Now With a Nice Kids Area: British Airways Galleries South

~ Chris Wada

The British Airways Galleries South lounge is a large business class lounge in London Heathrow airport that offers a great kids area.

Escalator up to the British Airways Galleries South lounge

This post now reflects the remodeled kids room and edits to other information.

Location of the British Airways Galleries South lounge

The British Airways Galleries lounge is located in London-Heathrow (LHR) Terminal 5. As the name implies, it’s located on the South end of Terminal 5, around where the British Airways Concorde Room and First Class lounge are. The Galleries South lounge is on the fourth floor while both first class lounges are on the third floor. While the first class passengers have direct access to the complex of lounges directly via security, business class and economy passengers will likely clear security at the North end of the terminal.

Transit passengers may need to take a bus to come to Terminal 5. If they do, they will end up clearing security at the North end as well.

As an alternative, those who have access to the Galleries South lounge will also have access to the Galleries North lounge. On average, we found that lounge more crowded but it could be more convenient.

Standing outside the entrance to the lounge

Access rules

British Airways has several different levels of lounges. The British Airways Galleries South lounge is a business class lounge. The following guests have access to this lounge:

  • First class customers on any oneworld airline (access for passenger + 1 guest from a flight operated and marketed by a oneworld airline)
  • Business class customers on any oneworld airline (no guests) flying to any destination
    • However, there is an exception for “business light” fares from Qatar or Finnair — neither permit lounge access
  • oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members (access for passenger + 1 guest from a flight operated and marketed by a oneword airline)

This lounge is open from 5AM to 10PM daily.

Entrance to the British Airways Galleries South lounge

Seating at the British Airways Galleries South lounge

This lounge felt bigger than the Galleries North lounge and there are more seats to accommodate passengers. There is also a room here that intends to offer a more private movie-watching experience but I don’t think it works out quite as well as intended. It would have been nicer if they had recliners and audio throughout the section. Instead, everyone seemed to drag their seats to the front where a news channel was played.

Seating in the lounge
Movie-like area

The food

As referenced in the Galleries First post, the food here is sourced from the same kitchen. As a result, almost everything in the buffet is a duplicate between the two lounges. It did seem though that food was refreshed more frequently in the business class lounge than in the first class lounge, at least based on my experience in both lounges. How you perceive the food being consistent between the first and business class lounges is dependent on your angle.

Thinking of it as business class customers get the same buffet food that first class customers get might be encouraging for business class customers. However, it’s arguably more of a disappointment for first class customers–though they can order additional food off a menu.

Bottles of wine

Most flavors in the afternoon are tailored to adult tastes. You might struggle to find something blander for the kids if here outside of breakfast.

Quinoa, couscous, and vegetable dishes at buffet
Quinoa, couscous, and vegetables
Salad at buffet
Salads
Hot items at buffet
Rice, potatoes, meat pies, and chicken balti
Juices at buffet
Bread and juices

If you’re here for breakfast, you’ll find everything you need for an English breakfast. Is it stereotypical of them to have this in the morning? Yes, but it’s also British Airways. What were you expecting? Dim sum and porridge?

Breakfast from the buffet

Drinks

There are plenty of drinks in this well-stocked business class lounge. Everything in the British Airways Galleries South lounge is self-service. In some ways, that’s good if you’re looking to make a drink your way. Others might be disappointed there is no bartender to make what you request.

Champagne bar (self-service)
Champagne bar
Hard liquor (self-service)
Spirits and mixers

Not everything needs to be alcoholic. In the back of the lounge on either side, you’ll find the stations with plenty of coffee. Why is the coffee in the back but the alcoholic drinks are in the front? Priorities, I suppose.

Coffee area

Kids room — now refreshed

Let’s do a little before-and-after of the kids room here so you can see the change yourself. When we were here in 2023, this is what the lounge looked like. There was a cute model plane in the back for kids to sit in, but clearly everything was just intended for toddlers.

Kids area (old)

The rest of the lounge was a couple of rockers, some books, and a few toys.

Kids area (old)

And now just take a look at the difference. They’ve added in a foosball table in the center of the kids area and then lined the room with toys that will entertain kids of all ages (even adults too). Even the picture on the wall has the animals removed but the airplane and airport still remain.

Kids area (new)

And to be sure, they still have rockers and slides in here for the toddlers (or former toddlers who still are one at heart).

Kids area (new)

And in that corner where the large plane used to be? A PS5, of course. The kids room here is much upgraded from before though the footprint of the space is the same size. While before it felt like kids were more of an afterthought, they seem to finally have started paying attention to the kids.

PS5 console in kids area

We haven’t yet checked out the Galleries North lounge to see if the equipment there changed, but that kids area is smaller. They’re probably not going to have all the room to fit in the same stuff they have here. So, if you have kids, you’ll probably be best off coming to this lounge unless there are crowding issues.

Showers

The showers at the Galleries South lounge are a bit inconvenient. They are not located within the lounge but rather downstairs in between the Galleries First and The Concorde Room lounges. To access, you’ll need to leave the Galleries South lounge, head down the escalator, and check in at the dedicated shower desk. Yeah, the First Class lounge has to do the same thing by exiting the lounge to use it but at least it’s on the same floor for them.

To join the waitlist for a shower, there should be a QR code at your table for you to scan. From there, you can check on whether a shower is available. Make sure you bring your boarding pass with you as you’ll need it to regain entry to the lounge.

Shower reservation system
Check-in desk for showers

Once you get your shower assignment, you’ll find quite a large number of showers. If there’s one thing I have to give British Airways credit for, it’s the fact that they have so many shower stalls. Far too often, it feels like airlines underestimate exactly how many guests need a shower.

Line of shower stalls

That’s where the accolades stop. Once the door opens, you’ll find that same train quality shower you’ve come to love expect with British Airways.

Train-like quality of the shower room

I’m not sure why all of their lounge showers at LHR have to look this way. Even the Concorde Room–a lounge dedicated to their own first class customers–has this same design. They can put all the effort into making the rest of the lounge look nice, but feel no need to modify these showers.

Industrial look of the shower room

Even the sign posted is a bit faded…

Faded sign

Stepping into the shower, the controls feel anything but intuitive. One wrong turn of a handle or knob might send water unexpectedly shooting your way.

Shower controls

Service

It’s probably a bit tough to interact with staff here given how self-service the lounge is. Having no bartender makes it harder to find someone to chat with. And most of the employees are just going to be there to fill up the buffet or drink stations or clean the lounge.

But if you do get a chance to chat, you might want to. In our experiences here, the staff servicing the lounge have been charming. One of them was interested in learning kung fu from our kids. Another went out of her way to chat with us, and specifically the children. She seemed thrilled to see kids and made a real effort to get the kids to come out of their shells and talk with her (it didn’t work). We’ve always seen the staff with a smile on their face, so it’s good to know that happy people are working the lounge here.

Recommendation: Yes

Having been to three British Airways lounges here recently, I feel it’s best to sum them up in this way:

  • Galleries South (this lounge): best if you’re looking for a larger space or have children (for the likely-superior kids room)
  • Galleries North: best for transit passengers as it’s closest to the transit security and if you’re looking to have a shower (without needing to inconveniently leave the lounge)
  • Galleries First: assuming you have access, it’s best if you’re looking for a quiet space for a nap or want made-to-order food from the kitchen (from the few selections available)

It has been a while since we’ve been to The Concorde Room (back in 2014) and I know there have been changes since we last went, so I won’t comment on how that lounge compares to the others.

It seems a bit excessive to have so many lounges here at Terminal 5. There are a lot of flights here and all business class passengers do have access. So this lounge will likely be perpetually crowded but it’s worth a visit especially if you have kids with you.

Have you been to any of the British Airways Galleries lounges before?

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One thought on “Now With a Nice Kids Area: British Airways Galleries South”

  1. I don’t like kids but in their defense of your comment “Note that most flavors are tailored to adult tastes. You might struggle to find something blander for the kids.”, I have to say that some kids have developed palettes to differentiate good from bad food. I know that firsthand.

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