After all these years or bashing the aspire BHX I notice to my shock that there is no review yet! So lo and behold:
Name of the lounge
Aspire BHX (main)
Location
BHX, after the duty free on the left
Opening Hours
4.30-20.30. closed 25th Dec
Entry requirements
Skyteam biz or elite+, priority pass, paid access for something like £25
Food offer
Small Hot buffet, small desserts buffet, salad bar
Drinks offer
Soft drinks free serve, alcohol (beer, wine and bottom shelf liquor) served at bar.
The beer is sometimes a little cold, sometimes lukewarm. Champagne and prosecco are paid drinks.
Services
Wifi: yes, fast and reliable
Showers: no
Toilets: no (1mns walk outside, in main hall)
Quiet zone: Yes, reserved for biz/elite pax
Loungers/sleep area: no
Business area: same as quiet area
Spa: lol
TV area: (not sure)
Passengers are called: no
Information screen: yes
Newspapers: no
Other information
Number of seats: ~100
Level of noise: medium
Design: old and run down
View: yes, nice view on tarmac and runway
Multi floors: no
Terrace: no
Smoking area: no
Direct boarding: no
The worst lounge in BHX, and possibly in the UK. Filthy floors and crumb laiden seats are a frequent occurence.
The lounge is consistently busy with paid guests, who can get quite noisy. On the + side the quiet area near the entrance is exclusive for biz+elites. That area is just a bit nicer but is still quite filthy. Note that star alliance use the same lounge, so yoi can't escape!
The staff do what they can, and they are friendly and helpful. I was grateful to see them turn down some priority pass guests so even though the regular lounge was full the biz section was kept fairly empty.
(Note that if you are hoping to enter this fine establishment using PP you're almost guaranteed to get turned down as it's always busy)
There are 3 other lounges in BHX, the Aspire south which you can also use; it is less run down, less busy and therefore less bad, but it closes very early and is a long walk away from the skyteam gates.
The number one lounge is also a PP lounge and to be honest it's a lot nicer, to the point where I would consider paying to get in, if I had a long time to kill. Really sad that AFKL wont fork the extra £5 like they do in MAN... Final lounge is emirates so obv very restricted. I can only imagine it's fairly decent.
Used mugs and breadcrumbs on seats are there to welcome you (the staff eventually cleared the mugs but the crumbs were left in state)
Dirty bowls by the dozen. Also the cuttlery rack is still the same one that gave me a splinter back in 2019 causing me to bleed (which I had promptly reported to them AND to kl)
The business/quiet area.
Desert and coffee
Hot buffet (sausage, mac and cheese, mash, veg) not really special
Salad bar
Alcohol station