Aspire Lounge in Manchester

Molly was incredibly kind to me and wife from arrival to leaving. She treated us with professionalism and respect. A true asset to aspire. Thank you Molly.

Great lounge, food hot and plentiful, feel that the lounge is slightly understaffed for how busy it gets at peak times. Staff very polite and proffesional. Little tip if you get in about 11am you can sample the great breakfast and lunch an hour later.

Food (breakfast) quality very poor. Waiting ages for bacon, hash browns and sausages. Long queue of people. No beer on draft as it was out of order so was given warm bottled beer that was just brought up in a box.

It was incredible!! All of the staff were very, very, very friendly! A perfect place where you can relax perfectly before the flight. Before, I have always used the Escape Lounge - in the future, I will always go to the "Aspire" Lounge. Thanks to everyone! - and especially to Callum who helped me find my bag that I lost when I was in the Lounge Aspire

I would say 8 out of 10. Pretty big place and bright with nice view of planes from outside. I find bit strange they have the bar inside but you need to extra pay if you want "special" drinks as cocktails, gins, ciders. While my visit in this lounge, atmosphere was quite and nice, definitely much nicer than the another lounge next to this:)

This has to be one of the worst lounges I have ever been to. The food on the buffet contained scraps of food which was not replenished nor did it look edible. The woman behind the bar was rude and muttered how busy and annoyed she was under her breath when I ordered a drink. There was no Heineken on tap - this was off. There is now a menu with food and drink you have to pay extra for, which once was included in your entry price. In the other terminals you can order what you like from the bar, and the food is much better. It feels as though no one cares about the standard of the food and drink. It is a real shame as this once created the perfect start to a holiday. We ordered food from the menu that you now have to pay for - and sent it back. The pizza was a soggy, greasy mess and the chips were still raw and cold inside. Don’t even get me started on the state of the toilets!! Utterly disgusting!!

It works. And is light and airy, plenty of seating

What a terrible experience (and not for the first time in this lounge). No knives, so staff member tells me they are washing them. So I wait, and wait and 10 mins passes and no knives and my food is now cold and I feel a little irritated so I put my plate down (agreed a little aggressively you could call it), say “for gods sake” and head back to my seat to take a breath. Next thing I know, the manager is approaching me saying I have been reported for aggressive behaviour by a staff member, swearing and slagging off the kitchen staff. I absolutely did not, I did only as I have described. The manager to be fair did his best to be even handed about the matter but was apparently obliged to report me to the airline I am travelling with, a comment that almost changed my mood to laugher but not quite. I have tried to reflect on whether the response was appropriate for the behaviour and firmly believe that it was not. Being obviously irritated is not a reason to report someone when that individual does not take it out on anyone around them and actively removes themselves from the irritation to sit and take a moment to let the irritation go. The world we live in clearly no longer allows us to have feelings other than those of joy and harmony.

Very little selection of food and salad bar not fresh or well stocked.

A must to start your holiday, you're well away from the hustle & bustle if the main airport, so total relaxation before you board your flight. The staff were excellent too. 🥰

I had no problems, everything was smooth and problem free

Not as good as some of the others

Staff were excellent specifically Janet on the Front Desk

Very pleasant welcome, one of the best, special mention to Louie who showed us round on arrival. Lovely views and plenty of seating during a very quiet spell. Food is basic and premium spirits at extra cost. Lovely staff make a lovely visit, well done.

Great start to the holidays. Breakfast and a drink. Very dissappointed that no longer is sparkling wine available complimentary. How times have changed. Definitely not for the good. I recall prior to COVID sipping Champagne prior to take off. Now, we're expected to purchase this drink separately. The options for a vegan diet were ok, room for improvement. Especially the basics, for instance, availability of wholemeal roll or bread. Mushrooms should also be standard for vegans or vegetarians. Staff need to ensure cutlery is clean and in supply. I appreciate it was a busy morning, yet waiting five minutes for clean cutlery is not good use of my time. Overall, the group enjoyed our girlie's experience.

Very good, quick entry using Priority Pass on behalf of AMEX.

No bathroom in lounge, bathroom available is tiny and dirty. Food was relatively gross, typical steam table bs. Very limited selection of included items.

Good service. Make sure your name in the /lounge key and your name in the boarding pass is same to entre the lounge hassle free.

Good lack lustre no Prosecco, needs ore effort in choice and display

Pleasant quiet experience atmosphere. Very average selection of hot food. Basic free drinks eg. Gordon's G&T.

Not bad at all. More than expected.

Poor, why do they send business class customers here. The rice was microwaved and so was the curry. How do I know ? Well how does chicken in the curry have hot and frozen spots even thought it’s fully cooked ?

Not as good as usual business lounge

This lounge was Not good and they never offer any vegetarian option. Some staff members went great either.

Booked here using loungekey which got us a discount which knocked down the price by at least £16pp but even with this discount I don't think it's fully worth that price. Food was poor, dry pasta, barely toasted garlic bread, curry and rice but went up twice and curry wasn't there. Salad and cheese was alright. Had no draught Heineken. Saving grace in a way was being able to watch the planes land and takeoff otherwise wouldn't have been the best of experiences. Escape lounge last summer was better but didn't have the chance to watch the planes. Not sure I'd book again

Unimpressed with this lounge it was the only one we could get booked into with dragon pass. The food was lack luster with not much on offer and the drink offering was poor i asked for a doom bar and wanted to charge an extra £3. They seem to up selling additional drink and food items given the cost it would made more sense to tried a restraunt in the terminal. We also found it incredibly warm! I'll avoid this lounge in future.

Fiona and beau provided excellent service. Kickstarted our holiday with a smile! Thank you

Don’t take guests after 18:45 even when lounge was empty. Receptionist stated they don’t offer any more services at the time I arrived as they were closing at 20:00. Just close at 19:00 if that’s the case!

Very relaxed atmosphere and decent food.

Same food every week and again empty trays just after 12 noon. Sorry 😞 not great not even good. Lots of staff chatting with each other 🙄

Was very hot in the lounge dont think ac was working well ,advised attendants but the answer was to move to a different area of lounge food was ok nothing special

This lounge gets full and noisy, the quiet zone doesn't limit the travel of noise. Staff seem complacent. Both coffee machines not working properly and very limited food choice.

Good service, usual high prices for beer.

Yes nice people and lovely food,no John Smith's for the bitter drinkers so I had to have cocktail or lager as it's called to some

Highly recommend the airport lounge. Relaxed atmosphere and away from the hustle and bustle

Awful experience. One of the cleaners was extremely rude to us. Was it because my skin color is brown? I don't know. But it was appalling when he was answering our questions rudely or gesturing badly. My son wanted to try the pancakes. It was almost two hours before their closing time. Still, they said they can't refill that. Then the rice was burnt. So, it was an awful experience for me and my family.

Staff on reception not overly friendly. Lady behind the bar was much more pleasant. Food is limited and not much for gluten free diets. Not all drinks are included in the price. I got discounted passes via my bank but I wouldn't pay full price.

Was a bit awkward to find the train station. As works was being completed

Love it here, highly recommend a visit

So relaxing, I could sleep. I might have to after 4 pints ... Well worth the cost.

Must say very very basic items not impressed

Great lounge though limited food options. Large gap between breakfast and lunch servings, so if you manage to hit that 40-50mins you will be without any food, though reading other reviews this may have just been a bad day we were there. Food once served was good quality. Good drink options, comfy seating and good views to the runway. Would recommend.

I’m here now never again will I pay for this utter garbage here’s a tip pick another lounge such as escape lounge standard far better people no Queing for food and food is barley edible you can opt for pizza which will cost £8 extra never again

Great place to relax before getting on your airplane

Terrible staff and scraps of food

Nice, polite, professional. Didn't try the food.

Really lovely and cozy lounge, polite and helpful staff who are always there to clear tables or assist with any requirements. Been there twice so far and each time was really happy.

Food choices are average. But it's fine. The staff are very friendly. The area is spotless. Plenty of room when I visited. The toilets were not in the best of shape but they are outside the lounge area.

This was the breakfast offering at 10am They serve breakfast till 11.30am I had to ask to fill up breakfast It took half hour The bread rolls were hard….. won’t be rushing back!!

Lovely start to our holiday Mo behind the bar was lovely food was nice and fresh

Food was nice not much choice but nice. Drink selection was ok. Free drink rubbish ! As 99% you had to pay for . But the white wine was free and ok

Friendly and courteous staff; great food although muffins were very dry :( All in a comfortable environment. Thank you!

Avoid - the worst, which is fitting given Manchester Airport is voted the worst 3 years in a row. Ripped furniture, slop instead of food, extremely limited in choice of drinks - pay more on top of you want a Bailey's! Toilet are a disgrace or perhaps it is an artwork of slums of Manchester for yesterday year???

It's taken manchester Airport 18 months to reply to my email about this dreadful lounge, and they haven't even been bothered to read my complaint correctly. Customer service is embarrassing and poor. This lounge is the worst lounge in the airport but could be so good if managed correctly. You have to pay extra for some items which I find poor as you're already paying to go in, and if you complain, you're ignored and then called a liar because they haven't read your complaint correctly. Shocking. Avoid.

Good value better than Birmingham. Plenty of choice comfortable

Good food and drinks and the staff were great

a mid level service..limited food and beverages... also my first time seeing pizzas paid in an airport lounge (!)

We actually didn't go here this time as it is so bad

Always clean and tidy. Very helpful and efficient service. Food is good. Even the coffee is not too bad.

Disgusting food and misérable staff. How they can callvt this VIP is beyond me.

Not the best of lounges. 2 out of 3 coffee machines working but neither are replenished so cannot get a cup of coffee. Food is ok but not red hot.

The worse lounge I have ever been to Staff I’d to busy chatting with each other, no bread , no toaster !! Coffee machine is broken ! Before I left I have told the woman on reception my experience and she is one of the bad staff they getting paid and not doing anything .

very poor, will Not be booking this again

Terrible food choice cheap no Prosecco had to pay for that . Travelling business class worst lounge I’ve ever been to

Absolute waste of time…..if you can get in , the food is awful

This is the worst lounge ever. Too small. Huge queue. Worn furniture. Limited and bad food. Too bad but every other restaurant at the airport is 100 times better. Just disgusting. Just stay far away.

One off the larger airport lounge

It's better than sitting in the T1 departure lounge and probably works out cheaper if you have the inclusive food and drinks. Staff are attentive, but the lounge is very tired and in need of an overhaul. Note that there are no flight announcements so keep an eye on the board. Probably not worth it if you have less than an hour between arriving at the lounge and a flight departure Don't expect somewhere quiet to catch up on work.

Nice atmosphere with pleasant staff, food is ok with a decent choice, there was no draught beer on our visit and had to have bottled, we will probably use this lounge again.

I frequently use this Lounge when travelling from Manchester Airport. Staff are always friendly and jovial. Lounge offers both hot and cold food options with a variety of drinks available as well. Very conveniently located after security in T1.

Amazing experience at the hands of amazing staff!

We were delayed so the aspire was very accommodating.

The staff at Aspire were accommodating and friendly. Outstanding customer service.

Shame, we paid extra to stay in lounge if the plane was delayed. The plane was shown to be on time so we left the lounge at the appropriate time. However, after much toing and froing the plane left 4 hours late after sitting on the runway for over 3 hours.. We would have liked to have stayed in the Aspire Lounge as paid for.

If I could give zero stars l would. Shabby and dirty looking. Absolutely disgusting toilets too. The food offered is absolutely horrible. Most coffee and tea machines are self service and broken and the one that worked dribbled luke warm water over sad tea bags. Staff while pleasant and helpful were really noisy. Although my access was free I left for the relative peace of the main concourse. Just seen their generic corporate response which also shows their complete lack of care about their service.

Despite being DragonPass holders the guy on the door was only admitting business class and pre booked people in. The lounge had very few people in. The claim was that they were short staffed. A ‘lady’ colleague of his claimed it would be dangerous to allow cardholders in. The door sentry told me to read the terms and conditions. They were not busy. More an attitude of cannot do rather than can do. I just don’t get why people try so hard to be obstructive , unhelpful and abrupt.

Tired lounge, furniture in need of replacement. A poor food display and offer. The worst lounge I have visited at any airport.

Very budget. No atmosphere, food was terrible, the beer was flat, nice enough service but apart from that I'd prefer to sit in the lobby

Not much variety of food, constantly asking for them to top up the tureens. No puddings, the coffee machine was broken. Very disappointing, I won't be rushing back. Needs improving before I recommend it. Definitely not value for money.

Could always do with better and healthier vegan options.

Appalling. Dirty, shabby. Horrible food. Noisy staff. Disgusting toilets. A disgrace.

Aspire at Manchester Terminal 1 is poor when compared to other Aspire lounges. The male on reception did his best to be pleasant but referred to every customer as 'mate'. Then, whilst I waited in a very short queue of two people waiting to serve themselves to lunch, another male member if staff who had been clearing tables walked between queueing guests, using his bare hands to pick up a bread roll before serving himself to more food. Apart from being very rude, shouldn't staff eat away from guests?

It is not worth it. The food choice was extremely limited, and even what was available was not good. The table we we used was sticky like it had not been cleaned properly and the same was with the utilities and the place the drinks were placed, plus there was no ice to cool the drinks. There was no sign showing where the bathrooms were. But, the coffee machine functioned well and the staff seemed friendly.

Not allowed to go in with Priority Pass.

Great food and drink worth booking . Staff are friendly and it's very comfortable place to be whilst waiting for the plane

There's nothing premium about any of it.

The lounge is clean and comfortable, well arranged and with pleasing aesthetics. The food is poor, the "chicken tikka masala" from a tin - it's synthetic and unappealing. The pasta was the same. The fresh ingredients: salads etc, were much better.

First told about reception to tell everyone we booked even though it was empty inside. No selection of breakfast, no cake or anything sweet. You have to do everything yourself

The food selection isn't very big which would be okay but the food provided isn't very good at all. The rice and pasta are very bland (ever heard that you need to season rice and pasta water with salt when cooking?) and the pasta is terribly overcooked. Staff seemed uncaring. It wasn't very busy but takes weren't cleared at all even after folks left. Empty bottles were left on tables for 20+ minutes after guests left. Arriving guests took it upon themselves to clear tables in order to sit somewhere. Ironically there is a tablet holder at the exit asking for the customers opinion. There is no tablet to leave a review though. I do like the industrial look of the ceiling though with the exposed pipes etc and the fact that there are proper large glasses for water and soda.

Terrible food wasn’t told when we payed business class this lounge closes at 8pm Extra cost for a glass of fizz @gulf air needs to change this asap

So disappointed. Very limited food choices and what was there was mostly empty except for the vegetarian options. They were so bland! No toaster but there was lots of sliced bread and butter and jams etc. It took ages getting served at the bar. And if you want Prosecco you have to pay £5 supplement. Decor was nice. There’s a Help yourself hot drinks machine. Water station for bottle refills. Staff are lovely, but scarce. So short staffed. I felt bad for them.

It was a shame as there clearly are staff shortages but this was reflected in the quality of the experience. We had to ask for cups and knives, there was no egg or pancakes. The seats were ripped and tired and no one was clearing the tables. Not great!

Worst aspire lounge I’ve ever been too. Don’t waste your money.

Excellent, arrived early and was allowed in and shown to our table which was spacious for the 4 of us. Service was quick at the bar and staff friendly. Will definitely book again

We were here before 8 pm and the lounge was closed. Libraries stay on later than that.

Usually a good pit stop to fill up on food, drink and phone battery. Disappointing experience this time round: 06/12/24. Felt hurried the moment we checked in, 1.5hr before closing time. Not a relaxing atmosphere being reminded every 15 minutes when we have to leave. The food selection and quality was very poor. As guests we felt an inconvenience to the staff on shift that evening.

Gets very busy in the lounge as outside restaurants are packed also. Food is limited but it's less busier than in the terminal itself. You must book to avoid disappointment.

Food selection was mediocre with empty dishes sat in the buffet area not getting refilled, no food to order, bar closed for at least half the time we have been here.

I recently visited the Aspire Lounge in Terminal 1 in December, and while the views are impressive and the seating is comfortable, my overall experience left much to be desired. By 10:40 am, there was no breakfast left. When I raised this with a staff member, I was told they were "running it down" in preparation for lunch at 11 am. This policy feels unreasonable—who eats lunch at 11 am, especially after travelling for hours to reach the airport? In my opinion, breakfast should be available until at least 11:30-11:45 am to accommodate morning travellers. When I shared this feedback with the guest services receptionist, his response was abrupt and dismissive. He curtly stated that "the food is complimentary, and you are paying for the seat." Charming attitude, to say the least. For the price of entry, I expected a much better experience. If you're considering a lounge at Terminal 1, I’d recommend saving your money and opting for a cheaper option with better reviews. The Aspire Lounge failed to deliver on the basic expectations of service and hospitality. Lots of reviews on trip advisor are the same, clearly feedback is not being taken and being improved on. Material seats stained and dirty and need cleaning properly. Everything is an extra cost, very basic food like cheap tomato pasta and a curry. Toilets are disgusting also and need a deep clean, they stink and again this is reflected in many other reviews.

A nice little lounge. Really enjoyed the time.