Heathrow has unveiled the transformation of its exclusive VIP suite. Photo / Heathrow Airports Ltd
Heathrow has unveiled the transformation of its exclusive VIP suite. Photo / Heathrow Airports Ltd
It’s an open secret among the royal family, celebrities, VIPs and high-flyers: London’s Heathrow has a private terminal.
But for everyone else, the gated entrance off terminal 5 has been a relatively unknown quantity since the commercial service was rolled out in 2009.
That’s changing. The Windsor – as theprivate wing of the terminal is called – is fresh off a major renovation that’s transformed it from a dark, dated VIP area into a set of eight sumptuous suites designed to feel like luxury homes.
The revamp appeals to the masses, but to get in, you must have a business or first-class ticket on any airline and be willing to shell out an additional, one–way £3812 ($8392) entry fee. If you want to use the facility for a round trip, the cost simply doubles, to £7624 – roughly as much as a business-class ticket from London to Los Angeles with British Airways.
Here’s an exclusive look at what those fees get you.
Unlike most lounges, the Windsor is owned and operated by Heathrow itself and not by an airline or credit card company like Capital One and American Express. As part of the service, you can get picked up within a 40km radius of the airport in a BMW i7 and dropped off at the Windsor’s entrance. Upon arrival, a friendly porter greets you and shepherds away your checked luggage – just like at a luxury hotel, though here they deposit luggage with the correct airline rather than your hotel room.
You do, however, get your own room. The eight suites are off a central corridor, at the end of which is a private security and immigration area. The layout is intended to ensure no one has to wait for anything or indeed see anyone else, except for security agents.
Upon return, or for guests using the facility on arrival, the same idea applies: UK Border Force officers complete immigration checks in total privacy at the Windsor and guests wait in their suite for their checked luggage – which staffers pick up at the public carousel – before they’re driven away to their next destination.
It’s notable that inside the Windsor, there’s not one central hub or bar like in the BA Concorde Room or the shared areas at PS in LAX or Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta. Instead, everyone here gets their own private suite, each named after an upscale London neighbourhood (Chelsea, Marylebone, Kensington, for example) and decked out in calming creams and neutral shades.
There are sofas that feel as soft as clouds, marble dining tables and Assouline books on the coffee tables. They’re like staged living rooms in London’s luxury new-build developments, but these come with a little button on the dining table to press for butler service. Amber-scented candles by British brand August & Piers are a welcome change from the normal airport smells of cleaning materials and jet fuel.
There are also some fun touches. The big-budget art on the walls from Banksy and Andy Warhol, created in partnership with British gallery Tanya Baxter Contemporary, is for sale. QR codes next to each piece allow flyers to buy world-class works with a few clicks on their phone.
Unlike the food in most lounges, everything here is cooked to order; the menu is from celebrity chef Jason Atherton. Breakfast features hummus on toast with the spice mixture dukkah, and a combined lunch-and-dinner menu has classic Caesar salad, rigatoni with beef bolognese and other options.
The most popular choice is a fried-chicken sandwich, especially because it travels well if guests want it wrapped up to take on a plane. It’s perfectly crunchy, with a soft, buttery bun and piping hot fries on the side. And yet this menu isn’t hugely different from what’s on offer at, say, Gordon Ramsay Plane Food inside terminal 5.
More distinctive is the tea trolley with British desserts, including Victoria sponge cakes and iced finger buns with sticky icing, that gets ceremoniously rolled around in the afternoons in a little touch of whimsy. The selections pair well with Champagne – Moet and Taittinger are available, as well as sparkling wine from English producer Gusbourne – and tea, of course.
“We thought that was a little old school, but American guests especially get very excited by the tea and cake,” says VIP lead Charlotte Burns.
What the private terminal doesn’t offer are showers and beds, though each suite does have a private bathroom, and the couches are comfy enough for a quick snooze. Burns says there are plans for showers to be installed eventually, though her guests are less concerned with that than with privacy overall.
The common denominator with commoners
When it’s time to board their plane, guests follow the same rules everyone else does when passing through security – no large liquids allowed, and so on – before getting back into those BMW i7s and getting driven down the tarmac to their gate.
“Heathrow is a very big airport. We had just under 84 million passengers last year,” Burns says. “The Windsor is like a sanctuary. You can just turn up, enjoy your food and not have to think about anything because we do it all for you.”
More than anything, the draw is complete privacy, Burns says. “We live in the age of celebrity culture and everything is uploaded all the time. Guests just want to escape from that.”
