Shall we say the most slender of British Airways lounges? With BA only having 2 flights a day from Washington DC, both in the evening (18:30 and 22:20) the size of the lounge is understandable. As the old adage goes, size isn’t everything and the lounge exceeds expectation.
Access
| Access | OneWorld Business Class and First Class ticket holders or OneWorld Saphire or Emerald status holders |
| Opening Times | Monday-Saturday 15:00-22:30 Sunday 15:00-22:30 |
| Location | Gate B50. |
Concorde Dining
As you enter the lounge, immediately to your right is the First Dining area. Opening from 16:00 to 18:30, then again from 19:30 until 20:00. Access to First Dining is for First Class passengers and holders of either a Concorde Room card or Premier card.
As you can imagine when tickets in First Class start at £2400 and rise into the 5 figures, you expect a certain standard. The aforementioned standard is certainly met with the wine and champagne selection.
As for the dining, unlike business class, it’s a menu and waiter service.
With First Class cabins having between 8 and 16 seats you don’t actually need that much space for the First Class area. Not only do BA have the First Dining room, there is also a mini lounge within it.
Realistically only large enough for 5 people that’s more than plenty. It is a very comfortable space and even has its own dedicated fully stocked bar.
The special treatment for First Class passengers doesn’t end there. If a quiet room is more your thing or the mini lounge is full you have another room where the doors slide closed to provide a quiet private area.
The Main Lounge
Set out as 1 long main corridor which has a plethora of seating available, all of which looks through floor to ceiling glass down onto the main concourse.
Each seat has a power socket and USB socket, be aware though that a lot of the USB sockets have been well used so no longer work.
If travelling as a family or a group I’d recommend the large sofas as soon as you walk in.
However, if travelling alone there’s plenty of single seats, which on hindsight actually are probably better as they offer more room to put your belongings and the table is solely for you.
Club World Dining
Halfway down the main corridor, you have Club World dining. Access to Club World dining is for Club World passengers only. Status will not get you access. It is open from 16:00 to 18:30, then again from 19:30 until 20:00
Room for 72 guests dining. 20 seats are on tall chairs and 8 are single tables looking out of the window. All of the outer circumference seats have power sockets so you can have things charging whilst you dine.
4 Wines on offer from the dispenser, 2 white and 2 red.
A limited range of soft beverages in the fridge, if you wanted more you have to leave with your boarding pass, grab a drink from the lounge then scan to get back in which is a bit of a faf.
Standard dining
The entrance to Club World Dining is where you’ll find food and beverages for passengers not flying Club or First.
Office
Just past Club World Dining is the office area. It isn’t ideal as there is no separation between the rest of the lounge so if you are trying to concentrate on important documents it may be difficult due to the noise levels.
There’s plenty of seating though likewise with power sockets. There are also a couple of desktops and a printer if you don’t have a laptop with you or need something printed.
The Bar
Located at the furthest end of the lounge is the bar. Well stocked with all the spirits you could need for any cocktail. They even keep it British stocking the likes of Newcastle Brown Ale and the likes.
Between the months of March through to September, this is where you want to be if you’re on the last flight of the day. The sunsets are tremendous and everybody knows sunsets are only improved upon when sinking a nice beverage.
Its the largest area of the lounge and as such feels spacious.
Showers
The showers were an utter disgrace. Perfectly laid out, however, they were filthy. A real let down, even more so as it’s such a vast contrast to the high standards kept in the rest of the lounge.
To Conclude
It’s a nice lounge staffed by very polite and nice people. With the exception to the showers, it’s kept very clean. I could easily kill 2 hours here before boarding a long haul flight, plus the sunset views you get in summer sat at the bar are exceptional.