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I received an email before Christmas offering me a complimentary Virgin East Coast First Class Lounge pass. You can find the First Class Lounges at railway stations up and down the East Coast Mainline, including: Edinburgh, Berwick, Darlington, Newcastle, Leeds, Wakefield, Doncaster and London.

As I was passing anyway, I thought I’d pop in and check out the Virgin East Coast First Class Lounge in Leeds. Note that lounge in Leeds is located before you pass through the ticket checking machines to the platforms.

The first thing to say is that if you’re used to luxurious airport lounges, you’re going to have to downgrade your expectations considerably! There is no £100 champagne (or complimentary alcohol of any kind), restaurant quality dining or spa treatments… Instead, you’ll find a relatively peaceful place to have a sit down, charge your electronics and maybe grab a quick soft drink and snack.

I ended up visiting several times over the period of a few weeks and each time it was very quiet and relaxing away from the manic rush of people outside in the station.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Lounge. As you can see there are plenty of comfy seats to choose from:

There are charge points on the tables for all your technological needs, which worked well when I tried them, and were great for my son, as he could use his tablet without draining the battery.

There is a ticket machine as well, which is handy.

It is definitely a fairly basic lounge for drinks and eats. There is a hot drinks machine and usually a selection of biscuits to choose from. You can also get cold water from a separate machine too.

Apples, crisps, orange juice and bottled water (sparkling and still) sometimes make an appearance too!

Conclusion

The Virgin East Coast First Class Lounge in Leeds is a decent place to escape to, if you have a spare half hour before your train and fancy a hot drink and a bit of peace and quiet.

Having access wouldn’t really influence my decision to buy a First Class ticket or not, but if you are traveling in First anyway, then it’s a useful option. 

Don’t forget that you can still get 30% off Virgin East Coast and Virgin Trains tickets via the Virgin Red app.