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I recently had a chance to relax and refuel in the British Airways Galleries Lounge North at Heathrow Terminal 5 before my Dreamliner flight to Stockholm.
The lounge features incredible food, a wide selection of booze, some cool aircraft views, and a variety of seating areas. It is very crowded, but overall I’d give the lounge very high marks.
Just after passing security, the lounge was on my left.
Upon presenting a business class ticket, I was admitted by an agent who I later saw was surfing the BA FlyerTalk forum from her desk. After she checked me in to the lounge, I asked if she could change my seat because it was a middle seat, and I hadn’t been able to change it on my phone.
She quickly printed me out a new boarding pass, and I went to grab a seat. I favor the room on the far right with floor-to-ceiling windows and views of 747s.
Check out this buffet.
Besides that room, there is a main room where the food spread is with tons of seating.
Connected the main room is another large seating area where there are a few alcohol stations, bathrooms, showers, the business center, and a kids’ room.
The alcohol selection was enticing, but it was 11:30 AM, and I hadn’t eaten, so I was more interested in the food. Fruits and breakfast were laid out. I asked an attendant what time the lunch buffet was spread, and she told me noon.
The next thirty minutes passed slowly. I worked on the speedy internet (password: lasvegas, presumably in honor of the route), and my stomach grumbled.
At noon, lunch was finally served, and what an awesome spread it was!
I helped myself to multiple, heaping portions of the chili, chicken, and vegetarian Thai red curry all on a bed of rice. I really enjoyed all the dishes as I had anticipated.
I had also been in the lounge about 15 months before on a flight to Paris. I remember that day there was some excellent Indian-style curry on the buffet, so I’m 2/2 at finding delicious food in the Galleries Lounge North at Heathrow Terminal 5.
Since food and internet are the most important part of any lounge for me, I have to give this one extremely high marks.
The big drawback is that the lounge is very crowded. There are open seats, but you will not find any privacy or any quiet. It may be as loud and crowded as the gate area. But with more comfortable seats and a full belly, that seems like a minor quibble.
I haven’t been to the Galleries Lounge South at Heathrow Terminal 5, so I don’t know if I’m missing out. I’d love to hear your experiences there if you have any.
After several plates of food and writing a little, it was 30 minutes until my flight time, so I headed to my nearby gate to be one of the first on the Dreamliner.
If you’re a oneworld elite or flying British Airways business class, I highly recommend stopping by the Galleries Lounge North for fantastic food and a wide selection of drinks.
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One of my favorite travel memories is of walking into the BA North lounge with my dad on his first overseas trip in 30 years, his first trip in biz, and his first visit to a lounge. He literally yelled “this is all FREE? REALLY?” Fortunately that lounge is pretty much always busy and loud so only the people right near the food by the entrance heard and turned their heads.
I haven’t been to the South one in years but remember it as a bit bigger but with the food and beverages being the same. The only problem is that once you’ve gone to a BA Heathrow lounge, others that would seem perfectly fine just seem like dumps.
I have a 7:10am Business Class flight coming up out of Terminal 5. I was planning on sleeping until I absolutely had to leave for the flight but I might wake up a little earlier now to take advantage of the breakfast and a few tins of Fullers London Pride