{"version":"1.9","identifier":"fa6d88cc-91ac-422d-8b8f-f62113c17898","language":"en-US","title":"Heathrow's private terminal, The Windsor, adds an afternoon tea by Bake Off judge Cherish Finden","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://www.loungefrog.com/news/heathrow-the-windsor-afternoon-tea-cherish-finden","datePublished":"2026-10-08T17:43:13.591873Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T23:44:06.489889Z","authors":["Patrick Karsh"],"excerpt":"It's only for guests who book The Windsor, Heathrow's VIP service. If you're not, here are the best-rated premium lounges in our data at each terminal.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/fa6d88cc-91ac-422d-8b8f-f62113c17898/45cdd160ae7131d3921fffbaf9e836bb.jpg","generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"Heathrow's private terminal, The Windsor, adds an afternoon tea by Bake Off judge Cherish Finden","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"It's only for guests who book The Windsor, Heathrow's VIP service. If you're not, here are the best-rated premium lounges in our data at each terminal.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Patrick Karsh · Published October 8, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/fa6d88cc-91ac-422d-8b8f-f62113c17898/45cdd160ae7131d3921fffbaf9e836bb.jpg","caption":"Photo from mediacentre.heathrow.com's coverage of 26316. · mediacentre.heathrow.com","accessibilityCaption":"Photo from mediacentre.heathrow.com's coverage of 26316.","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"Photo from mediacentre.heathrow.com's coverage of 26316. · mediacentre.heathrow.com","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Heathrow's private terminal now has its own afternoon tea. The Windsor by Heathrow, the airport's VIP service, has added a tea menu made with pastry chef Cherish Finden. She has been a judge on the TV show *Bake Off: The Professionals* since 2016.\n\nHeathrow announced it on Sept. 30 in [a release on its media site](https://mediacentre.heathrow.com/pressrelease/detail/26316). It is the first afternoon tea The Windsor has offered, and Heathrow says it is available now.\n\n## What's on the stand\n\nHeathrow says the menu mixes British tradition with Asian flavors. It comes on custom-made china and a tiered stand, in three parts.\n\n**The savory course**, served with a Yunnan black tea:\n\n* Scottish smoked salmon with a seaweed and sesame oil crunch, cream cheese and Japanese pickled cucumber\n* Grilled ham and cheese with Wookey Hole Cheddar, béchamel and Parmesan tuiles\n* St Ewe's egg with black truffle in a milk bun\n\n**The scone trolley:** scones baked daily and served warm, with strawberry, raspberry and apricot preserves and Cornish clotted cream.\n\n**The Cherish Signature Collection**, three pastries:\n\n* **Chocolate:** Guanaja whipped ganache, praline feuilletine, brownie and Dulcey crémeux\n* **Coconut:** lemongrass pineapple compote, coconut mousse and coconut dacquoise\n* **Raspberry:** Tahitian vanilla mascarpone chantilly, lemon madeleine, raspberry jelly and lemon shortbread\n\nFinden was born in Singapore, and she says the menu draws on that. \"My Afternoon Tea collection for The Windsor is inspired by my Singaporean roots, cherished culinary memories,\" she said. She has more than 30 years of experience in kitchens around the world.\n\nCharlotte Burns, VIP lead at Heathrow, said, \"we want every guest to experience the very best of British hospitality.\"\n\n## Who can have it\n\nNot many people. The tea is only for private clients traveling through The Windsor. It is included in a booking, and Heathrow asks guests to order it ahead. Heathrow does not offer it to the public.\n\nThe Windsor is not a lounge in the usual sense. Heathrow says it is open to First and Business Class passengers on any airline, from any terminal. Guests skip the main terminal. They get private security and passport control and wait in one of eight private lounges. Then an electric BMW drives them to the plane. Those rooms were redone in a £3 million refresh that Heathrow showed off in February 2025.\n\nIt is not cheap. When it relaunched in February 2025, packages started at £3,812 including VAT for up to three guests, [Future Travel Experience reported](https://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2025/02/heathrow-unveils-upgraded-private-terminal-for-vips-the-windsor-redefining-luxury-travel/). The new release does not give a current price. It also does not say if the tea adds to the cost, or which hours it is served.\n\nThe Windsor is not in the Lounge Frog directory, so we have no ratings for it.\n\n## The lounges most premium travelers will use\n\nFor everyone else flying First or Business, Heathrow has a deep lounge bench. We list 40 lounges across its four terminals. Here are the best rated in our data for premium passengers, by terminal.\n\n**Terminal 5 ([British Airways](https://www.loungefrog.com/airlines/ba)).** The [Concorde Room](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-british-airways-concorde-room) is BA's top lounge for First passengers. It is rated 4.6, with six showers and a cocktail bar. [Galleries First](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-british-airways-galleries-first) also rates 4.6, with eight showers. Among the Galleries Club lounges for business travelers, the [B Gates lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-british-airways-galleries-club-b-gates) rates highest, at 4.8. BA is also planning a new lounge at the C gates, as we covered in [our story on its T5 plans](https://www.loungefrog.com/news/british-airways-heathrow-terminal-5-c-gates-lounge-arrivals-redesign).\n\n**Terminal 3.** It has the most lounges in our data, with 14. The [Emirates Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-emirates-lounge) rates 4.9. The [Admirals Club](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-american-airlines-admirals-club) and [The Centurion Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-the-centurion-lounge) each rate 4.8. The [Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-virgin-atlantic-clubhouse) and the [Qantas London Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-qantas-london-lounge) each rate 4.6. Amex plans a second [Centurion Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/programs/centurion) in Terminal 5, as we reported in [our Centurion expansion story](https://www.loungefrog.com/news/amex-centurion-lounge-newark-heathrow-t5-philadelphia-houston-expansion).\n\n**Terminal 2 (Star Alliance).** The [SilverKris Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-singapore-airlines-silverkris-lounge) and the [United Club](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-united-club) each rate 4.8.\n\n**Terminal 4.** The [Qatar Airways Premium Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-qatar-airways-premium-lounge) rates 4.5, and the [Air France Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-air-france-lounge) rates 4.1. The SkyTeam Lounge has closed. Etihad's lounge is listed as temporarily closed.\n\nIf you have [Priority Pass](https://www.loungefrog.com/programs/priority-pass) instead, the [Plaza Premium](https://www.loungefrog.com/programs/plaza-premium) Lounges in [Terminal 4](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-plaza-premium-lounge-t4) and [Terminal 5](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/lhr-plaza-premium-lounge-t5) are our top picks, at 4.9 each.\n\n## What I'd still want confirmed\n\nHeathrow has not said what The Windsor costs today, or whether the tea is served all day. It has not said if the menu will change with the seasons. See every lounge we track on our [Heathrow airport page](https://www.loungefrog.com/airports/lhr).\n\n## Related reading\n\n* [A £195 Heathrow lounge that is not in the airport: DiamondAir opens an off-site VIP room with car transfers](https://www.loungefrog.com/news/diamondair-heathrow-off-airport-lounge-opens)","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}