Westfields has arrived in London Tuesday, 4th November 2008 - 17:15pm London
If there was one thing to be excited about in London this year it would have to be the opening of a Westfields Shopping centre only 5 mins from where I live. As an Australian, I've grown up with the common convenience of a shopping centre and when I first moved to London over 4 and half years ago, I was surprised to find that the idea of a shopping centre did not exist in central London. The idea of shopping in London involves walking the lengthy high streets in and out of shops which is lovely on a summers day but how many of those do we see in London? Finally, London has a place to shop without having to tackle the elements of mother nature. Don't get me wrong, I do love wandering the streets to shop but I do prefer to find independent shops rather than the major chains.
Perhaps as an Aussie, I am a little more excited that it is in fact a Westfields. It's like having a little slice of home right here in London, except in fact it is more akin to being the whole cake rather than a slice. The new Westfields is huge and has everything that one could hope for and possibly more. It took me a couple of hours to explore on the opening day along with a million other people. Yes, apparently, credit crunch or no credit crunch, we are all attracted to big shiny places where we can spend money.
So a very quick run down of the good and bad:
The good:
Free WIFI (This scores extra bonus points)
Indicators in the parking lot tells you at every turn how many spaces are available down that section
A foodcourt (This concept is almost unknown in London)
Boost juice (Another aussie company)
Easy transport access by a number of tube lines including my local one
An apple store
Did I mention it was only 5 min drive from where I live?
The bad:
No free parking period
Layout is not entirely self explanatory but that could be their plan
Note: Hover mouse over bottom of photo above to see more photos.