How is the Qantas Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 3 like?

In this brief review I will try to offer a glimpse of this excellent facility that is available to those passengers preparing to undertake the long, long flight to Oz.

No, I didn’t travel to Australia myself. In fact, I didn’t even fly Qantas. But since Terminal 4 is not yet ready and Etihad, which is planning to move there soon, is still departing from LHR Terminal 3, we were invited to use the Australian’s airline lounge instead.

There was a gap of several hours between our on-the-ground inspection tour of Etihad’s new A350-1000 and the departure of that aircraft to Abu Dhabi, so we made ourselves comfortable at the Qantas Lounge.

Let’s start by saying that the Qantas Lounge is split over two floors:

The upper floor has more of a “loungy” feel and atmosphere as well as a bar, a cold buffet, a work area, views of the runway and the toilets. It could well be the bar at a fancy hotel.
The lower floor has also a bar and an à-la-carte restaurant. In fact the atmosphere is more like that of a proper restaurant. It has also some (more limited) views.

In the upper floor there are quite a few seating spots and there is a choice, either these leather sofas, the soft velvety armchairs or different types of more functional chairs, including and area with high stalls where you can work or eat comfortably

We visited right after the Qantas morning departure and well before the evening one, so most of the time the lounger was pretty quiet and empty, but it started to fill up towards the evening

There was a cold buffet with some salads, pastries and drinks. It was not a huge selection, but overall pretty healthy choices and quite tasty. There is also a bar that is permanently staffed with pretty attentive personnel that can prepare a broad range of drinks on demand too.

The whole lounge was impeccably clean and the decor and prevailing style, more reminiscent of an upmarket establishment than of the typical overcrowded airport lounge.

Downstairs there is also a bar and, interestingly, an à la carte restaurant, which opens only towards the evening (Qantas London to Darwin flight is around 21.00). It is advisable to pick up a spot in advance because it gets crowded as the time of the flight draws close.

Ordered a couple of dishes to try it out (see below) and got a really nice impression, very nice and tasty .

My general impression of the Qantas Lounge at Heathrow is very positive. One of the best lounges I’ve visited of late. I can’t imagine a better way to prepare for a +16h air journey, or even longer as soon as Project Sunrise becomes a reality!

A review of the Qantas Lounge at London Heathrow T3