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Review: the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

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This is our review of the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3.

With Virgin Atlantic now having sent two Clubhouse passes to all Flying Club Silver members we thought it was worth doing another ‘proper’ review of the flagship Clubhouse at Heathrow.

Anika last reviewed the lounge some time ago in 2018. It goes without saying that a lot has changed since then, although as you’ll see below, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse remains a fantastic lounge.

Where is the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow?

All of Virgin Atlantic’s flights depart from Heathrow Terminal 3. This is the same terminal used by Delta as well as many other oneworld airlines including Cathay Pacific, Qantas, American Airlines and even some British Airways flights.

The Virgin and Delta side of the terminal is clearly marked:

Heathrow Terminal 3 Virgin Delta

Once you clear security you follow the signs for ‘Lounge H’, which is located by the walkway to gates 13-22. This is also where the American Airlines Admirals Club is located.

Inside the Virgin Clubhouse at Heathrow

The Clubhouse is on the first floor, accessible via these classy stairs (or a lift):

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow stairs

At the top you are greeted by Virgin Atlantic staff who will check you into the lounge. If you have a Silver Clubhouse voucher just present this: you do not need to pre-book.

If it is your first time the lounge staff will give you a tour of the facilities.

The Clubhouse is very well designed. It is a fairly large, open space, but different tiers break up the room and create smaller areas to sit and relax in. It is one of the best-designed lounge spaces I have seen:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow seating

and

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow seating 2

There is a bar by the window, as well as a number of quieter window seats separated by a wall of glass:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow quiet area

Whilst the lounge was quite busy on a Monday morning there were still plenty of quieter areas, particularly round the left-hand corner which was virtually deserted. This features some rounded booths:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow booths

…. and a dining area:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow dining area

I opted to sit at bar-style seating:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow bar

There is also a mezzanine level with a pool table:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow mezzanine

The Clubhouse is one of the only lounges at Heathrow to have a small outdoor space in the form of a terrace:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow terrace

…. with some excellent views of the airport:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow terrace views

Back at the entrance to the lounge there is a magazine rack which I was pleased to see featured real, physical newspapers:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow newspapers

These have been removed from many lounges due to Covid concerns but I much prefer reading from paper than from PressReader on a phone or laptop. The selection included The Times, Daily Mail, Financial Times and a few magazines including GQ and Virgin’s own in-flight magazine.

Showers are available if you need one. Amenities are by REN Skincare and are geranium-scented.

Food and drink at the Virgin Clubhouse Heathrow T3

The entire lounge is table service. You can order by scanning a QR code or one of the fantastic lounge staff can take your order. In many cases the lounge staff reach you before you can get your phone out to scan the code.

In the mornings the menu includes a range of breakfast items, including a sausage or bacon breakfast roll, eggs benedict/florentine/royale and a full English breakfast (as well as a veggie option). You can also order porridge, toast etc as well as grab a range of cereals, yoghurt, pastries or cold cuts from the food bar:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow food bar

I always go for the eggs royale in the Clubhouse, which is very good:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow eggs royale

Champagne is Laurent Perrier Brut. Prosecco and sparkling wine (English, I imagine) is also on offer. Your glass will never be empty – staff will constantly top you up.

What has changed since covid?

New additions to the Clubhouse include three Peloton bikes, with fantastic views across the tarmac:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow Peleton

…. and a new ‘snooze’ area:

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Heathrow snooze pods

These have replaced the hair salon and spa, respectively.

I asked one of the lounge staff how often they had seen people use the bikes and their answer was ‘not many’. This is not particularly surprising – I think most people use airport lounges as places to relax, get work done or celebrate.

A workout won’t be top of mind for most people and the the Peletons appear to be more of a PR stunt than anything else, although I would be more inclined to exercise on a connecting flight than if I were just departing from London.

The spa is a real loss and it’s not clear whether this will return in time.

Conclusion

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at Heathrow is one of my favourite lounges worldwide. It gets pretty much everything right, from a well designed space to an excellent food offering and proper table service.

The staff are fantastic too – friendly, personable, and ready to top up your drink at a moment’s notice.

Heathrow Terminal 3 has perhaps the highest concentration of excellent lounges worldwide, but the Clubhouse holds it own – different, but on par with the Cathay Pacific, Qantas and American Express Centurion lounges.

Travelling from Heathrow Terminal 3? Here are your lounge options ….

Heathrow’s Terminal 3 has one of the highest concentration of premium lounges of any terminal in the world.

Our overview of the best airline lounges at Heathrow Terminal 3 is here, or you can read individual reviews of all the lounges here:


How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards

How to earn Virgin Points from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Virgin Points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

You can choose from two official Virgin Atlantic credit cards (apply here, the Reward+ card has a bonus of 15,000 Virgin Points):

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

15,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

A generous earning rate for a free card at 0.75 points per £1 Read our full review

You can also earn Virgin Points from various American Express cards – and these have sign-up bonuses too.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for a year and comes with 20,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 20,000 Virgin Points.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with 40,000 Membership Rewards points, which convert into 40,000 Virgin Points.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Small business owners should consider the two American Express Business cards. Points convert at 1:1 into Virgin Points.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Virgin Points

(Want to earn more Virgin Points?  Click here to see our recent articles on Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club and click here for our home page with the latest news on earning and spending other airline and hotel points.)

Comments (43)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Jimmy says:

    Anyone know if they have a good whisky selection?

    • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

      The menu that can be accessed via the QR code in Rhys’ article lists the following options:
      House Whiskey, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Bells, Jameson, Jack Daniels and Glenmorangie.

  • Jimmy says:

    Thanks for that. Shame the selection is so poor.

    The one thing BA gets right is drinks. They still serve JWB as far as I know.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      First lounge though not business?

      • Jimmy says:

        Yes it is Concorde and galleries first I believe.

        That being said I think upper class is closer to first class.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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