On Tuesday evening I was in Terminal 2 at Heathrow for the opening party for the Plaza Premium arrivals lounge.
(This is part of our series of reviews of airport lounges across the UK. You see all of the reviews here.)
This is the sister lounge to the classy Plaza Premium departures lounge in Terminal 2 which I have covered previously.
You can buy passes in advance via the Plaza Premium website.
The Terminal 2 arrivals lounge is interesting for a number of reasons:
it is the first independent arrivals lounge at Heathrow
it is the first arrivals lounge at Heathrow to accept Priority Pass or Lounge Club cards, or buy a pass at at their website
it is open from 5am to 10pm – unlike many arrivals lounges which close around 2pm (looking at you, BA)
It is situated directly next to the exit from the customs area in Terminal 2, directly opposite the walkway into the arrivals level from the car park, tube and Heathrow Express.
Plaza Premium has taken a different approach from its departure lounge. The main area comprises a bar with a tapas-style food offering as you can see in the photos above – one from the party and one PR photo.
This is a relatively modest space. The spa and shower area is huge in comparison. There are eight shower suites and a number of massage and spa suites – the massage suites can be converted into day rooms for sleeping. The quality of finish is very high and the spa uses organic, chemical free products from British brand ILA.
If you arriving into Terminal 2 on a Star Alliance flight it is worth a visit. If you are arriving into Terminal 1 or Terminal 3 then you can walk to the lounge via the underground circulation area where the trains are. If you are coming into Terminal 4 or Terminal 5, you would need to take the tube or train to the Heathrow 1-2-3 station.
Basic entrance is £25 including VAT. It is free if you have a Priority Pass card (another benefit of Amex Platinum, or you can buy one directly) or a Lounge Club card, which comes with Amex Gold. One off visits can be prebooked via the Plaza Premium website.
The shower rooms and spa treatments are charged separately if you pay on the door to enter. According to the comments below, anyone who use a Priority Pass card can use the showers free of charge.
A lounge coming to Terminal 5?
The speech from Mr Song Hoi-see, founder and CEO of Plaza Premium, contained an interesting titbit. As I have written before, Plaza Premium has a Terminal 4 departure lounge under construction which will open in the Spring.
He also revealed plans to open a Terminal 4 arrivals lounge. In addition, though, he said that the company was in discussions with Heathrow about opening lounges in Terminal 3 and Terminal 5.
A Plaza Premium departure lounge in Terminal 5 would be a major move. At the moment there is no third party lounge in Terminal 5. Whilst we are presumably looking a couple of years ahead, the idea of an independent lounge offering in Terminal 5 – especially if it is of the high standard of the Plaza Premium departure lounge in Terminal 2 – is exciting.
Delta arrivals lounge also open in Terminal 3
By coincidence, US airline Delta opened its invite-only arrivals lounge in Heathrow Terminal 3 on the same day. You can learn more about that in this Business Traveller article.
About Head for Points
Chemical free spa products would be……well, non-existent. Oh, this marketing hype!
Another OT IHG query. My Into the Nights offer was stay twice and get 25,000 points twice. I’ve stayed twice in the last month and have 2 more stays booked in the next 2 weeks, but nothing is showing on my ITN promotion page. How quickly should the stays actually appear? Should I query them yet? Points for both the completed stays have posted to my IHG account and both the upcoming reservations are showing.
There is a bit of a drag for them to hit ITN, I wouldn’t worry.
Thanks
Air Canada had an arrivals lounge which permitted access to PP members. With showers and a shirt ironing service!
It’s still there, but in T3 and only in the morning 🙂
I think it’s a Delta lounge now.
Looks like a nice way to burn the 2 free lounge club passes I struggle to use. Might also be a better alternative to the Gold Circle lounge when flying Little Red out of T2.
Plaza Premium is a lot better than Gold Circle, the only benefit of the latter is huge amounts of natural light.
confirmed free for priority pass holder with free shower drinks (Jack Daniels) and some food
nobody ask for flight ticket
I use bus to get here minutes 😉
How many free entries do you get with Barclays Airport Angels?
Looks like 6 lol
Even better when you got it for free 😉
Airport lounge access: Up to 6 visits every year, which can be shared with immediate family including children (1 adult must be a Barclays Airport Angel member) More than 6 visits will be charged at £15 per person per visit. A visit means 1 entry to an airport lounge per person