Airport Lounges

Review: British Airways Galleries Lounge London Heathrow Terminal 5 South

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Review: British Airways Galleries Lounge London Heathrow Terminal 5 South

I had a couple hours after my flight from Stockholm before I continued on to LA to check out a couple lounges. I was still feeling a bit under the weather, and decided to check out the Galleries lounge South, but hang in the BA First Class lounge, and table visiting the Galleries Lounge North til later in the year. If you couldn’t tell, this is the Terminal that BA dominates ( They have 4 lounges here) and I was curious to see how their business class lounges fair.  To make things simple, The Galleries Lounge South is to the right as you exit security and above the First Class Lounge whereas The Galleries North is directly to the left after security. Enough directions, let’s take a look.

a sign in a building

The Deets:

  • When: June 2017
  • Where: London Heathrow Terminal 5 South
  • How: British Airways Club World Business Class ticket
    • You can also enter as a One World Sapphire Member
    • Alaska MVP Gold + Gold 75 have access

Intro:

The lounge is huge. The entire area behind the entrance is food, newspapers, and drink. There are multiple seating configurations and upon initial impression…feels old.

This was actually my first experience in the British Airways Galleries Lounge in Terminal 5 South and it was interesting to compare it to the Galleries lounge in Terminal 3 and the new BA lounge in Boston – without moving much further into the lounge, it’s clear that they need to give it a facelift. It almost feels like a suburban shopping mall, and one from the 90s.

Food/Drink

There is a nice premium bar, Indian foods, lots of bottled soft drinks, coffee…all the usual. In fact, there are a couple of these stations so hopefully the lines aren’t too bad if you visit.

Seating is ample. Kids room. Work station.

While there is a lot of seating, a work space, kids room, etc on the whole everything just feels a bit tired. This workhorse lounge has carried a lot of weight over the years.

The Spa…

You also have access to the spa. You should read about my chair massage experience here. It was hilariously sad.

a lobby with a white sign and a glass wall

Overall:

It’s sad to say…but as Business Class lounges go… the British Airways First Class lounge is more of a solid business class lounge than the Galleries is.  The Galleries Lounge feels quite tired, worn, and in need of love to make it competitive. There’s a priority pass lounge, Aspire, in Terminal 5 that I’ll review along with the Galleries Lounge North when I fly through Terminal 5 in August so I’m interested to see how all of these compare. The staff was super nice, there is plenty of space, and there are showers and a spa available to you. The showers are OLD and feel like they should be in a nursing home.

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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