Review: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles Airport (IAD)

During my Aria Suite Adventure to Hong Kong, I had the chance to check out several lounges at Washington Dulles Airport (IAD). After visiting the Capital One Lounge, Chase Sapphire Lounge, and Turkish Airlines Lounge, I stopped in at the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse.

In addition to serving Virgin Atlantic’s daily flight, the lounge is also open to Priority Pass members, and is used as a contract lounge by other airlines, like All Nippon Airways. So, how is the lounge? Well, that’s a great question, and it probably depends on what you’re looking for, and how you’re accessing the lounge.

For Virgin Atlantic passengers, the lounge has an impressive selection of drinks and a la carte food, all complimentary. Meanwhile if you’re accessing the lounge through other means (like Priority Pass), you get access to a very limited selection of food and drinks, and have to purchase most items.

Those of us who visit through Priority Pass will probably fall into one of two camps, depending on what we value in a lounge experience. If you’re looking for a relatively quiet lounge, I think the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse is one of the better options, as it typically doesn’t get too busy, due to the lack of complimentary food and drinks. Meanwhile if you’re looking to eat and drink, another lounge is probably a better option.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles location

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles is located in Concourse A, near gate A32. For context, all terminals and gates at Washington Dulles are connected airside, so it’s just a function of how far out of your way you’re willing to go. Concourse A and Concourse B are in the same long hall, so it’s pretty convenient from all those gates.

Unlike some other lounges in the terminal, this entrance can be pretty easy to miss, as there’s not some huge, branded facade. Instead, there’s just a Virgin Atlantic sign to the side of the door, which almost blends in with the color of the wall.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles hours

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles hours vary, depending on Virgin Atlantic’s flight schedule. As a general rule of thumb, you can expect the lounge to be open for most of the day. What differs is who can access the lounge throughout the day — in the hours leading up to the Virgin Atlantic departure, Priority Pass access to the lounge is blocked.

For example, on the day that I was visiting, the lounge was open from 8AM until 10PM, with Priority Pass access not available between 2PM and 6:30PM (which leads up to the Virgin Atlantic flight).

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles entry requirements

There are a variety of ways to gain access to the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles:

• The lounge can be accessed with a Priority Pass membership, though only over certain hours, so you’ll want to check the Priority Pass website or app for those details
• In line with SkyTeam lounge access policies, you can access this lounge when flying an eligible SkyTeam flight in a premium cabin (including with Virgin Atlantic in Upper Class), or with SkyTam Elite Plus status on an eligible itinerary
• This is also used as the contract lounge for some non-SkyTeam airlines, like All Nippon Airways

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles layout & seating

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles is bright, with high ceilings and massive windows overlooking the apron. So it’s a very inviting space, even if aspects of the design don’t feel very cohesive.

As you enter the lounge, there’s first one large area with a variety of seating options, ranging from communal tables, to clusters of chairs facing one another, to sofas, to loungers along the interior of the lounge with ottomans.

Then as you get closer to the windows of the lounge, you’ll see more clusters of chairs, including a row of seats facing the apron, which is where I decided to sit.

There’s also a small business center of sorts in this space, with two office chairs along a counter.

Then next to that is the small dining area, with roughly half a dozen tables, each accommodating two people.

As mentioned above, the lounge has awesome views of the apron, so if you’re an aviation geek, you’ll no doubt appreciate the plane spotting opportunities, especially if gate A31 is occupied.

The lounge also has a second level, but that was blocked off during my visit, and I suspect it’s only open prior to the Virgin Atlantic departure. However, it didn’t look like a big space, or like it had anything particularly special.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles food & drinks

During my morning visit, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse had a modest complimentary food spread, in the form of a buffet by the bar area.

Breakfast options included yogurt with granola, fresh fruit, muffins, bagels, chips, pretzels, and cookies.

Then there was a selection of drip coffee, plus tea.

There’s a full bar next to that, with a large selection of alcohol, though as you’ll see below, much of that isn’t included for Priority Pass guests.

Beyond what you see above, the lounge has QR codes near most tables, where you can order food and drinks, and they’ll be brought to you. If you’re visiting the lounge prior to a Virgin Atlantic flight, then all of these items are included. Meanwhile if you’re visiting otherwise, many items need to be purchased.

You can find the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse food menu below.

You can find the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse drink list below.

As you can see above, there were four complimentary dishes, and I decided to order a couple of them.

I ordered the egg and cheese sandwich, consisting of an english muffin with an egg soufflé and American cheese. It tasted as you’d expect, like it was previously frozen and was nuked in the microwave.

I also ordered the nori with sushi rice and toasted sesame seeds, which was edible and in a cute heart shape, but that’s about all I can say. I can’t imagine this impressed the Japanese folks traveling on All Nippon Airways.

While it wasn’t complimentary, I also ordered a cappuccino, which was barista made, and cost $5.

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles bathrooms

The Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles has individual restrooms, though there’s one for men and one for women. Having a single restroom per gender sure seems super limiting — it was fine during my visit, since it was quiet, but I can’t imagine this is pleasant when the lounge is busy.

The lounge also has a single shower suite, though I didn’t have a chance to check it out.

Bottom line

I’m conflicted about the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles. On the one hand, I actually enjoyed spending a few hours here, as the lounge was quiet, and I loved the views and the amount of natural light. Grabbing one of the seats by the windows was a great place to set up my “office.”

That being said, obviously the lounge’s complimentary food and beverage selection is limited, assuming you’re not traveling on Virgin Atlantic. There are several complimentary food items, but beyond that, most things have to be purchased, including even the most basic alcoholic drinks.

So it’s hard to draw a conclusion about this lounge. For my purposes, I really enjoyed it, but that’s because I value a lounge that provides a quiet environment. Meanwhile if my goal were to eat or have a couple of drinks (as is the case for many people visiting lounges), this would probably be my last pick in the terminal.

What’s your take on the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Washington Dulles?