Around the World in 100 Hours: British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow

Introduction
United Club San Francisco, International Terminal
United Business Class San Francisco to Seoul
Asiana Airlines Business Class Lounge Seoul
Korean Air Lounge and Singapore SilverKris Lounge Seoul
Singapore Business Class Seoul to Singapore
Ambassador Transit Lounge Singapore
Singapore SilverKris Lounge Singapore
Changi Airport Free Singapore Tour
Singapore Business Class Singapore to Colombo
Transiting Colombo
Lotus and Araliya Lounges Colombo
Qatar Airways Business Class Colombo to Doha
Qatar Airways First Class Premium Terminal Doha
Qatar Airways First Class Doha to Dubai
Emirates First Class Lounge Dubai
Emirates First Class Dubai to London Heathrow
British Airways Concorde Room London Heathrow
British Airways Galleries First Lounge and Club World Lounge London Heathrow
British Airways First Class London Heathrow to San Francisco

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The British Airways Concorde Room is reserved for First Class passengers on British Airways flights. Perhaps anything would have been a letdown after the epic extravagance of the Emirates First Class Lounge in Dubai, but I was overall disappointed by the Concorde Room. Too crowded, not enough staff, and an overall mediocre level of service.

The first thing I did upon entering the lounge was make an appointment at the spa, as you’re entitled to a 15-minute treatment. It’s a good thing I did this as soon as I arrived, because I was able to snag an appointment that would finish right before I would have to board my next flight. My friend who decided to shower first wasn’t able to get an early enough appointment after showering, which I think is a little crazy given that we were in paid First Class. You’d think they give first class passengers priority or something, which I guess they vaguely do through their YouFirst service, but it’d be nice if they reserved some slots for first class passengers who aren’t able to book in advance.

Since we had booked our tickets so last minute, it also meant that we weren’t able to pre-book a cabana. There are only three private cabanas in the Concorde Room in Terminal 5, so when I inquired about availability, the concierge told me that they were booked until 4pm (and I was asking before 8am). That being said, I got a peek inside one of the cabanas and they didn’t seem all that special.

The lounge itself was fine, although it got pretty busy at times. The staff seemed harried at most times, and I was never proactively approached to see if I needed anything.

Since we had a roughly 4-hour layover, I wanted to grab some breakfast, but I have to say that I was overall disappointed by my dining experience. It seemed like they didn’t have enough people to appropriately staff their dining area as the servers forgot items, people were left without menus, etc. Rather than feeling like I was being welcomed to eat, I felt more like I was imposing on the over-worked and over-stressed staff their. And then the food itself was quite underwhelming. The fresh fruit was generic fruit salad mix that you might get at a bad all-you-can-eat buffet, and the non-meat options were unsatisfying.

There also seemed to be capacity problems with the bathrooms, as at several times people were waiting for bathrooms to open up. This is just for bathrooms, not even showers. And even though there appeared to be dedicated bathroom attendants, I found trash on the ground and other signs of uncleanliness.

Some highlights of the lounge: they have seats from the Concorde in their business center, and the alcohol selection is pretty extensive.

Also, perhaps this is a British idiom, but several people working the lounge asked me, “Are you okay?” when I was waiting for them to help me. Not, “Can I help you?” or even “Is everything okay?”, but “Are you okay?”. It’s as if they thought I was mentally deranged or about to break down in tears. Can anyone explain this to me?

In general, I was underwhelmed by the Concorde Room. There’s really nothing special about the lounge, the Qatar and Emirates first class lounges are far superior, and I much preferred even the business class lounge offerings by Singapore and Asiana at their hubs.