Bristol's Cabot Circus - what's all the fuss about?

Savvy_Sue

To save driving this thread any further off topic, I thought it would be worth posting any tips and bargains here.

For those who don't know, Cabot Circus is either the best retail experience outside London (or possibly not even with that exception), or a complete waste of space not to mention money.

It certainly looks pretty enough, and my brief foray into it only did my head in because on the first day they thought we'd all enjoy some relentlessly loud and cheerful muzak. They were wrong ...

My first moneysaving tip :money: is NOT to park in the new Cabot Circus carpark, which wants £3 for the first two hours. If you're coming down the M32 that's where you'll be tempted to go because it's the first one you come to, and it's ginormous. But do a bit of research and you should be able to do better than that. If you're only coming for the day, on your own, Park&Ride works for me, because driving round Bristol isn't always a lot of fun ...

All my colleagues like the look of it, but one of a similar age, build and temperament to myself thought there weren't many new shops which would detain us for long. Fine if you are a) young, b) trendy, c) thin or possibly any two of those, but we're not, and we don't feel we need a whole lot more jewellery either.

What that colleague did spot was Hotel Chocolat, which when she was there was giving out free samples of chocolate and glasses of wine! Of course our delight at this could explain why we're not and probably never will be c), but there you go.

Serious moneysavers will make sure they check out the non-rebuilt part of Broadmead, including The Mall Galleries (not to be confused with The Mall Cribbs Causeway!) Here we have what I'd call the 'normal' high street shops.

Those wanting independent shops (with or without designer labels) will probaby want to go elsewhere, but that might be another thread for another day ...

Would love to know what the rest of you have found, and maybe a younger POV would be good!

geri1965_2

I was looking forward to it, but now that I've been, I don't think I'll be going very often (except to House of Fraser maybe). I'm 42 and a size 16/18 so fall into the not young/not thin category. I love some of the handbags I've seen but they are way out of my price range!

The only thing I've spent in there so far was £7.50 in Hotel Chocolat!

There's no denying that it's a very impressive shopping centre in terms of design and layout. I went to the opening night at HoF and stood on the balcony as the sun was going down, and it looked lovely.

Savvy_Sue

Well, I've been back a couple of times, and it now reminds me of an Escher drawing. Impossible to work out how it fits together, or how to get from one level to another.

Haven't walked round all the levels, but can't see that there are any shops I want in the 'new' bit: I rarely went into House of Fraser. Went with a friend who's new to Bristol on Saturday and she was similarly underwhelmed - "It hasn't even got a Debenhams!" So we left CC and headed back to the 'old' Broadmead.

It does seem to be having a knock-on effect, the 'old' part of Broadmead was HEAVING. Queues for lunch and loos everywhere.

Oh yes, the loos in CC: seriously modern! All shiny translucent surfaces, so you feel as if the cubicle doors are see through, although I don't think they are. :eek: But the hand driers will blow you away, almost literally. Hyper powerful, and mego noisy. I shall avoid ...

Back in the 'old', the Odeon cinema has a sign outside suggesting you don't pay the new inflated prices at the Showcase. Apparently the films shown in their 'Directors' Lounge' are only open to over 18s, even if the film itself has a 15 certificate, so be aware of that.

The one REALLY good thing is that the Park and Ride bus services are now running until 8.30 pm, Monday - Saturday. I'm really hoping that's not just in the run up to Christmas!

Umer

Glad to have a Zara finally in Bristol!! A lot of shops are definitely aimed at the younger generation, but I do wonder how much thought was put into the position of the shops. For example they have a Republic which is almost a 1/3 exclusive to G Star Raw items.... right opposite a dedicated G Star Raw shop!!

A lot of the shops were quite highly priced, but to be fair I did think there were a lot of quality shops. I imagine it will be great fun to go around in the christmas sales!! At least I hope so! With the parking costs also quite expensive (think it was minimum £3) I don't think I will be popping in unless I was really after something when Cribbs isn't that much further away.

This is no oxford street or bluewater, but will hopefully help raise the Bristol shopping profile.

Savvy_Sue

I'm sure that minimum £3 is only in the 'new' car park, and that you can do better than that. But I haven't got my head round what they've called the 'old' car parks, or even how to get into them any more ...

I guess it helps that I work nearby and I'm prepared to walk a bit!

azjh77

It cost me and the OH over 7 quid to get a return to town the other day...and while the buildings were quite nice there were not any shops I would want to go in (me being very mse, and not interested in clothes) ....and I agree with the comment about the frosty doors on the loo's, which didn't have any hooks for hanging your bags on. And the power drier's...nearly took my hands off! Think I'll stick to the shops in Kingswood for my Christmas shopping..at almost 4 pound for a return to town I can't afford to go there!

Savvy_Sue

Which could lead to a rant about First bus services, but that's probably for another thread ... :rotfl:

MinniMe_2

I went in for the first time last week - agreed the parking is a bit OTT but I thought the place was fantastic! Really great service in all shops, great layout, clean, tidy and a great improvement!

DCFC79

Is the car parking priced per hour,

PasturesNew

I went and was confused. I wasn't sure where it was and then suddenly I was out in the street at a Greggs. So I sacked it off and went to the Bay Horse for lunch instead.

If you don't know the area, it is hard to find too. Signs point to it, but when you're there there's no big sign saying you're there at all. The signs just stop. So, confused the hell out of me.

Loos were nice though but I was confused by the sinks. I couldn't find any soap then heard somebody else guessing where the soap was and I realised it was what I thought was the water heat controller.

Horasio

I went last week and found half the stores weren't open. Disappointing really:(