To be honest, I often feel a bit disappointed with some airlines’ arrival lounges. They aren’t usually as nice as the departure lounges you often see airside. Well thanks to the Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge, my faith in the arrivals lounge has been restored..

We had just arrived from Detroit on VS 108 aboard Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class product. Our flight had been quite the pleasure but even after a delightful flight, I crave the chance to freshen up and ideally take a shower. We were continuing on from London Heathrow to Santorini. But that was booked on a separate British Airways ticket so we had claimed our checked bags from the carousel. We headed through customs and made the quick turn to the left and passed the mass crowds of luggage trolleys to the elevators. The arrivals area outside the baggage carousels in Terminal 3 feels like a madhouse but once you take the elevator up to the lounge level, things quickly calm down.

As you approach the entrance, the automatic doors welcome you into a light and colorful hallways before you turn to the check-in desk. I started to locate my boarding pass but the agent had a full passenger list for all Virgin Atlantic flights. The agent was able to quickly locate our names and give us a quick overview of the lounge services. She offered to schedule spa services for us but I didn’t want to push our time constraints. Would have love to have experience however! It was a pain to tote our checked luggage with us but fortunately the Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge has a handy baggage storage area. The storage area is not locked but there is always an agent standing on watch.

First things first, I wanted to get a refreshing shower. There’s a long hallway with the restrooms, shower suites, and spa suites. The lounge was not busy at all with only about 6 other passengers in the lounge on arrival. There were plenty of shower suites available so I was able to head in right away. The shower suites are spacious with plenty of room to move around and a great low counter space to store your luggage. The color scheme is strictly black and white for a classic style.

The shower suite was very clean and well maintained, I found it to be much nicer than the British Airways Galleries Lounge showers at LHR. There was a nice selection of quality soaps, shampoos, and lotions on the counter and in the shower. However, there were not extras like cotton swabs, toothpaste, or slippers. The shower had great water pressure and the water was plenty hot. I always feel so much better post-long haul flight when I get a good shower in!

After feeling refreshed, I met Chris in the main lounge so we could indulge in a coffee. The Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge is “full-service” in the sense that the staff will take food and drink orders and bring them right to you rather than a self-service buffet. This is such lovely aspect to the Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge that sets it apart from your average airline lounge. Chris ordered an Americano and I opted for a Cafe Latte. Both drinks were excellent. They offered breakfast items but we were still quite full from our big breakfast on our Virgin Atlantic flight.

The lounge itself is quite small but the lounge was never crowded. I don’t believe it was ever more than a quarter full. My guess its there is that most passengers who have cleared customs don’t desire any lounge time since London is their final destination. They may just want to get on with their day. Who knows? Maybe it was just a quiet day. I love the simple red, white,and black color scheme of the lounge. The big comfy red sofas were my favorite place to sit. There are are variety of small tables with chairs and sofas for seating options at this lounge. The lounge isn’t brand-new and it shows it’s age a tad bit but it’s still very nice.

We spent about 45 minutes at the lounge before we decide to start heading out. Since we had to re-check out bags with British Airways and I wanted to check out the Galleries First lounge in Terminal 5. After collecting our checked bags from the front desk, the staff wished us well on our journey.

I have to say that the Virgin Atlantic Revivals Lounge is now probably one of my favorite “Arrivals” lounges. It’s got all the necessary amenities to freshen up post-flight and the full-service attention from the staff is a welcome feature. This lovely lounge experience combined with our great flight from Detroit with Virgin Atlantic only solidified my pleasure for Virgin Atlantic as a brand.