Review: British Airways Galleries First Lounge – Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

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This has got to be the hardest lounge to review….and not because of the staff, the facilities or anything like that. It’s so hard to review because it’s always so full of people that getting any decent pictures (which a review relies on) is nigh on impossible.

I must have traveled through The British Airways Galleries First lounge at Heathrow T5 six or seven times this year and on none of those occasions was it anything other than very busy. This time was no different but I took pictures anyway!

The Galleries First lounge is at the south end of Heathrow Terminal 5 so, once you’re done with security, you need to head down to the floor below and aim for Gate 18. Before you get to Gate 18 you’ll see signs for the “South Lounges” which require a trip up the escalators you’ll see ahead of you.

The entrance to the Galleries First Lounge is on the first floor you come to (the business class lounge is up a further floor).

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

Once the gatekeepers have allowed you in the lounge stretches out to the left and to the right with a large amount of seating whichever direction you choose.

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

At one end of the lounge is a seating area separated from the rest of the lounge by a glass wall and glass doors. I have no idea what this area is for as there are no signs around but I guess it’s possibly a quiet area because it’s usually quite peaceful.

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

Back in the main part of the lounge, just short of this area, is one of the two self-serve wine & champagne bars:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

The champagne is always Taittinger and there’s always a choice of rosé or regular champagne.

To the left of this champagne bar is the food area….

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

…..with seating down the left hand side (as you walk into the area):

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

And soft drinks, sodas, juices and coffee/hot water machines (about 4 of them) down the right hand side….

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

….together with a section of cereals, oatmeal (porridge) and fruit:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

Right at the end of this area is where the main food options are to be found. On this visit it was breakfast time so the food was breakfast appropriate:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

I’m not sure if it’s my imagination or not but I’m sure the British Airways lounges used to serve smaller versions of the pain au raisin and pain au chocolat……but there’s a strong chance I’m wrong!

At the opposite end of the lounge is another seating area with another two self-serve bars:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

The main bar was full of the usual beverages – both alcoholic and non-alcoholic:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

But the second bar in the middle of the room appeared to have been set up as a vodka station (it could have been a promotion):

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

Just off this area of the lounge is what must be the least visited part of the lounge….and I’ve no idea why.

British Airways customer services is in this area but, more importantly for most, there’s a second self-serve champagne bar:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

And, as you can see from the photo above, this area is almost always much more quiet than the rest of the lounge.

The champagne was Taittinger again and the wines looked pretty decent too:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

In this area of the lounge is where you’ll find the business centre equipped with an impressive number of PC stations….

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

….and printing/copying facilities:

British Airways Galleries First Lounge Heathrow T5

Passengers accessing the Galleries First lounge also have access to the Elemis Spa which sits between Galleries First and the Concorde room – I didn’t have a chance to try it out on this trip but I’ll update this post the next time I’m passing through.

Overall

The British Airways Galleries First Lounge is a perfectly nice lounge….but there isn’t anything particularly “First Class” about it.

The breakfast food was ok and the choice of beverages was very good but if you compare this lounge (at BA’s home terminal at their home airport) with, say, the Qantas First Class lounge at LAX – there’s simply no comparison. The Qantas lounge is better by a large margin…and it shouldn’t be like that.

Some will argue that the true First Class lounge at Heathrow T5 is the Concorde room…and it’s ok to make that point. But, if that’s the case, British Airways shouldn’t call this lounge a “First Class Lounge” when it’s really just a good (and very large) Business Class lounge.