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This week, I had to fly back to Austria, and I did so by flying from London Gatwick Airport. I said this before, and I’m not afraid to say it again: The word ‘lounge’ in most airports has lost all its meaning. In my opinion, the word lounge creates the illusion of luxury (to an extent, of course). However, these days, almost any paying empty airport space with a charge at the door will qualify for an airport lounge, so this is my review of such a place. The Plaza Premium Lounge at London Gatwick Airport.
The first thing to note is that this lounge used to be the Virgin Atlantic Lounge. Back then, Virgin used to fly from London Gatwick Airport. However, since the pandemic, they stopped flying from there and instead focused on their base in London Heathrow.
In This Post
Plaza Premium Lounge location:
To get to the lounge, follow the lounge sign and then take the lift to the 4th floor. As soon as you come out of the lift, turn left, and you will see it.
Plaza Premium Lounge entry & opening times:
If you have the American Express Preferred Rewards Card, you can get free access to the lounge or pay £35.00 instead at the door.
The lounge is open daily from 4am to 8pm.
Plaza Premium Lounge food & drink:
Surprisingly enough, the food and drink in this lounge were good. I had a full English breakfast and some coffee, and as this was an early morning flight, it really did help me wake up fully.
Plaza Premium Lounge bar & drink:
Plaza Premium lounge seating & layout:
Now, because this lounge used to be the Virgin Atlantic lounge, I must say that the decor was decent, with many different seating layouts, from small round tables to the kid’s section to bigger family tables. What I loved the most were these little private booths; the bit at the back of the lounge was completely empty, given that the lounge was super busy when I was there. I wonder why people didn’t sit in there; as you walked into the lounge, I noted that the big area to your right was blocked off. I wonder why. Maybe they were refurbishing it, although it didn’t seem that way.
Conclusion:
I was excited to write this review of the Plaza Premium Lounge at London Gatwick Airport. However, the only reason I must say that I really wasn’t impressed was that there were a lot of kids when I was there, and it felt a bit like I was in a school cafeteria rather than in an airport lounge; everything was just sub-par, there’s nothing extortionary about this place, it’s not memorable, and I think that’s quite bad for a lounge, you want that people should feel that this is money well spent (if they pay of course) I’m not sure why. Still, most airport lounges here in the UK are about the same; there are no wow factors here when it comes to airport lounges, unlike what I’ve seen in the Middle East, for example.
