Today I had the pleasure of visiting the Aspire Lounge in T5, which open on Thursday 30 July 2015.

It has about 80 seats, a shower suite, a spa area a comfortable seating area, 2 workbenches (one high, one low), bar and food area, and a set of rest pods. The seating capacity looks to me to be 80 to be comfortably full, so quite small compared to the BA set of lounges. It has a particularly good aspect on the corner of the building and it's hard not to be distracted by the airport's operations though the big glass windows.

Currently the lounge is in a soft opening mode, so at the moment there is no hot food, that starts tomorrow, and the shower suites are not yet in service. Over the next week or so the remaining facilities will be launched - the manager was keen to stress they wanted to do it right even if it takes a bit of time. One staff member is a well known and personable former Concorde Room staff member, he offered to keep a mug behind the bar for me!

The seating area and bar are in the corner of the lounge, the work benches overlook the eastern side under the Flounge terrace, with the pods on the end towards gate 17. The spa and shower suite are between the front entrance and the main seating area.

So for your money you get comfortable seating, a range of hot and cold snacks, wifi, soft and alcoholic drinks. There are a range of premium add-ons available. So showers are £20 for a 30 minute session, spa treatments at £20 for 20 minutes.

For food, hot food such as pasta dishes, buffet snacks, mini pies will be included in the entry, but premium product such as lamb shank will cost extra, around £7 a dish. This is in line with other Aspire lounges.

Cold food, freely available, includes crisps, nuts, biscuits, cakes, croissants, cheese and crackers, scones with Roddas cream. Sandwiches available in include cheese and ham, tuna mayonnaise, smoked salmon. I have to say BaxterStorey's sarnies have the edge here in terms of variety and flavour.

It's a similar situation with drinks. There's a bar (so no free flow alcohol as in the BA lounges), and items such as beer, pinot grigio, prosecco are included in the entry fee. Champagne and other premium wines will attract a charge, in the £8 to £12 area.

The Bliss spa treatments include a full body (clothed) fujitsu massage and facials at £20 for 20 minutes, items such as nail treatment are on their way too.

The pods shown in the photo above are a curtained off day bed arrangement, with TV and a small worksurface, plus power. These are currently free when available - if they become popular this may become a premium service in due course, but a final decision hasn't been taken on that.on

Some Plus Points:
- Comfortable, modern seating, has its own air conditioning tower so the area nearest to it is particularly cool
- Great views
- Plenty of power, range of working environment
- Offers day bed, unlike BA's lounges
- Better and more comprehensive spa facilities and probably easier to get, for a fee
- An alternative to those who like lounges but have no way to get BA status.
- Provides an option for BAEC members with families travelling together.

Some Negatives:
- Expensive on several layers, and tries to eek out as much additional margin that it can find
- Doesn't offer much extra to Silver card holders, not a massive step up from the Club lounges
- Fairly limited food and drink offering, in line with other UK Aspire lounges. However Moretti lager is on draught and Prosecco served free from the bar
- No centrally provided PCs (these are surprisingly popular features of the BA lounges)
- No WCs inside the lounge.

I didn't get the see the shower suite, it will be open later this week.

In summary, this is pitched above the Galleries Club level, but below Flounge / CCR. Hot food is available but it's fairly limited in range and some items are chargeable. The alcohol isn't free flow, but is readily available. There is a high staffing quotient so the place will be keep tidy and customer focused. So for someone without status and not travelling Club or above, or just wanting a change of scenery, this is very valuable addition to T5's range of services. Because of the cost, restricted facilities and size constraints I doubt BA will be too worried about any impact on Silver cardholders however.

[Disclaimer: this was a freebie]