No 1 Lounge seems to be one the the most inappropriately named lounges in history. I have travelled the globe, and sat in lounges on every continent, and apart from a post-Covid Delta lounge in the US, this is the most uncomfortable place I have ever visited.

These lounges used to be pretty good. Hard to get in to, but not unpleasantly full, with a good selection of food and drinks. Today, it is rammed to the gills, with no spare seats, with all the relaxation of a Sunday Unlimited Prosecco Brunch on a hen weekend.

What is particularly annoying is that I had to pay to come in here, as a voucher I had from Amex to cover the reservation fee didn’t work, even after a 30 minute call with Priority Pass (cue tiny violin)

In the interests of fairness, I pushed past the scrum around the bar (this is 7.30 in the morning on a Thursday in December), to try the buffet. The food selection was reasonable on the face of it, with the usual full English in vats, croissants, coffee and some yoghurt and fruit compote. The fruit was a little astringent, and the yoghurt fun or fat free (hard to tell). Bacon was fine, mushrooms good, beans very much at the non-Heinz end of the spectrum, and the sausage was more tree than meat. So a pretty mixed bag and not “No 1”. Oh, and the coffee tasted of fish. Even Starbucks are cutting back on unusual ingredients in their coffee (Olive oil finally proving you can’t put a Starbucks label on something, call it “coffee” and actually make people buy it), so maybe No 1 can lose the anchovy sauce.

The “My Lounge” next door looked brighter, less full, and doesn’t need booking. Can’t help feeling it’s a more relaxing way to start a week away.

Rating: 1.5/5

No. 1 Lounge Gatwick North: https://no1lounges.com