Which? reveals the very best and worst airport lounges within the UK

Few lounges at UK airports managed to impress Which? when it carried out secret inspections, with greater than half scoring two and a half stars and beneath.

Which? researchers visited 20 UK airport lounges open to the paying public and assigned them a score of between one and 5 stars in its newest report. To set up a star score, reviewers took into consideration amenities on provide, corresponding to bogs and showers, whether or not the lounges supplied a runway view, whether or not there have been designated quiet areas and areas for households, in addition to the number of meals and drinks accessible.

Which? says that out of all of the lounges they reviewed none of them achieved increased than three stars out of 5 – and the bulk scored a lot decrease – suggesting that in lots of instances, travellers could also be higher off saving their cash subsequent time they move by an airport.

Not solely did many lounges fail to ship on expectations, however Which? discovered that lots of the advantages as soon as supplied by lounges have been reduce because the pandemic. For instance, many lounges not provide spa amenities, whereas lounge chain No1 Lounges has stopped providing made-to-order lunches in a lot of its properties, and personal sleeping pods, or ‘snoozepods,’ have been cleared at Luton to make room for additional seating.

Which? researchers visited 20 UK airport lounges and assigned them a score of between one and 5 stars. To set up a star score, reviewers took into consideration amenities on provide, corresponding to bogs and showers, whether or not the lounges supplied a runway view, whether or not there have been designated quiet areas and areas for households, in addition to the number of meals and drinks

Edinburgh Aspire was one of many higher-rated lounges, with a Which? three-star score

Prices have additionally risen steeply, Which? mentioned. The Aspire Lounges Which? checked out had been an inflation-busting 40 per cent costlier on common than when it final checked in 2020. Prices at Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Heathrow and Luton Aspires ranged between £34 and £40, with most round £38. In 2020 the Aspires Which? visited had been between £21 and £35 – with most round £22.

Southend’s Skylife lounge drew the worst overview with an total score of only one star. It was additionally the most cost effective lounge reviewers visited, with an advance reserving worth of £28. Currently occupying a brief house in a roped off space of the airport’s Pilot bar, Which?’s reviewer arrived to seek out the world ‘appeared closed’, and after a collection of miscommunications, was finally suggested by employees to request a refund.

Gatwick North’s Plaza Premium, Manchester Terminal 1’s Escape and Birmingham’s No1 Lounge additionally didn’t impress, all attaining an total score of only one and a half stars.

When reviewers visited Gatwick North’s Plaza Premium in direction of the tip of the day, they discovered meals that ‘appeared previous its finest’, crumbs on the tables, stains on the seats, and workmen busy fixing a TV. Though it did have some plus factors, together with views over the airfield and a kids’s zone well-stocked with toys, the problems appeared exhausting to justify on the worth level – a household of 4 would pay £122 for entry.

Which? described the windowless Manchester Terminal 1’s Escape as equally underwhelming, calling it boring and gloomy, with stained seats and bogs ill-equipped for the lounge’s capability – with queues for each the women and men’s amenities.

Manchester Terminal 1 Aspire additionally lived as much as expectations. In specific, reviewers appreciated the floor-to-ceiling home windows which supplied visitors glorious runway views

Birmingham’s No1 Lounge in the meantime was packed, with even the ‘quiet zone’ overwhelmed by chatter. The meals appeared so poor that Which?’s reviewers determined to purchase sandwiches elsewhere as an alternative – and tables had been left soiled. Though a waiter apologised for the uncleaned tables, noting that a number of employees had been off sick, he additionally defined that he too was unwell – one thing reviewers discovered regarding.

Stansted’s Escape, Luton’s Aspire, Bristol’s Aspire, Bristol’s 1903, Birmingham’s Aspire and Glasgow’s Upper Deck in the meantime had been all rated two stars.

At the opposite finish of the desk, six lounges scored a three-star score, together with Gatwick No1 North, Gatwick No1 South, Manchester Terminal 1 Aspire, Heathrow Plaza Premium Terminal 2, Inverness Aspire, Manchester Terminal 1 Aspire, and Edinburgh Aspire.

For an advance price of £40, three-star-rated Gatwick No1 North prices simply £4 greater than its poorly performing rival Gatwick North Plaza Premium, however gives way more for the cash.

Reviewers discovered a beneficiant alternative of drinks on provide at Gatwick No1 North – together with glowing wine – in addition to a plentiful and attractive meals providing, together with an English breakfast buffet. Despite being busy there was loads of seating accessible, and the house even included an over-12’s library space. The lounge’s sister lounge, Gatwick No1 South was equally well-reviewed and likewise acquired a three-star score.

Which? commented that Heathrow Plaza Premium T2 was windowless, however this was made up for with its stunning darkish wooden interiors and delicate lighting and opulent really feel

Manchester Terminal 1 Aspire additionally lived as much as expectations. In specific, reviewers appreciated the floor-to-ceiling home windows, which supplied visitors glorious runway views and located the atmosphere to be very clear – one thing that many lounges failed to ensure.

Meanwhile, Which? commented that Heathrow Plaza Premium T2 was windowless, however this was made up for with its stunning darkish wooden interiors and delicate lighting, which lent it a high-end really feel. The meals choice impressed, with meal choices on provide together with hen curry or vegan meatballs with quinoa salad. Plus, regardless of being busy, employees stored on prime of conserving tables cleared and cleaned. However, whereas wine and beer had been included within the worth, there have been additional prices for premium drinks like whisky and champagne – though these had been nonetheless aggressive in comparison with costs in lots of airport bars.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, mentioned: ‘Using an airport lounge was as soon as synonymous with luxurious, however now that is not often the case. At the very least although they need to assure you a hassle-free begin to your vacation, with a nice atmosphere to take pleasure in a pleasant meal and a few drinks when you wait in your flight, away from the crowds.

‘Too usually our reviewers discovered lounges didn’t ship even on this primary premise, with many overcrowded, unkempt, and unclean. The meals providing was so poor at some lounges, that reviewers went elsewhere to eat.’

A spokesperson for London Southend Airport mentioned: ‘We are extraordinarily sorry that this passenger had such a disappointing expertise on this event. As a consequence, we’ve got absolutely compensated the passenger and acknowledge clear learnings for the crew. Our non permanent Skylife Lounge @ The Pilot has garnered a 96 per cent satisfaction price this yr – our first year-round return to a business operation. We are dedicated to offering a bespoke, passenger-focused expertise and we’re assured all passengers will proceed to benefit from the airport and its amenities.’

A spokesperson for Aspire lounges mentioned: ‘We welcome greater than 1,000,000 travellers to our UK lounges yearly, and we work exhausting to make sure each one in all them has an amazing begin to their journey. The direct suggestions we get from our visitors (together with the excessive satisfaction rankings they provide us) assist us to repeatedly enhance that service, which is why we’re investing closely in refurbishment programmes at airports corresponding to Edinburgh and Newcastle, and constructing totally new lounges at Luton, Manchester and Belfast. We have been ready to do that whereas conserving our pricing aggressive, defending our prospects from the fee rises confronted by the sector as a complete.’

A spokesperson for No1 Lounge Birmingham mentioned: ‘We’re unable to offer any particular context round this go to, as we’ve got not been made conscious of the go to date or particulars. However, we’re very sorry the expertise of [the Which?] reviewer was not a superb one and fell wanting expectations. [The] suggestions raises some areas of focus, and we’ll look into how requirements, processes and coaching for workers at our Birmingham lounge would possibly should be improved past the in depth measures that we’ve got already applied and proceed to develop.’

Gatwick North’s Plaza Premium didn’t provide a remark previous to publication.

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport mentioned: ‘Every yr, greater than 800,000 individuals use our Escape and 1903 lounges in all three of our terminals. We are dedicated to the best service requirements, which is why we feature out rigorous and in depth analysis all yr spherical to assist us perceive what our prospects need and the way we will enhance the amenities and expertise we offer to them.

‘We always monitor significant and sturdy sources of suggestions and an mixture of greater than 1,300 critiques from Google, Tripadvisor, Yelp and others over the previous six months offers our lounges a score of 4.2 out of 5.

‘The most up-to-date unbiased thriller shopper rating for Escape in Terminal 1 was 87 per cent and the rating for Terminal 3 was 95 per cent, each of that are market-leading rankings.

‘This contrasts to the findings of this newest flawed and restricted analysis from Which?, which is predicated on the testimony of a single journalist who visited two out of our 4 lounges on one event.’ 

For the unique report go to www.which.co.uk/critiques/airports/article/best-and-worst-uk-airport-lounges.