NOT MY NUMBER ONE

The British Airways lounge at Gatwick has always been the poor relation to Heathrow, and the food offerings extremely limited. However, at least it had sandwiches, a proper afternoon tea with scones, clotted cream and jam, and a full bar to help yourself to, including champagne in First class.

Now that the Gatwick facility has closed down, BA has offered us access to the No 1 lounge. While it looks more modern and inviting, it is open to anyone who pays an entry fee and, therefore, can get extremely busy with an overspill area in another smaller room nearby.

On my visit in January, the No 1 lounge was so packed that it was hard to find a seat, and the bar was surrounded by people clamouring to order. Soft drinks are available from a machine, but alcohol has to be given to you by a barman; champagne costs £8 for a glass. Very small food portions are available (again you have to queue at the bar to order) and if you want something else then each item is £4.

Unlike the refined BA lounge, this was like Wetherspoons on a busy Saturday night. There were some salad offerings and cakes to help yourself to, but no sandwiches at any time and no afternoon tea.

Also, as a single traveller and because of the layout of the lounge, it was not safe to leave any personal items at the table, which meant having to take everything with me to the bar. In the BA lounge, I always felt comfortable leaving things unattended.

I feel that BA could do better with the temporary lounge. I now understand that the opening of its new one has been pushed back even further into 2017, so I shall be avoiding Gatwick as much as possible.