BACKGROUND
Qantas opened this lounge in November 2017. It is located airside, beyond the shops as you walk through to the gates.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Very favourable – both attendants greeted me with a smile once the sliding doors had opened, even though I couldn’t find my boarding pass to show I was allowed in (I found it eventually).
This is the second time I have visited the lounge. The first time was for a too short visit of about 15 minutes early one morning when it had just opened. This time it was for longer, and was the morning of the inaugural to Perth on the new non-stop service QF10.
I recorded a short video of the lounge which gives a good impression of it (I hope) which you can watch below.
The lounge is split over two levels with views out the airfield. The ground floor is the dining area and gin cocktail bar, as well as some sitting areas, while the upper floor has a round cocktail bar and more options for dining or just relaxing.
In total, the lounge has a capacity of more than 230 passengers, but there is no segmentation between business and first.
The lounge is popular with top tier card holders in the Oneworld programme, which means a lot of BA flyers use it, something Qantas seems pleased about, since they charge for every visit by passengers not flying with them, and this is a useful revenue stream.
The design is the same as that of Qantas’ international lounges in Hong Kong, Singapore and Brisbane, with the food and interior design taking inspiration from the local region. It has been designed by Woods Bagot, with interiors intended to “reflect London at twilight with deep greens and rich blues throughout the furniture, while warm-coloured timbers, stone and brass represent the historic architecture of the city”
The upstairs lounge has a marble bar beneath a brass chandelier on the upper level serving cocktails designed by “the Qantas Rockpool Mixologists” and Australian and European wine and beer.
The ground floor level has a gin bar serving both Australian and British gins, including an Australian gin containing green ants. The video shows them floating around. I still haven’t tried it. There are 14 gins on offer at the moment.
Menus are “designed by Rockpool with a Sofitel service experience” and the dining room offers an a la carte menu.
Sample dishes include:
- British dishes such as ploughman’s platters, pot pies and scones with jam and cream
- Brunch bowls with eggs, avocado and kale, and zucchini and haloumi fritters
- Salt and pepper squid with green chilli sauce from the Qantas First Lounges in Australia
- Hot and cold buffets
There is also a ‘Quench’ hydration station with tisane, fruit-infused water and sparkling water, with business facilities including wifi, flexible work spaces and workstations, plus six shower suites.
Since it was the inaugural, we had lunch with Qantas’ Creative Director of Food, Beverage & Service Neil Perry and I will publish an interview with him about the food later.
VERDICT
This is a very good lounge. I think the Cathay Pacific one at Heathrow is marginally better simply because of the division between first and business there, but this is a superb addition to the lounges at Terminal 3 and a great way to start a flight to Singapore or Australia (among other destinations).
FACTFILE
- Opening hours daily from 0800-2030
- Eligibility Qantas customers travelling in in first and business and Qantas Platinum One, Platinum and Gold frequent flyers and their guests. It is also open to eligible Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire customers, Emirates Skywards Platinum and Gold customers and Qantas Club members and their guests.
- Contact qantas.com
