British Airways Galleries South Lounge Heathrow Terminal 5 Review
By Scarlett Shepherd
This was my second visit to the BA Galleries South Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 5. The first time was prior to a business class flight to Venice, and this visit was prior to a early morning business class flight to Paris.
Location
The BA Galleries South Lounge is located at the south end of the terminal (what a shock!).
Once you clear security, take a left towards departures, and head down the escalator. At the bottom of the escalator make a 180o turn so you are facing the opposite direction, and walk back in the direction you just came from (but just on the floor below). You will then reach another set of escalators which you should head up.
Going up the escalators you will first reach the BA first class lounge and concord room. On this level there will be another set of escalators heading up, continue up to the next floor and you should arrive at your destination. You will know you are in the right location as there is an Airbus model and large black horse with a lampshade on its head outside the lounge.
The Lounge
Once you arrive at the lounge, you will be greeted by British Airways staff at the check in reception. We were flying BA Club Europe (BA Business Class), and entry to the lounge was included in our ticket. We simply handed over our tickets which were scanned by the staff, and they let us in.
The BA Galleries South Lounge at Heathrow is one of my favourite lounges.
It is large with plenty of space.
There are many different types of seating throughout the lounge, including high top tables with plug sockets, normal table and chairs for eating at and relaxing high back chairs. It is very easy to find somewhere that you will be comfortable.
The only downside was that some of the seating did need replacing or repairing, as it had experienced some wear and tear, especially on the corners and edges.
The Food
On both of my visits to this lounge, it has always been in the morning. Therefore, I have only ever tried the breakfast options. However, it is a very good selection.
The lounge has a large variety of breakfast offerings in a buffet style.
There is an area of hot food, including bacon, sausages, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, hashbrowns and scrambled eggs.
There was also another section which had continental offerings, including pastries, croissants, cereal, bread, and muffins.
Overall, I felt that there was something for everyone at breakfast.
If you are gluten free, the staff are also very accommodating. My sister went and asked about gluten free options, and they bought her out some gluten free rolls.
The Drinks
The drinks at the BA Galleries Lounge are self-service. There are many drink and bar areas around the lounges.
There is a large beautiful Bottega area which has Bottega bottles in ice buckets which you can self-pour, and there are also baskets with crisps there too.
There are also beverage stations with coffee machines that had a good range of coffee options available, along with various types of teas.
In addition, there were also self-service bar areas. These had a selection of various spirits, liquors, and wine which you could self-pour, and fridges which contained canned soft drinks and beer. The quality of the spirits and liquors we felt was good. There was Gordons gin, Croc Vodka and Johnny walker whiskey. The beers were Heineken and Brew Dog.
Services
The lounge had a large number of toilets available, which we found to always be clean and well kept.
All of the toilets were individual rooms with a toilet and sink.
Every time we went past, there was always a cleaner in the area ready to check and clean each toilet very regularly.
There was also a baby changing table available in one of the rooms.
We also found the lounge itself very clean. There were always members of staff walking around tidying up plates and cups, along with wiping down tables.
Is the Lounge Baby Friendly?
This was my daughters first trip to an airport lounge, and at the time she was around 6 months old. I feel that the lounge was okay for a baby of this age as she mostly just stayed in her pram.
There was enough space to walk around with the pram, and we manged to park her next to the table we were sitting at comfortably.
All the staff were excellent with her, lots of people came over to say hello to her, and everyone was very friendly.
We did change her once in the lounge, just prior to the flight, and it was easy to get into the room with the changing table which was located with the toilets.
We did not give her any food from the lounge, as I had pre-packed my own things for her, and I already had a pre-made bottle of formula ready which just needed to be warmed up.
Summary
Overall, I feel that the BA Galleries Business Class Lounge is definitely worth a visit before your flight.
The drink selection is very good, with some premium choice of spirits.
I can’t comment on the food offerings other than breakfast, but the breakfast selection has a good variety of a decent quality that is hot and fresh.
The lounge itself is very large, with a good selection of seating options, however these do show signs of wear and tear in places.