To think Bluewater is a very Hell on Earth!

[OraProNobis]

Although the reason I had to go there was nice - was lucky enough to win £1000 of Bluewater vouchers so went to spend them at Thomas Cook - I was blown away by the sheer size of it! I couldn't get my head round it either - perhaps it's just too huge and I'm just too menopausal! Does anyone use it frequently and actually understand it?

There are about a 100 places for coffee! Saturday is hell, weekday mornings it is empty and much more pleasant.

The glades in Bromley is mid makeover - they usually have more than one lot of toilets - it is also a town centre shopping centre so isn't nearly as big

Lakeside is another name for hell on earth ( I have worked in all three - haven't been back to lakeside since the day i stopped working there)

The Glades (or Intuas it's now called) have 2 sets of toilets Mrs The other set are half way down on the 2nd floor parking

I thought there must be coffee places! Perhaps I was just so hot and lost and out if my comfort zone that I didn't look hard enough! I won't be going back there any time soon as it's really not nearby for me and I doubt the winning of vouchers will happen again in my lifetime!!

Has anyone ever managed to park in the Glades Bromley without having a nervous breakdown and getting lost or going down a dead end?

Serious question.

Intu as it's now called!

i don't mind bluewater or lakeside. (how gracious i am!!). but i'll never ever ever go to westfield in stratford ever again. that was totally eurgh on every level (literally and metaphorically)

Bromley is shitsville.

There are heaps of places at Bluewater for a coffee. There are 2 Starbucks for starters.

Bluewater is actually the 4th biggest shopping centre in the UK, as someone thought, Metro Centre is the largest! Bluewater is expanding though and will get bigger now that it has a new owner.

I love Bluewater and all its twiggy, coffee smelling loveliness.

I used to go to Brent cross as a child, it was massive then.

Now I live near lakeside and hate it with a passion, not enough loos for a start. Blue water is much much better.

Bluewater has got better food wise since they opened that conference centre thing

Annoyed Leon has gone from bluewater though- was my go to eating spot.

Lakeside is terrifying

One very good thing about Bluewater is that there is a branch of Wahaca there and I had one of the best meals I have ever had last time I went (Sonora Salad with char-grilled steak) I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I quite like Bluewater but don't go there very often because I live on the Sussex coast and I don't drive, so I either have to go by train or my long-suffering husband takes me.

I miss Bluewater. We don't have anywhere like it up here.

Mil is a Bromley parking ninja. She never pays. She always gets a space. How she does it is a mystery. Whenever I've asked she does a mysterious little voice and says 'timing...'. I'll see her tomo. If she's willing to impart her secrets I'll tell you all.

For chocolate.

DD loves Lakeside and drags me there most weeks
Bluewater - about every month.

Stratford- we went a couple of weeks ago and came home empty handed (IIRC we bought some food in Greggs). Really hard to find mall guides, they don't have the leaflets like Bluewater

No-one mentioned Westfirld White City yet?
Seems huge on the map but the shops are all teeny.

I have checked with my son who was forced under duress to go with me - he says there were coffee places everywhere and that I am obviously batshit crazy and he's never going anywhere with me again. He's 24!

I found Bluewater overwhelming , it was soooo huge, I got tired feet just trying to get from A to B

We live near Cribbs Causeway near Bristol and I prefer it to other Malls, m&s down one end, JL down the other and some nice eating places on the top floor. But my DP calls it Devils Causeway, cant think why (basic hatred of shopping I guess!)

Plus Hobbycraft and Maplin is round the corner. Loads of parking not too busy in the day or weekends after 3pm

So YANBU about Bluewater, Ora, nice you won the vouchers! I only went once.. Never to be repeated!

Bromley Intu parking is hell on earth, the Civic Centre opposite is the same price but fine.
You can park in some parts of Bromley for free - providing you are happy to walk for five minutes and don't park between 12 noon and 2.

I like Bluewater, but not on Saturdays or near Christmas.

I'm going to throw a northern spanner in the works and tell you you should all come to the Trafford centre.
It's my fave.

I have worked in Trafford for a short time too, I prefer Bluewater but would say Trafford was a good second - The thing about any of the big shopping centres is knowing where stuff is and only going to the bits you want - there are bits of Bluewater I never walk down because I know i don't want to go in any of the shops

I don't understand why people are saying Bluewater is so huge. If I'm on a mission I can wizz round both floors in about 20 minutes. I love it, just avoid from about mid-October as that is when the xmas madness will start!

Ah! Thanks for the tip Owl, re Bromley toilets. I have to say that parking at Glades/Intu used to be very straightforward, but for some reason they re-routed it all and now negotiating the car park is like some sort of hellish Krypton Factor mind game.

I just avoid now sadly, as I used to love Bromley town centre. (Fond memories of childhood visits to The Importers coffee shop, if anyone goes that far back)

Bluewater however, now has the divine Cocoba. The most fabulous chocolate cafe I have ever ever experienced. It's like a little bit of Heaven tucked in next to Dartford

BW is fine especially during the week . The only mall I prefer is Westfield at Shepherds Bush - the one at Stratford is crap.