Review: Concorde Room at London Heathrow (British Airways’ most exclusive lounge)

Wednesday newsletters always feature a hotel or flight review.

Last November, I enjoyed a fabulous holiday in Namibia. You can read my trip reports here:

• Review: Concorde Room at London Heathrow Airport (today)
• Review: British Airways Boeing 777 First Class from London to Johannesburg
• Review: Air Link Embraer E190 Business Class from Johannesburg to Windhoek
• Review: &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge
• Review: Zannier Hotels Omaanda
• Review: Zannier Hotels Sonop
• Review: Little Kulala by Wilderness Safaris
• Review: Damaraland Camp by Wilderness Safaris
• Review: Hoanib Skeleton Coast by Wilderness Safaris
• Review: Onguma The Fort (Etosha National Park)

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Today: Review of the Concorde Room at London Heathrow Airport

The Concorde Room is British Airways’ most exclusive lounge category, and a step above the standard Business and First Class lounges it offers across the globe. The Concorde Room is only available at London’s Heathrow Airport and New York’s JFK Airport, and can only be accessed if you’re flying First Class on British Airways (one guest is welcome as well), or if you are a Gold Member of British Airways’ frequent flyer program Executive Club with 5,000 Tier Points.

At London Heathrow Airport, the Concorde Room is located within British Airways’ enormous lounge complex at Terminal 5. There are two entrances: the main entrance is located on the first floor above the concourse (in front of the First Class lounge, called ‘Galleries First’), but there’s also a discrete side entrance located immediately after the security check point. Below you can watch my video with a full tour of the Concorde Room (0:00 to 7:30).

The lounge itself is somewhat reminiscent of the lobby of a boutique hotel. It features the same contemporary decor that can also be found in the other British Airways lounges, with stylish high-backed chairs, beautiful chandeliers, and oak wooden flooring. The decor takes its inspiration from the very best of British design, craftsmanship and heritage, with elegant lighting from Porta Romana and contemporary tables from Boss Design.

While the lounge itself is not large and feels quite busy, there is plenty of seating for everyone. One side of the lounge features a couple of cozy sitting corners with gas fires (creating a “home away from home” ambience), while the opposite side of the lounge has a terrace which offers nice views across the airport’s concourse and apron. The center of the lounge is made up of a stylish bar and restaurant. The restaurant space is quite remarkable, featuring a collection of lovely, private booths, in addition to a couple of communal dining tables.

Full waiter service and à la carte dining are offered on a complimentary. The menu changes on a monthly basis and guests can dine in the restaurant or order food from the menu to wherever they’re sitting in the lounge. I visited the Concorde Room in the early afternoon, and I ordered the following dishes for lunch:

• Starter: John Ross smoked Salmon, served with capers, shallots, olives & sour cream, and dressed with lemon oil
• Main course: pas roasted sea bass, served with new potatoes, fine green beans, red chard & garden peas, with an almond, tomato & herb lemon dressing
• Dessert: fruit salad (melon, orange, grapes, pineapple, kiwi and mango)

The Concorde Room also houses the ’Forty Winks’ nap lounge, a lounge within a lounge featuring power nap sleep pods. Introduced in partnership with Restworks, the ‘Forty Winks’ lounge allows customers in need of some pre-flight rest the chance to power nap in a dedicated EnergyPod. The EnergyPod char has been designed exclusively for power napping with unique combination of gravity neutral positioning and privacy visor. The Heathrow First Class ‘Forty Winks’ lounge is complimentary and operates on a self-service basis so customers do not need to pre-book. There are seven pods available and customers can use the ‘Your Menu’ lounge app to check if a pod is available in real time.

Unfortunately, British Airways no longer offers spa service to guests of the Concorde Room. The various British Airways lounges at Terminal 5 used to share an Elemis Travel Spa, which was pretty awesome. While the complimentary treatments were quick (15 minutes), they were top shelf, plus it was something else to do to break up the trip. I loved it. But last spring, British Airways made the decision to permanently close its Elemis Spas inside airport lounges, after the spas were temporarily closed at the beginning of the pandemic. Showers are still available though.

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PHOTOS OF THE CONCORDE ROOM AT LONDON HEATHROW AIRPORT

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