Review: the No1 Lounge at London Gatwick’s North terminal

This is my review of the No1 Lounge at Gatwick airport, in the North Terminal.

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

It turns out that we haven’t reviewed the No1 Lounge in Gatwick North since 2014, surprisingly.  After my week in London for the Head for Points Summer Party and a raft of meetings, I headed over to Hamburg to spend a few days with my family.  This ended up being substantially more time than I planned as my passport got damaged and I had to get a new one, but that’s another story …..

As I booked at the last minute I had to take an (cough) easyJet flight from Gatwick North.

Worried that I’d have to spend a lot of time waiting in line at security and possibly being denied access to a lounge due to overcrowding, I paid £5 to pre-book Premium Security and guaranteed access to the No 1 Lounge.

I got access via one of the two free Lounge Club passes that come with my American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card. You can also get in using Priority Pass which comes with the American Express Platinum card (see our review). Of course, you could also pay – but dig out a discount code and pre-book as on the door its £40 ….

(The link to pre-book No1 Lounge access at Gatwick is here.  Whilst it is frustrating to pay £5 to guarantee access to a lounge which in theory you can access for ‘free’, the addition of fast track and my desire to have somewhere to sit meant it was £5 worth paying.)

The official website for the Gatwick North lounge is here.  It has a better set of photographs than this review because they took them when it was empty!

All you need to know about the No1 Lounge at Gatwick North

Here is the lounge in a nutshell:

The lounge is very big (oldies will remember it from when British Airways used this space as the lower level its North Terminal lounge, before halving the space and retrenching to the upper level)

There is a huge amount of light

There are lots of different seating areas

There is a spa (not free)

There is a small cinema showing childrens films

There is also a small kids playroom with beanbags

There is a full size bar. Not all drinks are free and, given that I’m pregnant, I didn’t investigate too much.

I was in the lounge during the early afternoon.  It was VERY busy in the lounge when I was there, which made it very difficult to take photographs.  I have re-used a few from Rob’s 2014 review where the furniture is unchanged.  Only in your wildest dreams will you ever visit this lounge and find it as quiet as this PR picture:

What confused me was that there was only a cold and hot buffet available.  It didn’t look like you were able to order a free ‘cooked to order’ item from a menu which is the normal policy in No1 lounges.

The hot options on the buffet were a lentil stew, chicken stew, potatoes and mac ‘n’ cheese.  Opposite the hot buffet and constantly surrounded by people (hence no picture) was a salad buffet.

Here’s my plate (I’ve made it my mission to find the best mac ‘n’ cheese and this one was pretty good):

I am guessing that the reason there was only a buffet was the sheer volume of guests in the lounge.  If everyone ordered their free ‘cooked to order’ plate of hot food, they would be struggling to cope.

Here’s one of Rob’s pictures with part of the breakfast buffet from his old review – I don’t know if there are still ‘cooked to order’ items in the morning:

Here is more of the dining area:

Here’s a picture of the main sitting area:

And a better one Rob took a few years ago,with fewer people:

With the main areas being too crowded and my flight being delayed by an hour, I decided to spend the remaining time in one of the quieter corners away from the buffet.

and

There was a long desk with sockets and lamps which used to be a further drink and food area in the past. To be honest this doesn’t seem like a smart move as it is quite a walk from here in order to get a drink and some snacks and you may be unhappy leaving your belongings unattended.

Here is an old picture from quieter times by Rob of some of the funkier furniture:

…. and the small cinema:

Rob was quite happy with the lounge a few years ago when we last wrote about it, but I found it too packed, dirty and more like the lobby of a three star all inclusive hotel.  It wasn’t a business lounge where you could get some work done, or indeed just relax.

I should also add – to give a full picture – that we have had many reports of HfP readers with a Priority Pass or Amex Gold Lounge Club card being refused access at busy times.  We’ve also had reports of the ‘3 hour maximum visit’ rule being enforced with staff asking passengers to leave.

To ensure that you will get in, we do recommend pre booking for £5 – plus you will be able to use the Premium Security lane.

No1 Lounges is also in Gatwick South – and I must say two years ago when I reviewed it, it was much better than the North lounge.  Rob was also impressed when he visited it.

You should also remember that there are two other lounges in Gatwick North which are accessible with a Priority Pass or similar card – My Lounge, which I reviewed here, and the new Club Aspire lounge.  Both are likely to be quieter but have fewer facilities.

You can find out more about the No1 Lounge at Gatwick North, and pre-book cash visits, on the official website here.

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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.