BEST AIRPORT LOUNGE

BEST AIRPORT LOUNGE
Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse

The centrepiece of Virgin’s signature Clubhouse is a magnificent 40-foot-long bar from which its crew of 12 professional bartenders dispense some of the best cocktails in London. One of the men behind this largesse is mixologist Marc Plumridge, who claims that “even in central London you would not get this range of cocktails at most bars – and, if you did, you’d be paying £15 a time. Here it’s free.” Well, exotic drinks such as Le Masque, the Original Bacardi Mojito (better than any you’ll find in Havana), the Vesper Martini and, of course, the Virgin Redhead, are indeed free to Virgin Upper Class passengers.
Plumridge is the creator of many of these exotic drinks, and so certain is he of his craft that he is prepared to make the dramatic claim that James Bond was quite wrong. “You don’t shake a martini,” he says, “you stir it. And the perfect temperature is between minus 5.6 and 5.8 degrees.” To prove this point he made a martini for Ultratravel that will remain in the memory and confirms his position as one of the great mixologists.
There is, however, much more to the Clubhouse than classy cocktails. There’s a Bumble & Bumble hair salon and an extensive Cowshed spa – again, all free to Upper Class passengers – as well as an array of pre-flight distractions (pool table, cinema area, spray-tanning booth, a children’s area with a counter crammed with jars of sweets) and a fully-functioning restaurant that serves outstanding breakfasts in the morning and a comprehensive à-la-carte menu through the day. If you are looking for peace, there are silent enclaves in the far corners of the Clubhouse and, if there is not a celebrity party in the house, you can avail yourself of the Sky Lounge upstairs. As Ultratravel readers have noted, the Virgin Clubhouse is run more like a five-star hotel than an airport lounge, and its enthusiastic staff make the experience even more rewarding.