Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Holidays have opened a new departure ‘lounge’ on Barbados. It’s a departure beach that includes check-in and baggage dropoff.

If your cruise terminates in Barbados or you have to check out of your hotel at noon but Virgin Atlantic’s London flight leaves at 5 or 6 this gives you a place that’s not the airport to spend your last few hours of holiday.

Credit: Virgin Holidays

They’ll pick you up and bring you to the lounge, and after check-in and baggage drop and spending the afternoon in the lounge they’ll transfer you to the airport.

There are showers and changing rooms, they’ll give you plastic bags for your swimsuits after spending time on their beach, and you get a full lunch buffet and complimentary non-alcoholic beverages (pay for cocktails).

Credit: Virgin Holidays

Departure Beach also has an air conditioned lounge with a kids play area including games, wifi, and televisions.

Now that they’ve opened the lounge a video tour is available. (HT: God Save the Points)

If you’re staying at Savannah Beach in Barbados then you get complimentary access. Virgin Holidays cruise customers terminating in Barbados do too. Otherwise Virgin Holidays customers flying Virgin Atlantic back to London can pay-in.

They’ve raised the prices since they originally announced the project 14 months ago. Prices were supposed to be:

However they’re actually:

Unfortunately the lounge isn’t open to business class passengers or Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold members. You gain access as a Virgin Holidays customer but much to my disappointment just renting a car isn’t enough, the package must include “a departing Virgin Atlantic flight from Barbados returning to the UK.”