With our vacation rapidly drawing to a close, I eagerly anticipated our lounge visit at Heathrow that morning. Why? Thanks to our transatlantic First Class ticket, we’d have passes to the famed Concorde Room at LHR T5. I had originally planned to get to the airport plenty early so we’d have time to thoroughly explore the lounge. Unfortunately, I goofed. Or more correctly, overslept, and ended up not getting to the counter until almost 9 for our 10:45 flight. Though we still had plenty of time to catch our flight, it reduced our time in the Concorde Room. Nevertheless, I determined to make the most of my limited time there.
Date of Visit: Sunday, July 5, 2015
The entrance to the Concorde Room is located immediately after security at T5, and is adjacent to the Galleries South lounges. However, unlike the Galleries lounges, only BA First Class passengers and Concorde Room cardholders may access the lounge. Oneworld Emerald and partner airline First Class passengers can avail the Galleries First lounge next door. It is actually quite cozy, with a maximum capacity of 156 passengers. However, in my opinion, the lower capacity is a good thing, as it adds to the lounge’s perception of exclusivity.
Though partitioned into several sitting areas, at a basic level, there are four distinct sections. An inside sitting area, an “outside” terrace overlooking the terminal, a dining room, and the cabanas. Unfortunately, due to our limited time, I wasn’t able to check out the fabled cabanas, but I was able to check out the other three. We also didn’t have time to sample the Elemis Spa. I’ll start with the inside section, which you immediately walk into after going through the door by security.
First impressions: it’s rather dark, though BA tries to give the furnishings a more luxurious feel than in the Galleries lounge. Some would call it understated, even dour; I prefer to think of it as reassuringly British. There are several flight monitors stationed throughout the lounge so you can keep track of the status of your flight.
Photo by Gary Bembridge, via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution 4.0 International (license CC BY 4.0)
Photo by Gary Bembridge, via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution 4.0 International (license CC BY 4.0)
By Gary Bembridge, via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution 4.0 International (license CC BY 4.0)
Photo by Richard Moross from London (Concorde Room Uploaded by Altair78) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Probably the highlight of the interior section is the expansive bar, to your left as you enter the lounge. It was 9:30 in the morning, so I didn’t check out the alcohol selection. Rest assured the finest wines, liquors, and aperitifs are in stock.
Photo by Gary Bembridge, via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution 4.0 International (license CC BY 4.0)
Photo by Gary Bembridge, via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution 4.0 International (license CC BY 4.0)
On the right hand side of the interior section is the Concorde Dining area, which is a series of booths where you can dine privately with full waiter service. A hostess is stationed at the entrance, and will seat you at an open table.
Dining booth. Photo by Tom Moscardo, via Flickr Creative Commons, Attribution-No Derivatives 4.0 International (license CC BY-ND 4.0)
Breakfast menu, served from 5 am until noon
Or if you prefer, you can also ask for service at any seat in the lounge or the bar area. Since we didn’t have much time, that’s what we did so we could plug in our electronics and get a little web surfing done. I kept it simple and ordered the eggs benedict, along with coffee spiked with a little Bailey’s.
It’s a small dish, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. The English muffin was lightly toasted, the ham moist and fresh, and the egg nicely poached and infused with just the right amount of Hollandaise sauce. Servers took our orders and delivered our food quickly without asking – much appreciated given that we were in a bit of a hurry.
Probably the best part of the Concorde Room, though, is the terrace area. There it has limited seating, it features fantastic view of the terminal area to the side, and the ramp area straight ahead.
Seating area
View of the terminal area below
View of the ramp area straight ahead
This is a great spot to relax and take in some planespotting; since it is separated from the main lounge, it is really quiet in this area. I should have moved out here, but by this time, we only had about 15 minutes left before we had to go. The hassle didn’t seem worth it.
In general, I was a bit surprised at how un-crowded the lounge was, especially given that we were there right as the big bank of flights back to the U.S. was getting ready to depart. I expecting more crowding given its limited capacity. Perhaps we just got lucky given that it was still the tail end of the holiday weekend back in the States. The sparse number of visitors also undoubtedly contributed to the quick meal service.
On the other hand, if “First Class Lounge” conjures up images of white glove, butler-style service, you’re not going to get it here. Everyone we encountered was pleasant and helpful, but much like the decor, the service is decidedly serene understated. I actually prefer that, but if you were hoping for a “waited on hand and foot” kind of experience, keep your expectations in check. You won’t find personal assistants and such.
Overall Thoughts
Will the Concorde Room blow you away like, say, the Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai or the Lufthansa First Class Lounge (see Brad’s even more glowing review) in Frankfurt? Probably not, especially since there’s no limo transfer direct from the lounge like on Lufthansa or direct boarding from the lounge like Emirates. The exclusivity factor is definitely there, though, and I could probably sit out on that terrace all day long. I’m probably most interested in a quiet, serene space as opposed to over-the-top service and amenities, so I found the Concorde Room much more enjoyable than the nice-but-often-crowded Galleries Lounge. It certainly put me in a good mood for the flight back home.
Note: this post is part of my multi-part trip report series about my wife and I’s trip to Europe in June/July, 2015. Read the trip report introduction for an index and background about our trip.
