food service at the Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow. Everything is made fresh and is properly cooked. It’s not food that’s taken from the freezer and re-heated in an oven.
There were so many drinks available at the Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow! The choice was huge.
All the drinks could be ordered from the menu with the QR code. As with the food, you make the order and someone comes by a few minutes later.
I have provided a selection of the menu above. Click the photo above to view the slideshow. I don’t have everything from the menu, as there were too many options!
I started off with an English breakfast tea (I always do!). I made this myself at a self service station. I could have tea ordered to my seat if I'd wanted to. It was really good.
The alcoholic drinks were made at a beautiful manned bar, next to the window.
There were a wide variety of beers, wines, spirits and cocktails. Virgin also offer champagne in their lounges. This is unique as most business class lounges don’t offer it any more.
British Airways don’t have champagne in their Business Class Lounges. My review of the British Airways Business Lounge South in Heathrow Terminal 5 is here. It’s a great lounge. But there’s no champagne!
I did have a glass of champagne. It felt rude not too! I didn’t love it. I’m not a champagne person. But that’s ok. These days, I prefer to have a drink in the lounge, rather than the flight. I enjoy alcohol less on a flight, because of the altitude. I end of feeling dehydrated.
I also had a negroni. Which was good.
I don’t normally mention the service in my lounge reviews. I’m happy to serve my self!
At the Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow, the staff were lovely. They really enhanced my experience.
There were loads of staff working. The moment I sat down, a server came up to me and ask what I wanted. I also had a silly little chat with her, which I liked.
It’s clear that Virgin train their staff well.
To use an analogy. The staff at The Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow are like the staff at Waitrose. Whereas other lounges are more like the staff at Sainsbury’s!
When I go to Sainsbury’s, I’ll ask for Porcini mushrooms and marinated artichokes (FYI I’m vegetarian). The staff will look at me like I’m speaking Chinese. I’ll show them Sainsbury’s website on my phone, to prove they sell the items.
They’ll liaise with 3 colleagues. And after 5 minutes, I might have my items!
If I go to Waitrose. I’ll ask the 1st person I see. They’ll take me to the Porcini mushrooms and the artichokes. And then I’ll be on my way!
The staff at the Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow made my experience better!
FYI. I still shop at Sainsbury’s as it’s cheaper!
The Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow? It’s great! A beautiful lounge, with top notch food and first rate drinks.
I have a review of Virgin Upper Class. Link here. It outlines the good and the bad. That article also ranks #1 in Google, so it must be doing something right!