Got the chance to try the new BA club lounges in T5 this week. Well ... Virgin's Heathrow Clubhouse still wins hands down, though the comparison is surely impossible to make in this case in a reasonable way.
T5 has two (will be three) Club Galleries - one on each end of the terminal (North and South lounge). When the satellite opens, it will get a wee lounge, too, I believe.
BA has a huge advantage in T5, natural light. This has been used to reasonable effect in the south lounge, to much better effect in the north lounge (which, however, is smaller).
The south end of the terminal is closer to the pier serving international flights, while the north end is close to the gates which will be mostly used for European and Domestic flights. Given this, the south lounge is much larger. They've decided to break it down with lots of columns, partitions et al, which does negate some of the advantages of having so much glass around you. I think that's unfortunate - you come nowhere close to having the kind of wow effect you would get when entering the clubhouse. The north side is equally partitioned, but most of its space lies around the outer edge of the building, so you do get better light all round. It also has a space 'outside' the closed lounge area, which is really open.
This is probably the nicest space, since you get the soaring ceiling effect. Otherwise, ceilings feel low, and the whole experience feels more 'boxy' than the clubhouse in both lounges. Initially, the idea was that the north lounge would be for Club Europe passengers, and the south lounge for Club World - that seems to have gone for now, in light of the fact BA is still not servicing all its intercontinental flights from T5. No idea if this will change again once the building is at full speed.
There is obviously no waiter service in either Club Gallery. The offering replicates the whole sandwich/crisps, bagels and biscuits deal from T1/T4, and adds hot rolls, a salad, a soups and cheese/cuts bar similar to what used to be in T1, and finally a bar allowing you to scoop some pasta or mash, and pour various kinds of sauces and stews over them. The details of the pasta are too lewd to be posted in public. I can see how they are looking for a convenient way to serve some kind of hot food to folks, pasta is always chancing it in my mind.
Some decent wines, though not spectacular, to be had (had the St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc) coffee and teas, this is all much as before. The biggest missing item to my mind is some sort of selection of desserts and sweets that aren't strictly the usual riff on shortbread.
Now, to be fair ... T5 is huge. These places will get incredibly busy. Clearly, from a lounge perspective, BA is not aiming to put its club passengers in a VS Clubhouse - I don't see how they can. The First/Concorde lounges are probably a closer approximation, and may even do some things better; I'm not particularly planning to find out. But VS will keep enjoying a significant advantage, in the biz class space, when it comes to airport facilities.
Still, this is a great space to spend a couple of hours in an airport, I expect BA will have a lot of biz passengers transferring at T5, spending a few hours, and this is a great space. It beats the hell out of 99% of so-called lounges in the US. And the hot tuna melt roll was quite good. [:)]
T5 has two (will be three) Club Galleries - one on each end of the terminal (North and South lounge). When the satellite opens, it will get a wee lounge, too, I believe.
BA has a huge advantage in T5, natural light. This has been used to reasonable effect in the south lounge, to much better effect in the north lounge (which, however, is smaller).
The south end of the terminal is closer to the pier serving international flights, while the north end is close to the gates which will be mostly used for European and Domestic flights. Given this, the south lounge is much larger. They've decided to break it down with lots of columns, partitions et al, which does negate some of the advantages of having so much glass around you. I think that's unfortunate - you come nowhere close to having the kind of wow effect you would get when entering the clubhouse. The north side is equally partitioned, but most of its space lies around the outer edge of the building, so you do get better light all round. It also has a space 'outside' the closed lounge area, which is really open.
This is probably the nicest space, since you get the soaring ceiling effect. Otherwise, ceilings feel low, and the whole experience feels more 'boxy' than the clubhouse in both lounges. Initially, the idea was that the north lounge would be for Club Europe passengers, and the south lounge for Club World - that seems to have gone for now, in light of the fact BA is still not servicing all its intercontinental flights from T5. No idea if this will change again once the building is at full speed.
There is obviously no waiter service in either Club Gallery. The offering replicates the whole sandwich/crisps, bagels and biscuits deal from T1/T4, and adds hot rolls, a salad, a soups and cheese/cuts bar similar to what used to be in T1, and finally a bar allowing you to scoop some pasta or mash, and pour various kinds of sauces and stews over them. The details of the pasta are too lewd to be posted in public. I can see how they are looking for a convenient way to serve some kind of hot food to folks, pasta is always chancing it in my mind.
Some decent wines, though not spectacular, to be had (had the St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc) coffee and teas, this is all much as before. The biggest missing item to my mind is some sort of selection of desserts and sweets that aren't strictly the usual riff on shortbread.
Now, to be fair ... T5 is huge. These places will get incredibly busy. Clearly, from a lounge perspective, BA is not aiming to put its club passengers in a VS Clubhouse - I don't see how they can. The First/Concorde lounges are probably a closer approximation, and may even do some things better; I'm not particularly planning to find out. But VS will keep enjoying a significant advantage, in the biz class space, when it comes to airport facilities.
Still, this is a great space to spend a couple of hours in an airport, I expect BA will have a lot of biz passengers transferring at T5, spending a few hours, and this is a great space. It beats the hell out of 99% of so-called lounges in the US. And the hot tuna melt roll was quite good. [:)]
