Exclusive BA 1st Class Concorde Room Lounge – Heathrow

BA 1st Class Concorde Room Lounge .. was this created for Concorde passengers?

Ah the Concorde… for any aviation enthusiasts out there, the Concorde evokes a certain longing for golden bygone era. A period ahead of its times.  It was height of the jet-age buzz. Sadly it become difficult to sustain this supersonic travel mode in a commercially viable way. British Airways and Air France where the only operators in the world, being directly funded by their respective governments. Well, Concorde is no more, but alas we have a lounge named after it! I experienced this British Airways concorde room lounge as part of my British Airways First class trip. It is by far the most exclusive lounge offered by BA.  

Access to BA 1st Class Concorde Room lounge

You must either be flying British Airways First on the day or be a Concorde Card holder (which can require a lifetime of loyalty to British Airways!)

My immediate impression was wow! How busy is this for a First Class lounge?! Perhaps its in reference to which BA claims to be a premium heavy airline. They have a lot of First passengers!

The lounge was only recently renovated earlier this year. Its an elegantly designed space, with a touch of sophistication, subtle, very British! With areas arranged as little living rooms of their own. After wondering around for some time, I did find areas with fewer guests. So it is possible to find a peaceful retreat within.

Then there was the big open bar area in the middle.

I decided to start with a Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle champagne, served with nuts and few other snacks.

Concorde dining

After that I proceeded to the Concorde Dining room. This is very restaurant like, with a la carte dining. The individual booths create some privacy for small groups to dine together

I ordered a carrot soup and persian chicken terrine to start, followed by an articoke rissoto. They were nice and cooked well.

After half an hour or so I decided to book a cabana room (little private rest areas), finding a 90 minute slot available overlapping my Spa appointment.

I headed out to the terrace, and passed a waiter who asked if I would like anything. I ordered another glass of Grand Siecle. To my surprise this arrived a good 25 min after, when I had to order it again through another waiter. The first waiter was now nowhere to be seen. The outdoor terrace was certainly a great place to relax with a good view out into the taxi-ways and runway further in the distance. Before I know it it was time to go check out the private cabanas!

Cabana

I had looked up pictures of this cabana but being aware of impending refurbishment, I was looking forward to seeing the update. To my disappointment, that was not the case. It really looked rather depressing and the same hospital like sense I got from pictures. I charged my phone and checked a few messages, before having a shower and then decided to vacate the cabana completely rather than coming back to it from my massage.

Elemis Spa

I somehow ended up being 5 min late of my complementary 15 minute hot stone back massage. The lady had another appointment right after mine, so it was the quickest massage I have ever had. Filling out a questionnaire before I could get started took valuable minutes! The massage itself was good, but I wondered if it was even worth it and if I should have just enjoyed another drink out in the terrace. BA could really improve this experience by giving First customers half hour maybe? But then again, I supposed logistically this would be hard to achieve in current form, given the number of people passing through the lounge!

I headed back to the bar for another drink and at this point, the sun had already set, so I decided to take the drink out in the terrace, where I watched some aircraft taxiing. 

About 45 minutes prior to my flight, I made my way to the gates.

Final thoughts

This is a pleasant lounge to spend time before a flight. Whether to enjoy a meal, some drinks, catch up on work/emails/relax/shower. However, I cant say it does any of those things spectacularly well. The service at times was slow and in areas where they could go further, such as offering to escort First passengers to the gate as some First lounges too. The spa options could be fantastic, if hard to get a slot.  The cabana does need a complete refit with a better choice of furniture and design. For me the best part is the terrace which offers a great view to spot some planes!