by Krish Patel

London’s Heathrow Terminal 5 serves as the home of British Airways, with four BA departures lounges. However, one of the four lounges is a less-known tranquil space not found in the main T5 building. British Airways operates a Galleries Club Lounge in the B Gates, where passenger commotion is less busy. If you’re flying in British Airways Club World from LHR’s T5B or T5C, then this is the place to go before your flight.

Location, Hours, and Access

The British Airways Galleries Club Lounge in the B Gates is located in Concourse B, which requires a ride on the transit from the A Gates. The entrance of the lounge is found at the center of the Terminal 5B building, and you’ll have to take an escalator to reach the main level. It’s open from 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM and welcomes Club World and Club Europe passengers, as well as OneWorld Business Class passengers and Sapphire elites. Found throughout the airport terminal are boards that display information about lounge occupancy. According to the board in the A Gates, the B Gates Lounge is almost 20% full.

Seating, Layout, Amenities, and Ambiance

Essentially, the British Airways Galleries Club Lounge in the B Gates is a massive rectangular doughnut shape. The entrance features a few front desks, where you’ll also find some comfortable seats. From the moment you step inside, the lounge feels very quiet and calm.

Found past the entrance area are some comfortable couches and plush chairs that adopt a blue and gray color scheme. You’ll find table space and charging ports near many of the seats, which comes in handy if you’re looking to get some work done.

There’s also a kids play area in the B Gates Lounge, however, it’s slightly smaller than the one seen in the South Galleries Club Lounge.

You’ll find the bathrooms situated right adjacent to the seating area. They’re relatively clean and spacious and stocked with Elemis skincare products. In addition, there are shower suites. While there aren’t that many, there should always be one or two available.

At the opposite end of the lounge is the main seating area. There are several seats to choose from, however, some also adopt a cream color palette. You’ll find armchairs, sofas, chairs that swivel, and comfortable lounge chairs. Separating some sections of the seating area are translucent dividers.

Found right across from the main seating area is a large workstation. There’s plenty of table space, as well as charging outlets and numerous barlike high-top seats. Hanging above the long table is a striking chandelier with a geometric shape.

Adjacent to the workstation and main seating space is a high-top table featuring plush bar-like seats.

At the very back of the lounge is some plush restaurant-style seating. The area feels cozy and well-lit, with dim lighting and potted plants on the shelves. The seating adopts a dark orange and brown palette.

There’s also some more high-top barlike seating back here, as well as outlets for charging and lounge chairs. During my visit, the lounge was very quiet, however, I didn’t see that many people using the seating arrangements in the back.

Food and Drink

As far as the food and drink selection in the lounge goes, there’s a decently extensive selection of options. Found at the seating area past the entrance is a self-serve rosé bar. British Airways has partnered with Whispering Angel to offer rosé in this lounge.

Near the main seating area is a Union Coffee and Twinings Tea station that features an espresso machine and offers a selection of teas.

If you prefer to have a cold or alcoholic drink, there’s a self-serve bar near the workstation offering top-shelf liquor and a selection of spirits. As far as soft drinks, there’s a fridge with various juices and sodas.

Towards the back of the Galleries Lounge is the buffet spread. The selection is certainly more extensive than that in the Galleries South Lounge because you’ll find more hot options. There are hot meats, curry, soup, and pastas. If you’d prefer to have a salad or light snack, there’s a selection of salad fixings and tortilla chips with salsa.

Dessert was being offered as well, and there was a selection of cakes and pastries.

Overall Thoughts

The Galleries Club Lounge in the B Gates is a quiet and comfortable space to relax before your next BA Business Class flight. I enjoyed the comfortable seating variants in the lounge, as well as the amenities such as shower suites. However, the food is not of the best quality I’ve seen in a Business Class lounge, but it’s definitely much better than the average Business Class food. I’d certainly be happy visiting this lounge again, and it’s fair to say that it’s the best Business Class lounge British Airways runs at LHR.