Review: the Clubrooms lounge at London Gatwick’s South Terminal
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A fascinating new airport lounge option opens at Gatwick South today – Clubrooms.
Clubrooms is a new product from No1 Lounges (part of the No1 Lounges group) which will be very interesting for business travellers, high end leisure travellers and groups.
Clubrooms is a suite of four private airport lounges in the South terminal at London Gatwick. It offers a level of privacy and service which you won’t find at any other UK airport lounge – and the pricing is suprisingly reasonable.
I went along yesterday for a preview and was impressed by what I saw.
There are two large rooms and two smaller ones. Each has a TV, a soft drinks fridge and fruit. The space can be personalised at advance notice – there are PlayStations available for example. Alcoholic drinks and a wide range of hot and cold food – all included in the price, except for champagne – will be brought to you by the staff.
The larger rooms will be mostly used by smaller airlines which currently use the main No1 Traveller lounge at Gatwick South. This will offer a substantially more premium experience to those passengers, albeit in a smaller space. It will also reduce pressure on the No1 lounge and make it easier for Priority Pass, Lounge Club etc customers to get in at peak times.
The smaller rooms are the most suitable for booking by the general public – ie you.
Here is where it gets interesting. The price is £37.50 per person with a minimum of four people. This photo and the one below it are of the room you are most likely to get. Remember that you get exclusive use of the room for three hours.
In terms of cost, this is exceptionally reasonable. The ‘advance booking’ rate for the main No 1 Traveller lounge is £20 via the current Avios promotion, increasing to £30 on the door. For a modest premium, a group of four or more would have their own private lounge for up to three hours.
If you were hungry, the Clubrooms could work out cheaper than No1 Traveller, as many of the food items offered for free in Clubrooms are chargeable in the main lounge. Lunch options include Keralan vegetable curry, chicken cacciatore and a range of salads as well as ‘comfort food’ options such as chicken wraps.
For a family or group that has paid a few thousand pounds for premium class tickets, or as a gift for a couple heading off on honeymoon, or for a group of business travellers who want some genuine privacy to discuss work before they travel, this is a great product.
British Airways, remember, is moving to Gatwick South next November. There is definitely a segment of BA premium passengers who will prefer to pay for a Clubroom than use the new BA lounges – after all, we are only talking about spending possibly 2% – 5% of the cost of Club World long-haul flights.
Clubrooms is open from 6am to 8pm daily – note the fairly early closing time. If you are passing through Gatwick South, I’m sure they would be happy to let you take a quick look around – the entrance is next to Dixons Travel on the upper level.
More details on Clubrooms can be found on the No1 Lounges website here. If it sounds interesting for a specific trip, I would enquire sooner rather than later – daily capacity is obviously restricted given that each booking is for three hours.
I also have news of changes to the No1 offering at Gatwick South – more tomorrow.
Travelling from Gatwick South? Here are your lounge options….
Gatwick South Terminal has a number of premium lounges to choose from, including several independent, airline-agnostic lounges. We have reviewed them all:
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.
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
If you have a small business, consider American Express Business Platinum instead.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
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.
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
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.
HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard
A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review
PS. You can find all of HfP’s UK airport lounge reviews – and we’ve been to most of them – indexed here.
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