Review: the Clubrooms lounge at London Gatwick’s North Terminal

This article was produced in partnership with Priority Pass and a version recently appeared on the Priority Pass blog. All opinions are our own.

This is our review of the Clubrooms lounge at London Gatwick’s North Terminal.

It is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK.  You see all of the reviews here.

Clubrooms is the top-tier lounge offering from No1, which also operates the No1 Lounge and budget MyLounge brands. After a challenging pandemic, No1 was jointly bought out by Priority Pass owner Collinson and Swissport, which operates Aspire lounges.

Originally launched in 2015, the Clubrooms business model has been tweaked since the first one opened in Gatwick South. At that point, it was genuinely a series of separate rooms, hence the name, with families or small groups being able to book one outright.

Today, a Clubrooms lounge is laid out like any other airport lounge.  The difference is the extra money poured in to decoration and and service and, by virtue of high pricing, the lack of other guests.

This was certainly true on my visit mid-morning on a Tuesday when there were only three of us there. Only another three other people arrived during my visit. This is a big contrast to my recent Gatwick lounge experiences, with crowds and queues out the door being common.

Children under 12 are banned from Clubrooms lounges leading to additional peace and quiet!

Of course, you are paying for the privilege. There is an additional £15 charge when using a Priority Pass card or a £42 charge if paying cash.

You can find out more, and buy entry for cash, on this page of the No1 website..

Where is the Clubrooms lounge at Gatwick North?

It’s been some time since I travelled from Gatwick North, but I have to admit it is a much more pleasant experience than at the South Terminal, used by British Airways.

The entire terminal was very quiet and I made it through security without having to queue at all. It was, quite possibly, the quickest airport experience I’ve had in some time – even at London City Airport you can expect to wait for a couple of minutes.

Of course, the illusion is shattered when you have to walk through a particularly aggressive duty free maze that twists and turns multiple times with no easy shortcuts ….

Even the terminal concourse was a paragon of tranquillity, with wide open spaces and people few and far between.

Clubrooms is co-located with all the other lounges at Gatwick North, so it is easy to find. Simply follow the signs to Gates 45-55 and 101-113 by turning left from Duty Free:

After this, the signage gets a little confusing. Do not go up the escalators, but follow the corridor underneath:

…. then turn to your right and you’ll see the signage for all the lounges:

In addition to the Clubrooms you also have the easyJet Gateway lounge, No1 Lounge, Emirates lounge and the Plaza Premium lounge.

The Clubrooms are on the first floor, two floors down from where you enter. There are a couple of lifts to take you down. The entrance to the lounge is very dark and moody – it could do with lightening up, as it almost looks closed.

Inside the Clubrooms lounge at Gatwick North

It’s clear as soon as you enter that the Clubrooms is more premium than most lounges thanks to the service from staff.

I was immediately welcomed by the reception attendant who scanned my boarding pass and Priority Pass card and explained how the lounge worked. She walked me to where I wanted to sit and where my waitress introduced herself. It felt more like I was at a restaurant than in an airport.

Just inside you’ll find a couple of newspapers – in this case the Financial Times, New York Times and London Metro. Newspapers are liberally available for free across both Gatwick terminals, however, so this doesn’t add much.

As I mentioned above, the lounge was exceptionally quiet when I arrived so I had free choice where to sit. The lounge isn’t huge, with around 64 seats. The majority are more casual armchairs around coffee tables:

and

If you want to work, as I did, your only real choice is the large dining / boardroom table in the centre of the lounge. This is the only place with a full height table:

The wifi is generally good, although there’s a bit of lag. Speeds were 13mbps up / 5.6mbps down.

Like other Clubrooms, the lounge features a series of blue toned armchairs, with walls featuring geometric wallpaper or classy wooden boarding:

Two unisex toilet cubicles were also classily done, with marble tiling:

The only thing missing from this lounge, at least for me, was natural light. Whilst there are windows, these are frosted over and hidden behind translucent curtains as they overlook a covered loading bay.

Food and drink at the Gatwick North Clubrooms lounge

Another feature of the Clubrooms brand is that it is all table service with an a la carte menu. The only items out on display were a small selection of pastries, muffins and yoghurt:

Everything else was available to order. For breakfast, this includes full English or brunch rolls (including a veggie options) as well as cereals or porridge. It would have been nice to offer some poached eggs in the form of eggs benedict or eggs royale, which I think would’ve elevated the experience, but alas. I went for the full English:

This was decent, although with most lounges offering a self-serve buffet of full English items it didn’t feel all that special, and I would’ve preferred an egg dish.

Drinks are table service too, with the usual selection of hot drinks, soft drinks and juices. In addition, there is also a complimentary cocktail menu including classics such as espresso martini, bucks fizz (with prosecco), bloody mary, kir royale (again prosecco), mojitos and more.

If you want champagne you need to cough up, with a glass of Baron de Beaupre house champagne costing £9. Bottles of Moet or Veuve Cliquot can be had for £50. Given the entry cost it should not be impossible to offer a single glass of house champagne for free.

The bucks fizz comes with a sugared rim, which I haven’t seen before:

Conclusion

Anyone complaining about the overcrowded state of Gatwick Airport’s lounges will be delighted to find that the Clubrooms are virtually empty. Admittedly I was on a late morning flight on a Tuesday in March – not exactly a peak period.

Nonetheless, the Clubrooms offer a comfortable place to relax whilst you wait for your flight. I was particularly impressed by the service, with the staff extremely attentive. I think during my hour or so there I was asked four or five times after I had eaten whether I wanted anything else to eat or drink – it really is a big step up from a standard No1 Lounge.

I also liked that that the food was a la carte with a full cocktail menu, which makes a big difference from having to self pour a gin and tonic. The only thing I would add is that it would be nice to have some poached eggs on the menu as well as the option to have a fried egg with the full English.

Is it worth paying the £15 supplement over a standard Priority Pass lounge? Overall, I think yes, as you already need to pay £6 simply to reserve a spot at the No1 Lounge upstairs if you don’t want to take your chances on the door. For an additional £9 you get table service, bottomless cocktails and a quiet place to relax or work. Just don’t come with any children under 12 ….

You can check current opening hours and other information on this page of the Priority Pass website, which also contains information on all of the other London Gatwick lounge options.

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How to get FREE airport lounge access via UK credit cards (January 2024)

Here are the four options to get FREE airport lounge access via a UK credit card.

The Platinum Card from American Express comes with two free Priority Pass cards, one for you and one for a supplementary cardholder. Each card admits two so a family of four gets in free. You get access to all 1,300 lounges in the Priority Pass network – search it here.

You also get access to Plaza Premium, Delta Air Lines and Eurostar lounges.  Our American Express Platinum review is here. You can apply here.

If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is FREE for the first year. It comes with a Priority Pass card loaded with four free visits to any Priority Pass lounge – see the list here.

Additional lounge visits are charged at £24.  You get four more free visits for every year you keep the card.  

There is no annual fee for Amex Gold in Year 1 and you get a 20,000 points sign-up bonus.  Full details are in our American Express Preferred Rewards Gold review here.

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard gets you get a free Priority Pass card, allowing you access to the Priority Pass network.  Guests are charged at £24 although it may be cheaper to pay £60 for a supplementary credit card for your partner.

The card has a fee of £195 and there are strict financial requirements to become a HSBC Premier customer.  Full details are in my HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard review.

PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.