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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
This lounge is a little old-school and is the least open and airy out of the Star Alliance lounges. The food is tasty here and I love the tended bar, though don't expect barista coffee |
4.0
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During my Star Alliance lounge milk run, I visited the Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge at Heathrow Airport, located by the B-gates in Terminal 2. At Heathrow Airport, there are an array of lounges that you can visit when flying out in a Star Alliance premium cabin (or with status). In previous installments I reviewed the Lufthansa lounge and the United Club, and now I’ll be reviewing the Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge – in the next review I’ll review the Air Canada lounge, which is situated next door.
The Singapore Airlines lounge had the strongest food and beverage offering, with a full tended bar and international food and beverage offerings (though no barista coffee). The lounge also doesn’t tend to get as crowded as the Lufthansa lounge and the United Club. However, some may find the lounge to feel a little claustrophobic, and it’s not the biggest lounge in the world.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Access and Opening Hours
The Singapore Airlines lounge at Heathrow Airport is open from 5:30 AM until 10 PM, covering a vast majority of departures at Heathrow Airport. The only flights that miss out are some of the 6 AM flights that leave to Zurich, Frankfurt, Munich, Warsaw, and Vienna.
Access is opening to the following guests:
- Star Alliance business class passengers (regardless of destination – shorthaul passengers can use this lounge)
- Star Alliance Gold members, including KrisFlyer Gold and PPS members
- Virgin Atlantic Gold and Virgin Australia Velocity Gold/Platinum members flying Singapore Airlines – this is unique to this lounge (i.e. they can’t access the United Club or Air Canada lounge)
You can’t buy access to this lounge.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Location
The Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge at London Heathrow is located in the B-gates area of Heathrow’s Terminal 2. Once you pass through immigration, head downstairs into the main area, and follow the signage to gates B31-B49. While Heathrow Terminal 2 has very long walking times for a relatively new airport terminal, I find signage throughout the terminal to be quite good.
London Heathrow Terminal 2 Signage
While you’ll see signage estimating the walk at 17 minutes, in reality most people will be able to do the walk in a shorter time than that, especially with the moving travellators throughout Terminal 2. Realistically the actual time to travel between the A-gates and B-gates took just under 10 minutes for me. That time can add up, though, especially if you’re just looking to lounge hop before your flight from the A-gates.
Hallway to B-gates at Heathrow Terminal 2
While the B-gates has a much smaller retail selection, you’ll find a majority of the Star Alliance lounges here. Most longhaul flights (including all widebody flights) leave from the B-gates, and the quality of the lounges in this part of the terminal reflects this.
Signs to lounges at Heathrow Terminal 2
While the United Club is located at Lounge B1, the Singapore Airlines and Air Canada lounges are located in a separate complex, adjacent to one another. These are labelled lounges B2 and B3 (the Singapore Airlines lounge is Lounge B2, whereas the Air Canada lounge is Lounge B3).
Signage to Singapore Airlines and Air Canada lounges at Heathrow Airport
Indeed, the two lounge entrances are a few metres away from each other, so just follow the signage towards the Singapore Airlines lounge (located by the right of the lift lobby, when you’re coming out of the lift).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Entrance
The Singapore Airlines lounge actually has a first class section, though I didn’t have access to this. Instead, I’ll be reviewing the business class section, which is accessible by turning right after the lounge attendant checks you in.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow business class entrance
Walk down the hallway, and you’ll find where the majority of the lounge is located (the coffee/overflow room is located somewhere along this hallway, which I’ll cover later).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating and Atmosphere
Once I walked into the Singapore Airlines lounge at Heathrow Airport, I was greeted with the restaurant section, with many tables laid out restaurant-style.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating
The colour tones here are grey and beige, with grey wood finishes (there were also Lunar New Year decorations up at this time, since we were just coming out of that season when I visited the lounge). The finishes teetered on the dated side for me, though I found the upkeep to be good.
This area mainly featured benches with chairs, as well as a communal area in the middle. This area had the sparsest access to power ports.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating
Once I walked further in to the lounge it opened up into a larger lounging section, featuring a wider variety of seating.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating
While the colour scheme doesn’t feel too modern, I do quite like the partitions laid out throughout the lounge, which break the space up a bit (the way the pods sit in the middle of the room also gives some privacy, due to the high walls).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating
The centrepiece of seating were these working pods, which are signature throughout Singapore Airlines’ lounges. These are cubicles complete with charging ports and a large desk, which I sat in for a majority of my stay. They’re fairly comfortable to work in, though the pillow is a great help to getting comfortable.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Pods
Then to the side you’ll find a continuation of the restaurant-style seating, which presumably adds a bit of capacity during busy periods, as well as giving a space to work if you don’t manage to nab one of the cubicles.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating
Then you’ll also find some armchairs. These armchairs weren’t hugely comfortable, though at least there was good access to power ports.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Armchairs
Then near the back of the room was a more intimate setup for tables.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Seating
While the decor was a little dated for my liking, I was happy with the range of seating available at the lounge. There also isn’t a ton of natural light, though you will find floor-to-ceiling windows near the main seating area.
WiFi was fast enough for most tasks, and measured 43 Mbps down and 40 Mbps up.
There were a few forms of seating that I would’ve hoped for. Firstly, I would’ve been a more relaxed communal setup – if you want to sit together as a family, you were limited to some of the individual armchairs, or one of the tables. Loveseats or an L-shaped sofa are usually a bit more well set up for that purpose. Secondly, there wasn’t much of an option to nap or relax for an extended period of time – some of the other lounges had daybeds, which I would’ve liked to see here.
Lastly, while the pods were quite well set up for working, I felt like I marginally preferred the desk sizes and work setups available at the Lufthansa and United lounges. I’m nitpicking because you’re generally spoilt for choice here – obviously it’s also a moot point when those two lounges are busy.
I do also think that the other lounges at the airport are a little brighter and airier.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Food and Beverage
The Singapore Airlines lounge may rank last in terms of how nice the space is designed, though I definitely thoroughly enjoyed the food and beverage here (it was also very good at the Air Canada lounge). You’ll find the food spread located by the end of the hallway leading into the lounge, so fairly near to the entrance.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Buffet
Cold options here featured an enticing onion, tomato, and rocket salad, as well as some fresh fruit and yoghurt. There was also some charcuterie and juice shots on offer.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
Western hot options for breakfast consisted of sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, and baked beans. There were also hash browns under a hot plate (not pictured below).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
In terms of Asian options, there was just nasi lemak. However, this nasi lemak was spectacular. The chicken was so tender, the rice was scented with coconut, everything was so flavourful, and there was sambal, peanuts, boiled eggs, and cucumber to boot as well.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
While I typically plan my meals at airline lounges (so not to overeat), I may have had a couple of plates of these – so good.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Nasi Lemak – yum!
Additionally, there was a pastry corner, featuring a few more pastries, muffins, and juices.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
There were also soft drinks on offer, on top of a couple of wines. Beers included Tiger beer, which I was happy to see (despite not availing myself before 6 AM in the morning).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Drinks
The one thing this lounge doesn’t offer is barista coffee. The coffee machines aren’t bad, though I would’ve preferred barista coffee (the adjacent Air Canada lounge does offer barista coffee).
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Coffee Machine
I appreciate that I might like the food here because there’s an Asian option, and it caters to my personal tastes. However, the lounge’s Western selection was as good as the other lounges I’d visited so far offered. I just liked that there was a diversity of options, which obviously is partially to do with the lounge’s operating carrier and demographic (then again, the Lufthansa lounge didn’t have pretzel bread, so…)
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Coffee Room (?)
Upon entering the lounge, if you decided not to enter through the main part of the lounge, there was a little seating area with a coffee machine and some drinks. Presumably this would’ve served as an overflow area if the lounge was really busy, though I never saw anyone sit here.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Coffee Room
There were soft drinks here, as well as the same coffee machine you can find near the food spread.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Coffee and Soft Drinks
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Bar
The Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge at Heathrow Airport features a fully tended bar, which you’ll find by the main seating area once you’re past the food spread and restaurant area.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Bar
Unlike Singapore Airlines’ hub lounge at their home airport, this lounge features cocktails round the clock – there’s certainly more of a focus on alcohol than caffeine here! There were seven cocktails to choose from and one mocktail, and I’d guess that the bartender may be able to whip up other drinks as well.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Bar Menu
Despite the early morning, I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have a Singapore Sling. I was a fan, and also loved the glassware it was served in.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Singapore Sling
There are definitely worse ways to start off your morning than with a delicious nasi lemak and a Singapore Sling!
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Showers
The Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge features four shower rooms on the business class side, which are located by the back of the lounge.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Shower Rooms
While I didn’t shower here, I had the opportunity to peek into one of the shower rooms. This was the accessible shower room, so would’ve been set up a bit differently – I did like the rainforest showerhead, though.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Shower Rooms
Much like the neighbouring United lounge, this lounge featured Gilchrist and Soames Zero% toiletries.
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow Shower Room Amenities
It’s worth noting that the lounge staff member manning the toilets was nowhere to be found. In this case I just had a peek into an open shower room, though I would’ve appreciated if these rooms were more attentively manned by lounge staff (I appreciate it was very early in the morning). Everyone I did interact with at the lounge was friendly and eager to provide a good experience, though.
Conclusion: Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge London Heathrow
The Singapore Airlines lounge was refurbished a couple of years ago in 2024, though I felt like they were a bit aged for my liking. Despite this, I enjoyed my time at the Singapore Airlines lounge, and thought it’d be a good option to spend some time before a Star Alliance flight. The food and beverage was my favourite out of the lounges, particularly because of the diversity of food options, as well as the tended bar.
I wouldn’t hesitate to spend time across the Singapore Airlines and Air Canada lounges, since they’re literally right next to each other at Heathrow Airport. The Air Canada lounge is prettier, features better shower rooms, and has barista coffee, whereas I prefer the food and tended bar here (the Air Canada lounge has a major caveat, though – stay tuned).
What’s your favourite Star Alliance lounge at Heathrow Airport?
