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Great Western Railway First Class Lounge London Paddington

Florian Buechting Other Transportation No Comments

Great Western Railway First Class Lounge Paddington

Great Western Railway First Class Lounge Paddington
4

Rating

 4.0/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Very cozy and nice rear lounge rooms
  • Good access rules
  • Basic snacks provided

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Might be rather crowded
  • Poor directions in the train stations

Travelling to the very last Rock of Ages shows by the British DLAP production company brought me to Swansea in Wales. The trip from Germany is quite a nightmare – due to several buffers you need to include at airports and train stations, I had over 14 hours, door to door. The last leg of the trip was a Great Western Railway First Class train ride from London-Paddington to Swansea Central. Right before I did that right, I had access to their First Class Lounge at London Paddington station. A good opportunity for another lounge review on a rail company.

 

GWR First Class Lounge Paddington – Location & Access

The lounge is located roughly at the middle of platform one. From the main waiting area, you have the nice encounter meeting the Paddington Bear statue before you make it to the GWR First Class Lounge. Overall, the signs to the lounge within the station are rather sparse. There are just few ones around the platform itself.

From Monday to Friday, the lounge is opening at 5:00 and closing at 23:30. On Saturdays, the lounge is already closing at 21:00. Sunday times are 10:00 to 23:30. The rather long times are also due to the fact that GWR night train passengers have access to the lounge if they travel in cabin class. In addition, all First Class passengers (of ordinary trains) may obviously use the lounge as well. Thereby, you may use the lounge at Paddington from two hours before the scheduled departure of your train or until one hour after arrival of it.

 

GWR First Class Lounge Paddington – Atmosphere

The lounge comes with several different rooms. The largest room is the main one. This has mainly a canteen or bistro-alike seating. There are also some work spaces near the window as well as the main buffet. The style of the place is fine. It has been the most popular place during my visits. Unfortunately the WiFi reception has been the worst in the whole lounge right in the work area.

If you pass that main room, you head into two significantly more cozy rooms, with leather sofas and beautiful prints of railroad history. There is also another small buffet, which did not have all items available during my visit. Even though the place was by hardware not as well suited for working as the work desk, I absolutely preferred this part of the lounge. There are some luggage racks around in the lounge.

 

GWR First Class Lounge Paddington – Food & Drink

The catering at the Great Western Railway First Class Lounge in Paddington is limited. There are some cold non-alcoholic drinks as well as tea/coffee machines. During my visit, the food provided were majorly some fruit and biscuits. However, from time to time, the lounge staff walked around the lounge and offered more fancy nibbles, like crisps, hummus and other similar simple snacks.

 

GWR First Class Lounge Paddington – Services

The staff in the lounge was very friendly. There should be a dedicated GWR lounge WiFi, but I could only connect to the free station connection. However, the quality there was at most average. As said, some spots like the working area was rather poor.

As the lounge is also the night train connection to Truro, it also offers showers in two of its toilet. A third toilet does not have what opportunity. Overall, the sanitary area is really nice

 

GWR First Class Lounge Paddington – My View

The GWR First Class Lounge Paddington cannot compete with really posh rail lounges like the Brightline Lounge at Miami Central. But it is offering a solid stay and a good relax before or after your trip. Especially the rear rooms are really nice and worth a visit. The place may be rather crowded, though.

 

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