Prior to my A330-900neo Upper Class flight to Miami, I visited the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow. I’ve visited this lounge many times over the years, though not since the start of the pandemic, so I was curious to see how it was holding up.
Well, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse continues to be an exceptional business class lounge, among the best in the world. It has beautiful decor, great views, some unique amenities, friendly service, and tasty food. Visiting a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is such a massive contrast to visiting your typical British Airways Galleries Business Lounge.
However, it is worth acknowledging that the lounge has also made some major cutbacks. Gone are the days of massages, a hair salon, and a jacuzzi. Let’s get into the review…
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow location
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is located in Heathrow Terminal 3, which is where all Virgin Atlantic flights depart from. Once you clear security, just follow the signage to the “Lounge H” area. It’s only a few minutes walk from the security checkpoint.
Once you get to this area, you’ll find the American Admirals Club on the terminal level, while the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is up a level.
You can either go up a level using the swanky elevator with seating, or you can walk up the stairs.
The entrance to the lounge feels like a nice hotel lobby, with cool lighting and design.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow hours
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow is currently open daily from 6AM until 10:30PM, or until the last departure. I can appreciate the need to control costs, but personally I found the opening time to be kind of limiting.
For what it’s worth, Virgin Atlantic’s flight from Johannesburg arrives before 5AM, and lots of people connect from there from the United States, so are potentially stuck standing outside the Clubhouse for nearly an hour. Furthermore, Virgin Atlantic’s first departure from Heathrow is at 8AM, which doesn’t give guests all that much time to enjoy the lounge.
I was at the lounge when it opened, and there were literally dozens of people waiting to get in, so clearly passengers have the desire to access the lounge earlier than the current opening time allows.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow entry requirements
Who can access the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow? With Virgin Atlantic now part of SkyTeam, lounge access has been expanded quite a bit. The following passengers can access the Clubhouse:
- Virgin Atlantic Upper Class passengers (with one guest)
- Delta One passengers (no guests)
- Aeromexico business class passengers (no guests)
- Air France passengers connecting to a La Premiere flight (one guest)
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold members traveling on Virgin Atlantic, Delta, or Aeromexico (one guest)
- Delta SkyMiles Diamond and Platinum Medallion members traveling on Virgin Atlantic or Delta (one guest)
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue Platinum members traveling on Virgin Atlantic or Delta (one guest)
- SkyTeam Elite Plus members (excluding Delta SkyMiles Gold Medallion and Air France-KLM Flying Blue Gold members) traveling on Virgin Atlantic, Delta, or Aeromexico (one guest)
- Virgin Australia Velocity Club Platinum and Gold members traveling in Virgin Atlantic (one guest)
- Singapore KrisFlyer Solitaire PPS Club, PPS Club, and KrisFlyer Gold members, traveling on Virgin Atlantic (no guests)
- Air New Zealand Elite or Gold members traveling on Virgin Atlantic to San Francisco (no guests)
As you can see, there are quite a few pathways to accessing the Clubhouse.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow layout & seating
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow spans 26,000 square feet. Even though not a whole lot has changed with the decor over the years, it still feels fresh and well maintained. I love how the Clubhouse is broken up into so many different zones, depending on what you’re looking to do, and what kind of a vibe you prefer.
When you enter the Clubhouse, you’ll first see the 46-foot long bar, where all the drinks are served from. There’s plenty of seating around the bar, from chairs with ottomans, to couches, to high-top seating.
The area to the right of the bar has the very standard design you’ll find at all Clubhouses, with colorful seating, and even “swing” seats and other fun furniture.
The area to the left of the bar is dedicated to dining, and almost feels like a restaurant. There are dozens of tables and booths where you can sit if you’d like to enjoy an a la carte dining experience.
The area of the lounge along the windows has more traditional lounge seating for relaxing.
There’s also a long and narrow seating area behind the bar, which often stays fairly quiet.
This area also has the best views of the apron, with an especially awesome view of whatever plane is parked at the gate closest to the lounge (in this case a Delta Airbus A330).
While the above covers the main part of the lounge, there are some other unique spaces. Inside the entrance and to the very right is a TV area that’s a bit secluded. There are some couches you could more or less nap on, with a huge wall of TVs.
Then there’s the the area which was the former spa, which has been repurposed into… well, I’m not sure what exactly this is supposed to be?
There are a handful of things that almost look like pool cabanas, except they have leather chairs with ottomans. They’re surrounded by fake trees and greenery, and I guess it’s supposed to be someone to chill out.
It’s nice that Virgin Atlantic did something with this space rather than just shutting it down altogether, though it definitely seems more like a low budget afterthought than something that a lot of effort was put into (unlike the rest of the lounge).
Also in this area is a model Virgin Voyages cruise ship, which is a logical cross-promotion.
In the space of the former hair salon, Virgin Atlantic has a few Peloton bikes, where you can get exercise with an amazing view. This is a cute concept, though I didn’t see anyone use this facility for the several hours I spent in the lounge.
The above covers what’s available on the main level of the lounge. In the back left of the lounge there’s a staircase leading up a level. Once here, there’s a small area with a pool table, where you can also sit.
Then there’s a staircase from there that leads up a further level, to what Virgin Atlantic refers to as the lounge’s “garden.” This is such a cool outdoor space with seating and amazing views of the airport. How fun!
While the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse isn’t quite as over the top was it was in the past, it’s still an exceptional business class lounge in terms of design. The lounge definitely got busy during peak hours, but not uncomfortably so, which I’d consider to be a win nowadays (given how many lounges have major crowding issues).
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow food & drinks
Virgin Atlantic takes a totally different approach to lounge catering than what you’ll find in most business class lounges. While most lounges primarily have self serve options, Virgin Atlantic has servers roaming the lounge who serve you.
Each table in the lounge has a QR code, where you can scan the menu and even do mobile ordering. Alternatively, you can flag down a server, and they’ll be happy to help you.
One of my favorite things about the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is how nice everyone is. The servers genuinely seem like they enjoy their jobs and want to make guests happy. They’re proactive and friendly, and constantly check if anyone wants something. That’s such a refreshing contrast to your typical airport lounge.
The lounge does have a small buffet area, but rather than serving yourself, one of the people behind the counter will serve you.
For breakfast, options here included all kinds of fresh fruit, juices, several kinds of yogurt with a variety of accompaniments, cold cuts, cheese, hardboiled eggs, pastries, cereal, cookies, and more.
There’s also a station with filtered coffee, tea, and orange juice, though the staff are happy to serve you this as well.
During my extended visit in the lounge, I tried a couple of things from the menu. You can find the breakfast menu below.
You can find the breakfast drink menu below.
During my stay, I had a cappuccino, a latte, and a berry smoothie, all of which were delicious. Kudos to Virgin Atlantic for having barista-made coffee, as it should be.
For breakfast, I ordered the malabar masala with chapati and pickled salad, which was very tasty.
Later on I also had some fruit salad, as well as some yogurt with granola.
For a business class lounge, the catering here is exceptional, both in terms of quality and variety. The friendly and proactive service is the icing on the cake. This is a restaurant quality experience in every way.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow bathrooms & showers
The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow has bathrooms in two different areas of the lounge. One of the bathroom areas has more of a shared men’s room, with urinals, stalls, and shared sinks.
Meanwhile the bathrooms in the other part of the lounge all have individual bathrooms that have toilets and sinks.
The staff in the lounge were constantly refreshing the toilets, so they were always kept clean.
On top of that, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse has several shower suites, which are quite nice. Each has a walk-in shower, a toilet, and a sink, and is quite spacious.
Bottom line
While the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse isn’t quite as good as it used to be, it’s still an exceptional business class lounge. It has a fun vibe, plenty of seating, excellent food and drinks, friendly service, and some fun amenities, like an outdoor terrance and Peloton bikes.
If you ask me, this ranks as one of the top “hub” business class lounges in the world, and this is infinitely better than the ground experience that British Airways offers its business class passengers at Heathrow.
What do you make of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow?
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