The Plaza Premium Lounge in London Heathrow T4 is a quiet, nicely-appointed lounge with an excellent buffet and comfortable seating.
If you’re flying out of Terminal 4 at London Heathrow holding a Priority Pass, you might be tempted to head directly to the SkyTeam lounge, which is just past the security checkpoint. That is also a good lounge — no question about it — but if you’re willing to walk a bit further, the Plaza Premium lounge offers a similar level of comfort without the crowd.
You might confuse the entrance to the lounge for a Qatar Airways lounge. Don’t. They are both in the same place, but two distinct lounges.
As you enter the Plaza Premium lounge you can head left for a bar area or right for the main seating and dining area. With strategically-placed skylights and plenty of natural light, the lounge is brightly lit.
If you’re tired, there are not sleeping rooms, but there are reclining chairs in a darkened room available.
Plaza Premier London Heathrow T4 Dining
The buffet has a wide selection of food, both hold and hot. It also looked fresh. Looks can certainly be deceiving, but it is usually easy to spot something that has been sitting out for too long.
There is also plenty of seating in the dining area.
On the other side of the lounge, the bar includes alcohol and light snacks.
I do have one compliant. You’ll notice the bar includes is a nice coffee machine:
Over at the Plaza Premium Lounge in T2, I enjoyed a nice handmade cappuccino that turned out far better than a machine-dispensened one. Here, there were several employees standing around doing nothing (after all, the lounge was practically empty). I asked for a cappuccino and one of the lounge staff directed me to the machine. I led him back to the “real” machine and asked if I could have one.
STAFF: “No sir, only the machine is available.”
ME: “Well is the machine just there for decoration?”
STAFF: “Oh no sir, but right now it is closed.”
ME: ” Can I make it myself? I know how to work it.”
STAFF: “Oh no sir.”
Whatever, it was just a cup of coffee, but the only lounge that has decent coffee in the terminal is the Etihad lounge.
Lastly, let note restrooms are clean and showers are available.
CONCLUSION
One thing the SkyTeam lounge has that the Plaza Premium lounge does not have is a spa. When I was in the SkyTeam lounge, I was even offered a 20-minute treatment for free. But this is a very nice Priority Pass lounge. I still wouldn’t show up early for it, but it’s a great place to wait for your flight. The lounge is open daily from 5:ooa.m. to 10:30p.m. Your Priority Pass card gives you three hours of access.
So I have to ask – how exactly do these lounges with time limits actually enforce them? The only one I’ve been to with one is the KAL lounge at LAX, which only accepts PP until 7:30 PM. I ended up “overstaying” by about an hour, but nobody came by to look for me and kick me out or anything. Does the Plaza Premium just not allow you to enter more than 3 hours before boarding time or something?