The LUXE Aspire Lounge at Liverpool Airport Is the Perfect Holiday Starter

This was my first time experiencing the Aspire Lounge, and at check-in we were immediately offered an upgrade to the LUXE section for another £10 each. It’s a classic upsell, but the moment he told us it was adults only, my card was already out. The all-you-can-drink premium cocktails were just the cherry on top.

The LUXE section sits just off the main Aspire Lounge, separated by a large divider wall with a doorless entrance. You wouldn’t think that would do much, but the moment we walked through, you could immediately tell where that extra tenner had gone.

It was quiet, almost empty, and to me and my partner, that’s idyllic.

We claimed some seats and, naturally, went straight looking for breakfast.

The continental section had everything you’d expect, cereal, fruit, pastries and jams, but there were a few things that made it feel a little less standard. A DIY granola station had Greek yoghurt, muesli, peaches, forest fruits, tropical fruit and dried cranberries, alongside a pancake machine that I absolutely would have used if I hadn’t already started eyeing up the pastries.

Then the pastries ran out.

I asked if there were any more coming and went back to our seats. A little while later, warm croissants and pain au chocolat appeared at our table.

I hadn’t told them where we were sitting.

They just remembered.

That’s the kind of little thing I end up remembering more than whether there were six or seven cereal options.

The hot breakfast itself was straightforward. Sausages, bacon, hash browns, beans and tomatoes. The Cumberland sausages were easily the best part. Properly cooked, plenty of flavour and exactly what I wanted at that time in the morning.

Everything else was standard breakfast fare, but done to a good level. Except the beans.

You could tell they weren’t the classic Heinz we all know and love, and they were quite watery.

Ah well, you can’t win everything.

The coffee hit the spot though. With a free-flowing coffee machine, my partner and I were happily waking ourselves up one cup at a time, and there was plenty of cold juice available from the machines too.

More importantly, nobody made you feel like you were going back too often. Help yourself, sit down, go again.

That freedom is part of what I want from an airport lounge.

As the morning went on, the main Aspire Lounge started filling up. More people, more movement, more noise.

Back in LUXE, not much changed. A few more people had arrived, but every time we moved between the two sections for food or drinks, the difference in noise was immediately noticeable.

That extra £10 had already paid for itself just in how relaxed we felt. Everything after that was dividends.

Basically, it started as a good decision and was quickly becoming a great one.

Next came the cocktails.

And yeah, ordering a cocktail at 5am feels slightly wrong, so you make up for it by ordering two to balance things out.

I ordered a whiskey sour and a mojito, and both were excellent. The whiskey sour had a proper foam on top, enough whiskey coming through and none of that overly sweet bottled sour mix taste. The mojito was fresh, mint-forward and had a good balance of rum and lime.

They went down far too easily for that time in the morning, and I could have easily had more if the flight was later.

Then I did what you always do when you’ve got empty glasses. Take them back over to the bar and say thanks.

So I went over, told them how impressed I was, and that’s when they told me the cocktails came from a machine.

I genuinely thought they were joking.

They weren’t.

Perfectly measured, completely consistent and, annoyingly for some bartenders, considerably better than they had any right to be.

That might have been my favourite discovery of the morning.

By the time we were getting ready to leave, the main lounge was busy while ours was still relatively quiet.

Then we walked back out into the terminal.

The difference hits you immediately after two hours of relative silence. Suitcases rattling across the floor. People everywhere. Voices bouncing around the terminal. Everyone trying to work out which direction they’re supposed to be going in.

We’d eaten breakfast, had coffee, somehow managed two cocktails before sunrise and spent the first part of the morning sitting somewhere genuinely peaceful.

We hadn’t even boarded the plane yet.

But the holiday had already started.