The one and only, here's The Gateway easyJet's only lounge is at London Gatwick

I have to admit. I had completely forgotten about the existence of this lounge which had been announced in the middle of the covid period. In my partial defense I should also add that I don't remember flying with the company orange, let alone by London Gatwick. The last time I passed through this airport. I had arrived with JetBlue from New York, but then I had headed to London Heathrow to return to Italy.

This time, however because of the Lufthansa strike. I had to change my plans and to return to Milan Linate the best solution I found was precisely the low-cost airline founded by Greek/Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

Location

Lounges in the north terminal of London Gatwick Airport. Are all located in the same area, but in different planes.

When flying aboard low-cost airlines, but not only, you should always make sure of the maximum size of the hand luggage, especially traveling with some light suitcases avoids getting into unpleasant situations or not porter boarding an extra pant to avoid exceeding the allowed weight.

Contrary to what you might think this is not a secondary airport, British Airways flies here in addition to British Airways, Emirates flies here every day with the A380, but so many airlines fly here that they cannot increase connections over the overcrowded Heathrow.

This however, it is also the home of easyJet, just as Ryanair took Standset, EU made Gatwick its main hub in London.

The hall is located on the store floor, while Emirates' is one level below and Plaza Premium is one floor above. Impossible not to see it because the directions to the lounges are very clear and the entrance is open to the terminal corridor.

Access

It is an easyJet lounge, but open to everyone in fact it is part of the Priority Pass network. Therefore, one does not necessarily have to travel low-cost to gain access, although I imagine that loyal passengers of the company or those who buy a "premium" ticket may have free access.

I arrived and as in any other lounge in the world I showed PP card and boarding pass. Unlike the "cold" and aloof approach of any lounge, they asked me if this was my first visit and then explained what this lounge offered.

The lounge

The first thing you notice is at the entrance, there is no reception. The staff at the door greets you as if you were in a restaurant, processing the paperwork and inviting you to find a seat.

The lounge is aesthetically very beautiful, tastefully decorated with beautiful shades. It doesn't feel like a lounge, rather it feels like a lobby of a designer hotel.

Adding to the magic was the sunrise that illuminated the entire room with beautiful light. Those who read my reviews know what criteria I use to evaluate a waiting room, and this one had them all in the right place.

Beautiful stained glass windows and lots of natural light, too bad only that the view is over nothing or almost nothing, but you can't have everything in life.

Me I took a seat in the most hidden, and quiet, area of the lounge. The only small room physically separated from the rest of the open space. A nice big couch all to myself and away from the noisiest and busiest area.

I have to say that this is one of the best independent lounges I've ever been to, and you can tell that there is more care given by the presence (I have no idea how cumbersome) of easyJet.

Different types of seating, many outlets, and really a mix of solutions that can please everyone. The shortcoming is really the choice of sofas and seats that can accommodate more than one person, which reduces the capacity of the room itself.

The other flaw is that too many staff cannot clean up the tables fast enough.

Food & Beverage

The buffet area is distributed, cleverly, on the side opposite the glass window, a perfect way to use an otherwise unusable space without sacrificing important square meters with other solutions.

The offerings, at breakfast, range from a pancake churning machine (which was broken), to a dispenser of melted cheese to spread over a basket of nachos.

Obviously can't miss the classic English breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. Without forgetting, however, that there is drinking at any hour here, so from the beer tap, to the bottled wine on ice, there is everything.

A real bartender is missing, there are only two express machines pre the hot drinks, and they are not even of high quality, however considering that we are in an independent lounge the offerings are of quality.

Kids corner

I have no idea whether this small artificial fence is designed for children or for eternal children, but anyway there is a beautiful table soccer and a small air field hockey rink, a perfect place to have fun with friends before takeoff.

In conclusion

Really beautiful lounge and kudos to easyJet for this choice to offer a similar product, no other low-cost in Europe has something similar and in the world I can only think of Bangkok Airways and a little bit AirAsia, the latter however has dedicated spaces inside lounges of others, and it is not quite the same. My only note is the suggestion to add at least one person to improve the service and cleanliness of the lounge.

I wonder why easyJet doesn't open something like this to the terminal 2 at Malpensa. It would be appreciated and would definitely bring in extra money for the company.

• Priority Pass