British Museum Members' Room

The members' room at the British Museum is located at the far left end of the Great Court, if you come through from the Great Russell Street entrance. The actual entrance to the room is found
by walking up two flights of the staircase found at the far end of the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery.

After having your card checked by the attendant on duty (you won't get in without one), you will presented with two options: walk straight ahead into the cafe area, or go up the stairs on the left to the study/lounge area.

Before you do either, there is often an artifact on display in the entrance that isn't available to non-members, so you may want to take a look at that.

The cafe provides the best views across the Great Court, or rather the western side of the Great Court. Food and drinks can be ordered at the counter and will be brought to your table (assuming any form of preparation is required), so it's best to know where you're sitting before ordering. The cafe can get busy during peak times (weekends), but there are normally seats available. It is also possible to have your order brought up to the lounge area.

The food is okay, although every time I've been, whatever is up on the board behind the counter pays no resemblance to whatever is actually on offer. I would recommend asking what is available from the outset.

Upstairs, the lounge area provides options for sitting and relaxing, or doing some work. On the landing at the top of the stairs there's a small over-spill area for when the main part of the room becomes too full. In the main room, there is a small counter immediately on your left where you can pour yourself a glass of water, and more importantly where the members' room password can be found.

Further in on your left are shelves of history books to be used as either study sources or as a light diversions while you take a pause during your visit.

On the right are the tops of the windows looking across the Great Court. You won't see as much as you can from the cafe below, but you do get a good view of the Court's floor.

Seating is a mixture of sofa and round back swivel chairs. There is also a large table in the room, around which you will undoubtedly find a number of people working on laptops. There are a couple of power sockets in the room. These will probably have already been taken.

Access to the members' room is one of the key benefits of museum membership (starting at £64 for adult membership if you pay by direct debit - although cheaper if you're under 26).

Other perks include free entry into its special exhibitions. The Museum runs a number of exhibitions a year (I've been to four so far during my year of membership (one of them twice)), so the dedicated museum-goer could make a fair amount of their fee back on the special exhibitions alone. You will also be able to use the members' cloakroom (next to the Montague Place entrance), and fast track the queues if you enter via Great Russell Street.