Terminal 5

For something different on Saturday, Kristy and I gave up our sleep in, and instead trucked out to The Renaissance Hotel to be briefed for our day at Heathrow Terminal 5. Yep, we signed up to be test bunnies for the new airport terminal, just so we could have ourselves a gander inside before it opens to the general public.

Unfortunately, for some reason we weren’t allowed to take photos inside, so I had to rip this one from their website. It’s taken from the balcony just beyond the main security checkpoint, looking down onto the floor where there’s a bunch of food outlets and seating.

As far as airport terminals go, we were rather impressed! Firstly, there was a huge variety of food – and not just those crazy restaurants that you only see in airports; they had normal stuff too, like Pret a Manager, Eat, Costa, and Giraffe – even a yoghurt bar! Gordan Ramsey has even opened a restaurant there. Best of all, from what I saw on the menus, the prices aren’t over-inflated above the norm – a small latte at Costa was £2.05, the same as what I’d pay at Victoria.

Secondly, all the bathrooms are “no touch”, which is fantastic given the number of times I see people walk out without washing their hands (yuk!).

Of course, the day was not without its drawbacks; we were stuck there for about four hours, running through various scenarios – from passengers trying to find/board their flights, to incoming passengers, and transferring passengers. By about the third scenario, it was getting a little old. What’s more, it wasn’t fantastically organised – at one point we got stuck waiting for instructions for about half an hour, as there had been a miscommunication somewhere along the line, and we hadn’t been given our new scenarios.

But, you take the good with the bad, and by “good” I mean we got a little gift bag for our troubles. OK, it’s not exactly great payment for giving up our Saturday, but it came with a worldwide travel adapter, a luggage tag, a passport holder, and a pen – so at least they’re things that we can use.