When I was searching for cheap tickets for our crazy German-Chinese-French itinerary over Christmas break, I stumbled across a semi-affordable fare for the US-Europe-US part of the trip. The reason it was about $200-$300 cheaper than the rest of them? Probably the fact that there was a 5 hour and 30 minute layover in London Heathrow on the way to Germany. We have to watch what we spend on tickets, so we went with it. Luckily we flew so much last year that we achieved gold status in our main frequent flyer program (One Pass from Continental). Some of you have probably heard me mention on Facebook what I think the biggest perk of that is: access to Star Alliance lounges on international flights. And the one I found in London has been the best so far: bmi Great British Lounge. It’s really nicely decorated and feels like a living room in some areas. They also have a nice selection of food and drinks, clean bathrooms and showers, and of course the obligatory free wifi. But what really made this one stand out was the day bed area. They actually have three day beds in the back! It’s semi-quiet and you can see planes arrive and depart if you’re not tired enough to nap. We hadn’t slept much on the flight, so we were able to nap for a few hours 
After a nice breakfast I blew up the pillow of my Snuz Sac, wrapped myself in my jacked and the Snuz blanket, put my eye mask on, and slept for a good 2 hours.
It really made the arrival in Cologne much nicer since we actually were much less tired than usual and had enough energy to check out my sister’s favorite local Italian restaurant that same night. As nice as the lounge was, the sinks in the bathrooms were a little weird: one tap for hot (really, really hot!), one tap for cold (really, really cold!), and no way to mix them SMART!
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All sinks used to be like that, and now I realize I’ve become an “old fart.”
Cheers.
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They really were? I’ve been talking to my brother-in-law and he said the reason for that is some kind of bacteria that doesn’t survive in cold water, dies in hot water, but thrives in lukewarm. Not sure how true this is, but it could be an explanation…
Oh, England – we cannot understand the two faucets AT ALL!! No matter if you’re in a brand new building or in an old one, there are still always two faucets. Is there anything more impractical?
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I know! Except for taking a bath where you can just let them mix in the tub there’s really no point… especially since the hot water is so scalding that you can’t use it at all. As I wrote above, my English brother-in-law explained that it has to do with this bacteria – supposedly. But then why does it work with just one faucet in all other countries?
I guess you are supposed to mix the water in the basin, even to wash your hands. Dunno. There seem to be 800 different types of taps that mix the water. Doesn’t seem that hard. And I don’t buy the bacteria argument. Cold or Hot would kill it sure, but if you mix it right at the point it comes out of the faucet, there isnt really any lukewarm for it to live in. And really if you leave the hot alone for a whlie in the winter, it is lukewarm or cold for the first few seconds anyway.
Those lounges look great. I dunno if I will ever fly enough to use them, but I really would have loved to in Hong Kong.
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I totally agree with you. If so many countries manage to not have the bacteria problem and still let you mix water before it hits your hand, then why can’t the British? Or maybe it was just one of these “design won over usefulness” kind of things after all?
We’ve only ever reached gold status once and made use of the lounges last year for the first time. I never thought it would make that much of a difference in comfort level when travelling abroad… Unfortunately, you really have to fly a lot and I doubt we’ll reach it again anytime soon.
Hi Sabrina,
I don’t know why the British still have those faucets in so many places. Maybe it’s just like as tghe people in Cologne say, “Ett ess ald ömmer esu jewääse.” What, except for the fact that there are different faucets for hot and cold water, annoys me, too, is that the faucets are that short so that you can’t get more than just half your hand under the stream of water.
Your description of the lounge sounds great. Unfortunately I don’t travel enough to get to gold status, or rather frequent flyer, as Lufthansa calls it.
Best regards,
Pit
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I hate when the length of the faucets prevents easy use as well. This happens a lot with the new designs (of old-looking) sinks that are more like a bowl. Know which ones I mean. Design shouldn’t trump usability…
As I said, I rarely fly enough to be a frequent flyer either. The more I enjoyed last year’s perks! It’ll be difficult to get back to non-frequent flyer status this year.