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It may seem somewhat morbid to record reviews of things as they were - but with a modern, high profile, and dynamic company (check this - Ed) like British Airways, things are always on the move. Meals are cut, lounges close, and routes are abandoned.
Curiously, some routes then reappear, and lounges suddenly spring up out of lounges that were always there before, but had the dust sheets thrown over them.
Therefore, both for the sake of history, and in the hope that some of these facilities will rise pheonix like again, I've kept some of these details, but remember that all of these facilities and routes are closed.
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LHR T1 Lounge Pavillion Entrance |
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LHR T1 Lounge Spirits selection |
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LHR T1 Computer Centre |
Food has recently been dramatically revamped in the lounge, in line with the other terraces at LHR. There is now a new Pizza-huit style fridge beside the World Wine Bar. There is breakfast with lots of fruit, yoghurt, and cerial in here until 1200. Then it turns into a salad bar, with three different types of pasta & salad, with rocket, cucumbers and tomatoes in the middle, while at the end are two buckets of hot soup, and rolls. Past the bar on the left, opposite the ticket desk, is the Larder. During the day there are just biscuits, packets of Walker's Fruit Cake, nuts, olives, and two types of cheese (cheddar and Leicester) with three types of cheese crackers. In the evening sandwiches appear here, which are often left for a while thanks to the excellent salad bar.
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LHR T1 the upper balcony |
Past the food on the left is a quiet area, while on the right is a garden and fountain. Not one of BA's best efforts, the pictures of the trees are decidedly tacky. There is also another small bar (with a carpet that makes your mind boggle - if it isn't already from all the G&Ts!) here. Keep on walking - the lounges best kept secret is on the balcony on top of the ticket desk. Here are some open skylights - the only natural light in the lounge - a bar (not as impressive as the World Wine Bar down below) and small snack area, along with all the types of seating. It is normally very quiet here, as children under 12 are forbidden, and even some regular travellers don't know where to find it.
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LHR T1 Lounge Pavillion World Wine Bar |
Dotted around the lounge are strands with newspapers - there is normally a selection of each of the main UK papers - but only a few of each, and a couple of very poor magazines. By the TV there is a stand with international papers - which you can take onto your flight - and finally, right by the door, is the Moulton Brown Spa.
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LHR T1 First Lounge Sparkling Wine Bar |
You have to go through a kind of double airlock to get here. You have your ticket checked on the main entrance, and then once past the shop and spa, once again by the dragon on a small desk that keeps out the rifraf from Club. This person is reponsible for calling flights, and one of the staff members likes to spice up their announcements with chatty comendy speaches: this can seem a bit odd, and jars with the generally nature of the lounge, which is very much upmarket old money hotel.
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LHR T1 First Lounge |
As you go in you can turn right at the curved leather seat bench, and head to the dining room, at the end of which is the food & soft drinks bar, with a self pour bar on the opposite side, and behind the bar pillar is the champaigne bar. Further left is a cloakroom for leaving bags and coats.
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LHR T1 First Lounge bar |
If you'd gone left at the entrance you'll pass the business centre, and then a much larger food and drink bar behind a glass wall. On the left is a smoking room (with TV), the unique mobile (Handy / Cell) Free room, and then a large area at the far end with a big widescreen Freeview TV. Normally this is left on BBC News24. Unlike it's opposite number in Terminal 4, the Terminal 1 lounge is big, airy, and with plenty of space to stretch out, and a genuinely pleasant place to spend a few hours.
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LHR T1 First Lounge far end |
Food, as you'd expect, is top-notch here. In the mornings there is a good breakfast, with lots of cerial, toast, jamb, crossants, pastries, and - the delight of many travellers - bacon rolls with ketchup. These go down very well with Sparkling Wine before early morning flights. You can however order from the menus on the tables. The is everything from a full fry up in the mornings, to lots of pasta and salad in the afternoon. There is even a cream tea. Just grab a passing waitress and tell her what you are after.
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LHR T1 First Lounge food |
The Bar only represents a step up from the Terraces. There are the usual four types of beer in the fridge, and free pour spirits at both of the bars (but Johnnie Walker Blue has now been removed). However for wine and Sparkling Wine the Sparkling Wine bar (open from 0600) is a delight. This wonderful circular bar can get pretty busy - actually, packed to the rafters - in the evening. Alas Sparkling Wine has gone downhill rapidly lately. It serves only Piper Heidseck Monopole and a marginally better guest Sparkling Wine. Wine is much better, with at least 4 good bottles of white and red.
There are two good newspaper racks, with all the daily papers, but only a few magazines. The six fast modern internet computers work well, and there is a fax, printer, and twin (240/120v) power sockets in the business centre. There is the usual expensive BA Openzone wifi throughout the lounge, although at the far end of the Sparkling Wine bar you can just about get the Wifi from the Lufthansa lounge.
LHR T4-G1 Terraces lounge from the TV lobby |
Once in, the lounge is on two levels, with two bars on each level, either side of the central column. The top floor is the best, with a long sundeck giving a good view of the runway. There is also a small TV side lobby, with a TV with Sky news. Alas in a rebuild in 2006 the "garden" area (with a twikling fountain) bit the dust. However upstairs there are now a few showers.
LHR T4-G1 Terraces lounge sundeck |
The self service bar is stocked with a somewhat poorer selection than other lounges - at the 4 bar pods there are just 2 white and 2 red wines and about 30 types of spirits. There is a full selection of every type of beer BA have onboard and loads of soft drinks (all in small cans). There is the World Wine Bar on the upper level, with a better selection of wine, but it's still not up to level in T1.
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LHR T4-G1 Terraces food bar |
As for food, there is now a new servery on the top floor past the service desk. There is a chef which provides hot food to order. In the morning you'll get hot bacon rolls, or tomato and mushroom rolls. From 1200 there is hot soup, and a salad bar. From 1600 options include pasta, risotto and noodles. Out by the bar there are also sandwiches, with big trays, and the selection is good, all with labels indicating what they are. Impressively, the trays are replaced when they get empty - just as you would want.
There's a full selection of daily newspapers, but fewer foreign ones than in the Lounge Pavillion, and a few magazines, normally something like "Instyle".
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LHR T4-G10 Terraces Lounge |
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LHR T4-G10 Terraces Lounge |
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LHR T4-G10 Terraces Lounge |
Computers are at the far end, and around the corner with fast internet connections. The bar is at the other end, with a vast array of spirits, but only 6 reds and 6 whites in the World Wine bar.
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LHR T4-G10 Terraces Lounge |
Food is in the Pizza Hut style fridge by the bar. In the early mornings it is loaded with grapefruit, fruit salad, and yoghuts. Toast and cerial is on the end of the counter. Later in the day it turned into a salad bar. The mixed rocket is great, there is a lovely mushroom thing, nice coleslaw, plenty of tomatos & cuecumbers. All in all, this new features is not a bad addition. Soup is there too, with hot rolls, but for real hot food you need to walk to the Gate 1 lounge.
In the cellar is the Molton Brown Travel Spa. A delight to enjoy, you can get a 10 minute circulation therapy, a shiatswe massage, a steam and shower suites, and a Molton Brown "face the world" colour bar.
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LHR T4-G10 First BA Lounge, the bar area at the far end |
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LHR T4-G10 First BA Lounge |
The First lounge has a bar at the far end on the right, with two types of Sparkling Wine in buckets in the trough. Sadly, the Sparkling Wine is Monopole. There are half a dozen wines in here, some of which are very good indeed. In the square boxroom on the right there is the spirits collections. Johnnie Walker blue has been axed, but there is still Red and Gold, plus most of the same spirits as from the Terraces.
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LHR T4-G10 First BA Lounge |
Food is pretty good in the First lounge. There is now a fridge with salads in it, plus some ham and beef slices. It has breakfast in the morning, but you might be better ordering from the menus at the tables. This lists the speciality of the First lounge - bacon baguettes. Which go down very well with a glass of Sparkling Wine for the flights at the crack of sparrows. Also on the menu are some fine pasta dishes and soups. There is a full at seat afternoon tea and canapes service between 17:00 and 19:00.
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LHR T4-G10 First BA Lounge food |
The newspaper rack is also marginally better than upstairs, particularly for overseas papers. There are frequently copies of the SMH and the Age that are just left untouched. There are no computers in the first lounge.
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LHR Domestic Terraces Lounge downstairs |
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LHR Domestic Terraces Lounge |
When you first enter the place seems a lot smaller - there is a bar to one side, and 8 computers plus a fax on the left. Under the arch to the right is a long thin room with what passes for a library, and another bar at the far end. Upstairs is much more fun. It's quite a lot darker, and has the usual fountain gurgling away in the middle.
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LHR Domestic Terraces Lounge, the large upstairs area |
The World Wine Bar is downstairs, and you can sit at the bar, which has BA's full selection of 8 white and 8 red wines. There is alas no port or Baileys here. Behind the bar are 20 types of spirits. In the fridges under the counter are cans of Stella, Grolsh, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Guinness, plus plenty of soft drinks and bottles of water. There are two further bars downstairs & upstairs, each with a full selection of beer, but fewer wines.
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LHR Domestic Terraces Lounge |
Food is upstairs, and has mainly just biscuits, packets of Walker's Fruit Cake, olives, and two types of cheese (cheddar and Leicester) with two types of cheese crackers, and packets of crisps. From 12 till 2pm, and from 5pm, sandwiches and yogurts appear. Occasionally in the morning there are bacon rolls.
As well as access for the usual Silver and Gold Executive Club members, passengers with a fully flexible Domestic ticket can get in.
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LGW terraces upstairs |
Note that if you have a flight from a gate number 100 and above, it is a long walk over the bridge to your gate - however there is no return to the lounge, and as flights are often shown as "boarding" at half an hour to go, rather than when they actually are boarding, chances are you'll either have a mad run, or a long time to hang around at the gate.
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LGW terraces breakfast |
The lounge itself is big, on two levels. Most people grab a seat close to the reception desk - however if you walk around you'll find much more space - and also an excellent view of the airport. The best view is actually from the staircase that blocks the view from much of the lounge - called the CIP (Commercially Important Passenger) staircase. There is also a large draft staircase by the business centre, that also runs out to other parts of the airport.
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LGW terraces upstairs |
The main bar is right by the desk on the lower level. It has one of BA's World Wine Bars, however it is slightly smaller than the one at LHR with only 6 white and 6 red wines. There are also two types of port in the trough, and the Baileys. Behind the bar is a mind boggling array of spirits. In the fridges under the counter are cans of Stella, Grolsh, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Guinness, plus plenty of soft drinks and bottles of water.
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LGW downstairs bar |
On the upper level there are two bars, one of which is styled as a cappochino bar. On the upper level there is also a garden and fountain.
Food has not had the BA makeover that LHR has had. There is breakfast with lots of fruit, yoghurt, and cerial in here until 1100. Later in the day are just biscuits, packets of Walker's Fruit Cake, nuts, olives, and two types of cheese (cheddar and Leicester) with three types of cheese crackers. In the evening there are some sandwiches although they tend to disappear very quickly.
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London Gatwick Terraces lounge downstairs bar |
Dotted around the lounge are strands with newspapers - there is normally a selection of each of the main UK papers - but only a few of each, and a couple of very poor magazines, although there are usually lots of Business Traveller magazines. By the door there is a stand with international papers - which you can take onto your flight.
On the ground floor there is a very small business centre with all of three computers. Getting access to one is often a struggle.
There is a shower suite of three showers available, and are well kept and clean, however this is not a true Moulton Brown spa.
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Southampton Terraces Lounge |
Unlike other BA domestic lounges, there is no access with a fully flexible ticket; instead there is only access to Club Europe, plus Gold & Silver members.
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Southampton Terraces Lounge |
The lounge is tiny - we're talking about 19 seats, and two leather sofas, around 5 tables. There are no showers or computers, although there is a desk with a high backed leather chair which does an impression of being the "Combiz" area. Up on the wall there is a tiny monitor with a list of departures, and beneath it a small TV, which has NTL cable, and a few channels - there is a printed list of these to the left of the TV. Under the TV is a computer which has a DVD player, and with a lot of tweaking, you can get it to play DVDs on the TV.
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Southampton Terraces Lounge Bar |
One delight is the Bar. No long curvey creation is this - it's in a high wooden cabinet. It is almost as fully stocked as any at Heathrow, with 24 types of spirits in free pour bottles. There is the usual Johnnie Walker, 3 Martinies, Tia Maria, Contreau, Southern Comfort, Jack Daniels, Canadian Club whisky, Bacardi, and Gordon's Gin. On the worktop are two types of red wine, while under the spirit rack is the fridge, which has two bottles of white. In here there are also racks of the usual 4 types of BA beer.
To the left is a coffee dispenser. It's a bit of an odd one. Press the coffee/tea button, and a door pops out. Get a packet of what you want, and put it in upside down with the plastic lip in the catch, and close the door. Milk is in the fridge below.
Slightly further round there is a table with a few snacks. There is nothing special - just shortbread, kettle chips & fruit. By the door is a newspaper rack, with the Mail, Express, Independent & Times. There are very few copies, so by the end of the day, most of them may have walked.
When the time comes to take you flight, if you are Silver or Gold do take advantage of the fasttrack route through security.
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Cologne Terraces Lounge bar |
Access is via the glass lift that goes right into the heart of the lounge, next to the central desk - although you can also take the stairs, and double back into the lounge. Instead of a view outside - it has a view of the bus arrival staircase through some impressively large windows. People tend to stand here and gorp - so there are now some pretty ineffective wooden screens.
This is a very standard Terraces lounge, with a fountain at one end, with four sunloungers (oddly, facing inwards into the lounge). There is one standard curved World Wine Bar, which you can sit at, with 4 white and 3 red wines, plus a long rack of (free-pour) spirits, and in the fridges under the counter are bottles of Becks (but no cans), plus plenty of cans of soft drinks. There is also a pretty nifty coffee machine.
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Cologne Terraces Lounge |
The food is very standard, with small cold snacks including apples, biscuits, nuts, and crisps. In the strange silver pots on the bar are jars of olives.
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Cologne Terraces Lounge |
There are no computers, but there is free Wifi Internet, and six desk booths with phones. There are two newspapers racks, with three copies of each of the usual UK papers (Times, Guardian, FT, Express and Mail) from the UK (not for early morning flights) and plenty of German papers.
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Berlin Terraces lounge |
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Berlin Terraces lounge bar |
The lounge itself is pretty small - smaler even than the now closed lounge in Cologne - and so it can get pretty crowded with B list Berlin celebrities and politicians. However it boasts all the facilities you'd expect in a Terraces, with a fountain and sunloungers, a couple of big stiff backed armchairs, and a large curved world wine bar. It also has a great view over the low-cost terminal and the apron. Above the bar is a small TV, with just domestic German channels.
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Berlin Terraces lounge bar |
Once past the desk is the World Winebar with the standard BA stocks of 4 types of white, and 4 of red. On the worktop is an icebucket with Sparkling Wine - alas of Lufthansa origin. The 16 types of spirits behind the bar aren't bad either, although the Baileys is not chilled (unlike at LHR) and there is a full selection of beer, with the 4 standard BA types in cans, and bottles of Erdinger (both the Wheat and the Clear types). There are even logoed glasses. A coffee machine, and a stack of different types of tea bags completes the choices.
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Berlin Terraces lounge bar |
Food has recently been downgraded. Now there are only nuts, cheese twizzles, and small cakes in a plastic wrapping. In the fridge there are strange long strips of Edam cheese, on a stick, in plastic wrapping, and there are some biscuits next to it.
Opposite the bar is the usual Terraces Fountain around a garden court - with very loud tweety birds.
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Berlin Terraces lounge |
At the back there is a quiet area, overlooking the car park, and further back there is a smoking room and a special VIP room, which is normally closed.
Overlooking the low cost terminal there are several desks, but no computers or internet. One bad point is that there are no toilets or showers in the lounge - you have to go all the way downstairs, then into the basement, via the concrete stairwell. If you do this, don't leave your luggage in the lounge - thefts have been increasing.
Newspapers are on a table by the fountain, with a full selection of most of the UK's papers including the Guardian, Times, Express and Mail from the UK (and in the mornings, just yesterdays papers). There also a few German papers.
 European routes in 2001British Airways routes in 2001 |