Last January, Dan and I spent a long weekend in London with our friends, Bryan and Pryor. Bryan is a Tottenham Hotspurs supporter (yes, I have the lingo down), and the Hotspurs were playing in London on the one full day we were in town. We purchased Hotspurs tickets with access to the Travel Club Premium Lounge in the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium. This post provides a  detailed description of what you can expect when purchasing a Hotspurs ticket with access to the Travel Club Premium Lounge.

SECURING THE TICKETS

Bryan facilitated the purchase of our tickets through a company called Championship Travel. Our package included tickets to the match, access to the Premium Travel Club lounge, and a match day program. The cost was around $350 USD per person, which, after visiting, is a decent price. The tickets were emailed to Bryan a few days in advance, and everything with the tickets worked seamlessly. While we used Championship Travel, I have seen numerous companies online offering similar packages.

THE PRE-MATCH EXPERIENCE

Once we entered the Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium with our e-tickets, we went straight to the Premium Travel Club lounge. We showed our tickets again to access the lounge. Once inside the lounge, there were stacks of match day programs for taking. Unfortunately, we did not grab ours early enough and they eventually ran out. It didn’t really matter to us, but grab a program early if you want one.

The Premium Travel Club lounge is a large space, mostly filled with standing room tables and a few seats. There are large screen TVs playing the match (or the lead up/pre show), as well as alcohol bars on each end of the lounge. A small food buffet is set up in one corner. Aside from this large, mostly standing room area, the lounge also has more restaurant style seating with wait staff in a second, adjacent room, which is also where the separate (and clean) men’s and women’s WCs are located. Our tickets did not include anything in the restaurant-style area of the lounge – I understand it is part of another, more expensive hospitality package.

Our tickets included access to this are of the Premium Travel Club lounge 3 hours before match time. We arrived a little less than 2 hours prior but in coming again, I would opt for the full 3 hours to take advantage of everything offered and snag a decent seat in the lounge.

THE FOOD AT THE PREMIUM TRAVEL CLUB LOUNGE 

One of the most attractive things about entry into the Premium Travel Club Lounge is the complimentary food. On our visit, three options were offered via three separate buffets set up near one of the bars. The food is grab and go – you literally just grab a plate and go. Guests could try all three dishes, and as many of each dishes as one wanted. The food stopped coming out about 30 minutes before the match began, so keep that in mind. Otherwise, it was continuously replenished.

While I understand that the menu changes somewhat regularly, the food offered during our visit was really good. The first offering, and probably my favorite, were ham hock croquettes served with salsa verde, pickled cabbage, and mustard mayo. These were really tasty and filling. The second option was grilled tofu paired withbreakfast beans and grilled smoky corn. This option was also quite tasty. The final option, which I didn’t sample, was a prawn and grain poke bowl with pineapple salsa, diced avocado, radish, spring onion, and nigella seeds. That just didn’t sound too great to me, and I had plenty of the croquettes and tofu.

THE BAR AT THE PREMIUM TRAVEL CLUB LOUNGE 

There are two bars in the general lounge space, serving all sorts of alcohol for pay, from beer – even Guinness – to wine to champagne to spirits. There were lines but they moved quickly. And to be clear, no alcohol is included with lounge access before the game (this was somewhat confusing). You must pay for any alcohol, or other drinks, that you want during this time. Credit card was accepted.

THE SEATS

Just before the match began, we found our seats, which were in the East Middle Level 3, Block 312-313 (for anyone really interested). These seats had direct access to the Premium Travel Club Lounge, were under a bit of a ledge (nice if it were to rain), and were padded, making them comfortable for the duration of the match. Aside from the ledge, however, the seats are open air, so dress accordingly. We had an excellent view of the field. Our seats were located quite close to the “Visiting Supporters” (aka fans of the opposite team) area, which was certainly interesting.

HALF TIME PINTS (AND HOT CHOCOLATE)

Half-time is precisely 20 minute, and those with access to the Premium Travel Club Lounge receive a “free pint” during half-time (this is the only complimentary alcohol included).  I was curious how this would work, and it turned out to be quite fun. In brief, prior to half-time, staff fill lots and lots of pints with a couple types of beer and set these pints on tables in the lounge (each table is a type of beer). Once its half-time, guests can come in and grab a pint, and there were PLENTY. Since there were so many, you could absolutely have more than one if time permits. As it is only a 20 minute half time, most people will only be able to drink one pint (possibly 2?). Guests can stay and have extra of the table pints after the match resumes, but you’re missing the match. Unfortunately, you cannot bring beer into the stadium seats. However, you can bring in hot chocolate, which is also complimentary during half-time! We stayed a few minutes after the match restarted to finish our beers and grab a hot chocolate to take back into the stadium! Also, the hot chocolate was Cadbury and SO GOOD.

THE POST MATCH EXPERIENCE

After the game ends, most people leave quickly. However, the Premium Club Travel Lounge sets out dessert if you have an extra minute. It was offering a “dark chocolate and pretzel slice” during our visit. We unfortunately spent too much time lingering in the stadium and taking pictures, and the dessert was totally finished before we even left our seats.

In any case, the lounge is open for 2 hours after the matching, showing the post-game on the big screens and the bars serving drinks for pay. It could make sense to kill some time here before lining up for the Tube or calling a car service.

STEAL OUR MATCH

Tottenham Hotspurs: Tottenham’s official page.

Champions Travel Sales: We purchased the Travel Club block seats. Price varies depending on the match.