This review is part of a series about my experience of my first ever package holiday – a trip to Lapland. You can find out more about the trip here.
I was travelling with MrsTravelFreak and the JuniorTravelFreaks (JTFs) for pleasure and had an hour prior to boarding. MrsTravelFreak and one of the JTFs decided they wanted to indulge in some airport shopping; off I went with the younger one to the lounge.
The lounge is situated upstairs in the terminal beside the Virgin Holidays lounge and opposite Boots. I handed over my Priority Pass and stepped into the lounge. It was very busy (the time was 07:00 on a Tuesday) with most customers in the chairs beside the full bar. A staff member was serving drinks and most people seemed to be taking full advantage of the complimentary alcohol. Whilst I am more than happy to drink some champagne at 02:00 in the Emirates lounge in Dubai during a transit, I am simply unable to drink lager, gin or whisky so early in the morning. Looking at the (very red) faces of most of the customers in this lounge, I think this is a good thing.
Given that this was a Servisair lounge, the standard of offerings wasn’t bad; there were a variety of cereals, a choice of fruit juice, some packaged croissants that looked (and indeed tasted) like they had been in the packet for my entire lifetime and a cabinet with hot bacon rolls along with the standard crackers and cheese that, by law it seems, must be available in every UK airport lounge. I particularly liked the very large sign beside the bacon rolls that read something like ‘Everyone loves a bacon buttie but please be considerate and allow all of customers to enjoy them’. Clearly someone had been eating more than his or her fair share.
Flight information screens were shown in the lounge and toilets were situated just outside (clean and tidy).
As I was leaving I noticed a section that was for ‘Singapore Airlines Business and First class passengers only’. It looked the same as the rest of the lounge although I imagine that Champagne and Tiger beer would be served. Given that Singapore Airlines has just spent a fortune on a flagship SilverKriss Lounge at Heathrow, if the lounge experience is important to you, you may wish to depart from there instead.
All in all, a fairly standard Servisair lounge with the addition of a fully staffed bar and draught beers (I noticed Guinness and Stella I think – please let me know if you know differently).