The BA Concorde Room at Heathrow Terminal 5 is the crown jewel of British Airway’s lounge portfolio, carrying the weight of prestige and nostalgia— it evokes a time when British Airways ruled the skies and Concorde was the ultimate symbol of luxury.

It promises elegance at every turn. But does it still deliver?

After fleeting visits in 2023 and 2024, this month I had the chance to spend a longer afternoon here over lunch. While the setting remains refined and undeniably glamourous, you can’t ignore the cutbacks and a dated feel that no amount of light touch refurbishments can hide.

This was, surprisingly, one of my most enjoyable visits in recent memory—but even so, the lounge falls short of what even some top Business Class lounges are delivering in 2025.

So, is the Concorde Room still worth the hype? Let’s dive in.

Location & How to Access

If you have access to this lounge, you would be most likely coming in directly via the exclusive First Wing check-in at Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

After private security here, you will enter straight into the Galleries First Lounge and greeted by Susan, the resident horse..

Carry through into this First Class lounge and make a left turn out of it and into Concorde Room opposite…

The reception staff would verify your eligibility and check you in at this point.

This is by far one of the most exclusive lounges in the world, even above Qatar’s Al Safwa Lounge ! The lounge is accessible to those:

• Flying First Class on British Airways

• Concorde Room Card holders ( 65,000 qualifying Tier Points required ).

• American Airlines Concierge Key members flying on a oneWorld departure.

You cannot buy day access or enter with BA Gold/oneWorld Emerald status alone — you must hold the right boarding pass or the coveted CK/CCR Card. For some context – the CCR card would require over £80,000 annual spend with British Airways directly to earn the required Tier Points.

Design & Layout

Once in, you are in a “landing” area with dimly lit chandeliers and fresh flowers on display. There is a cloak room available for use immediately to your left..

Wooden flooring runs through the high traffic areas..

Inner zones have carpeting to create a more warming atmosphere..

On the surface, the Concorde Room exudes a classic British luxury feel. A variety of seating options are available with armchairs, sofa and higher chairs, with chandeliers and curated artwork setting the mood..

It’s separated into several areas:

• Elegant indoor lounges with a mix of formal seating, private booths, and cozy couches in clusters creating your own living room vibes.

• Full service bar with top shelf wines, liquors and cocktails

• Private dining booths at the Concorde Dining restaurant.

• Boardroom and private cabanas (small day rooms with a shower, bed, and desk — available upon request).

• Terrace overlooking the terminal apron with great plane spotting views. And formal dining tables here too.

Lighting is purposefully dim, creating a calm, refined ambiance — ideal for de-stressing before a flight.

Over the years, there has been many tweaks to the lounge offerings and furnishings.

Post covid, BA closed the dated Cabanas. Instead, in late 2021, BA introduced “Forty Winks” an area with dedicated sleep pods, though only with partial privacy. It appears that partnership with Rest Works, had ended by 2023.

Pre-covid, there was an Elemis Spa with 15 minute complimentary treatments. This is gone and still has not resurfaced.

One thing BA has addressed is the provision of more formal dining tables, as previously during peak times, tables in the dedicated Concorde Dining space would quickly fill up. Now there is additional seating at the middle of the lounge..

In addition you can also enjoy dining at the Terrace area  !

There are still the pool cabana like spaces in the terrace where you can put your feet up to relax or spot some planes..

The Concorde Nose

For Aviation geeks – this is a primary draw to this lounge. With a pride of place in the terrace..

This is a 13 foot section of nose of a real Concorde that flew 17 million miles across the Atlantic!

Many of us had not reached adulthood, before the Concorde devastatingly retired.

You will also find some historical memorabilia on display here too, from models, tickets/tags, right down to the China used onboard. If all of this leaves you yearning to go inside a Concorde, there are several around the UK where you can do so, including one at the Museum of Flight in Seattle

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Food & Beverages

Dining

• À la carte menu served all day with proper restaurant service (you are seated and waited on).

• Until 11.30am, breakfast features options like eggs benedict/royale, full English, pastries, and lighter healthy items.

• Lunch/dinner offers steaks, salads, burgers, and seasonal British dishes like lamb rump, seabass and pies

At the time of my visit – the lounge was not busy at all, so I could have sat to eat anywhere. I find the original Concorde Dining area not the most comfortable place. My favourite place to eat now is out in the Terrace

Yes, I chose a table right by the Concorde nose !

I hadn’t realized my table had not even been set for dining before sitting, however, one of the waiter was happy to do so.

The menu in April 2025 was as follows:

To start things off, I ordered some still water and a glass of Cuvee Louise 2006..

I’m unclear as to why this was served in a wine glass but anyhow..

For starter, I ordered the Smoked salmon, pickled beetroot puree, Sour cream with Caviar and chive..

This was beautifully presented with a healthy amount of smoked salmon. While it’s rare to see, the sprinkle of Caviar with the chive was a nice touch to uplift the dish !

Next, I ordered another appetiser: Summerset cured duck, melon & rocket salad

The duck here was rather chewy, I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be this way. I love anything with duck generally – but this I would pass on again.

For lunch main, I was torn between the Chicken schnitzel, Cornish Pie or one of the burgers, but ended up going with the Cornish Pie..

The pie was silky smooth with good flavour and bits of crust adding to the texture. Was it fine dining quality? The jury is still out.

There was several choices of desserts you could order from the menu – however I opted for a selection of afternoon tea with well, TEA !

Afternoon Tea

If you are crunched for time – you can help yourself to a selection of afternoon tea delights, carefully laid out in the middle of the Terrace area..

There are a good range of sandwiches and cakes here with the traditional scones and jam/cream spreads.

You can also just pour yourself a glass of Champagne too.

Drinks

Outside of the dining itself, you can enjoy drinks at a sleek dedicated bar, siting at the centre of the main lounge area..

There are 6 high chairs here – with decorative patterns which would not look out of place at Ivy Restaurants around London..

• The bar serves an impressive range of fine champagnes, wines, premium spirits, and cocktails crafted by bartenders.

• Espresso-based coffee drinks (cappuccino, latte, flat white) are available

The current main Champagne is the Pommery Cuvee Louise 2006 – which I’d say is on level with or even better than some editions of Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, the previous champagne of choice here.

You will find various wines on display :

I’m no big wine fan, so I cannot speak to their quality I’m afraid.

Naturally, you can order any cocktail you like here even if it’s not on the menu – the bar staff would be happy to whip you up with something even if improvised.

Within seconds of sitting down, I had the waiter giving me their full attention.

The espresso martini’s here are good, however this time, I simply opted for a Johnny Walker Blue label on rocks, which arrived promptly..

Another piece of aviation history awaits you at the bar – the British Airways Gordon’s tree bell..

It was originally used at British Airways’ Sudan Flying Boat base in Khartoum and even used to celebrate the merger of BEA and BOAC, forming British Airways we know now.

Today, the bell is rung by staff to mark the first and last departures of the day. Part of me want to now book this last flight of the day next time just to have the bell be rung !

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Service

During my whole 3 hour visit – there were at most 10 to 12 passengers I could see dotted around – sitting in any one particular place you will not have seen more than two or three other guests.

Therefore the staff were more attentive and personal than usual. I was checked on multiple times during lunch service with frequent top-ups without requesting. Also to note – you don’t have to be in one of the dining areas to get waiter service.

 Unfortunately – this is not the ordinary experience here, during peak departure times, service can get stretched, and it’s not always timely or as polished as you might expect for a flagship lounge.

Even on this occasion I noticed a few things that illustrated some areas lacking attention to detail.

My table was not actually set properly and by the time I got to my main – I had no fork left. My water glass was not polished.

Even in Delta One lounge – all drinks are poured right at the table with the bottle shown to you. This was not the case here.

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Other Facilities

• Showers are located outside the CCR (shared with First lounge users), which is a bit inconvenient.

• Restrooms pictured above at the same dreary fit out that has been since my very first visit in 2017

• Private cabanas are back? – offer a unique retreat with a bed, workspace, and shower — fantastic for long layovers.

To my knowledge – the Cabanas were meant to be out of action, however it look like they are now back in use – as I saw someone who was not staff come go into one.

I only noticed this when I used the restrooms on my way out of the lounge – so had no chance to confirm..

You can see pictures of it from my first Concorde Room review back in 2019. It is essentially the same.

Overall Thoughts

The Concorde Room is, in many ways, a decent lounge—certainly the best within Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Though that’s not a particularly high bar.

For aviation enthusiasts, especially those nostalgic for the Concorde era, this lounge holds unique appeal. It’s one of the few spaces in the world that still celebrates the legacy of supersonic travel. At its best, it exudes a quiet charm—an air of understated British luxury.

Service here can be excellent, though it’s not always consistent.

When it comes to food and drink, breakfast tends to be the stronger offering. The à la carte menu offers an impressive variety, and BA occasionally introduces limited-edition dishes and special drinks. However, while everything was pleasant, nothing truly stood out.

And this is where the Concorde Room starts to lag behind. Even Business Class lounges like Qatar’s Al Mourjan, Cathay Pacific’s The Pier, United Polaris, Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse, and Turkish Airlines Lounge all offer more impressive dining and more luxurious amenities.

Delta’s new Delta One Lounges go even further with restaurant quality dining & service standards to match as well as luxurious shower suites,  complimentary spa treatments – it emphatically outshines Concorde Room !

Sadly, without the top-shelf liquor or premium champagne, the experience slips into the realm of a solid—but not exceptional—Business Class lounge.