The Whitworth Reviews Summary

Exhibition Quality

Pros:

• "The Albrecht Dürer exhibition is breathtaking, hosting some of his most important prints."
• "Stimulating combinations of work on display, with many very satisfying individual pieces."
• "The exhibits are phenomenal and offer a refreshing perspective, unafraid to be challenging."
• "Their current exhibits were astounding and the building is beautiful."
• "Always a thought provoking range of exhibitions and a real focus on collaboration with community groups."
• "The gallery has an amazing selection of exhibits."
• "The current programme is excellent. It is thought provoking, emotive and inspirational."

Cons:

• "The art exhibition space is boring and doesn't appear to have any order or suitable lighting."
• "The building is great but what they put for exhibition don't match the character of the building."
• "The whitworth had an extensive collection of old art which I had hoped to see. Instead there were lots of modern works on display and lots of empty spaces."
• "Bland, boring. Family activity consisted of pens and paper, material and glue."
• "Not much to see in there at the mo, half of it shut, were out of there within the hour."
• "The items offered for viewing seem to be by little known artists and students."
• "We were a little bit underwhelmed as there seemed to be very little on display."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "All the staff I spoke to were nice and knowledgeable on the pieces of art I asked about."
• "The front of house staff are helpful and very friendly at The Whitworth."
• "The staff are knowledgeable and involved, we felt really welcome."
• "Incredibly amazing staff members."
• "The staff are great and always helpful."
• "Very friendly staff."
• "The staff were friendly as well!"

Cons:

• "The viewing was spoiled as the Chinese lady, eastern European lady and fat black lady who work there wouldn't stop talking very loudly."
• "However the barista staff in the on site café were substandard."
• "Hot food is now on a par with generic railway station fare, and the staff seen undertrained."
• "Our poor waitress was very stressed, and the service wasn't great."
• "Experience spoiled with very noisy large group of children having a dance/ drama class."
• "I was very disappointed by the cafe. There are lots of passive aggressive messages posted around and I definitely felt that my children were not welcome there."
• "The cafe is rubbish. The staff couldn't care less if the client is well served or not."

Café and Food Quality

Pros:

• "Was at the cafe yesterday on Sunday. The hosts was great and very pleasant and promptly showed my son and I to our table."
• "The café is one of my favourites, and I just love the view and the fact that it’s connected to the park."
• "The gallery's café was, not surprisingly, popular - good food and drink at affordable prices."
• "Great bar to meet locals and enjoy good food, good beverages, and superior coffee and hot drinks at affordable prices."
• "Always a pleasant experience for the family, a relaxing day out and really nice cafe with plenty of lunch options."
• "Food was great value and tasted delicious!"
• "The cafe has lovely views over the park and garden with the main eating area seeming to extend into the trees."

Cons:

• "The cafe was a complete let-down. The quality of the extremely limited food available was poor."
• "The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was the nourish bowl."
• "After waiting a really long time for the food (and it wasn't even busy), the toast arrived without any butter on it or with it."
• "We waited 20 minutes to be seated in the café."
• "The excellent cafe doesn't turn things around very quickly, so you might want to allow an extra 10 or 15 minutes for lunch."
• "There was less variety today."
• "I was most interested in the watercolours, but there is no information on the wall."

Accessibility and Location

Pros:

• "Wheelchair accessible with automated doors on WC's."
• "If traveling by bus then there are plenty of buses which stop at the gallery."
• "It's surrounded by the park where you can relax in the open air and take a break from life."
• "The toilets have locker facilities, there is plenty of parking available around the gallery."
• "This place can be considered as the modern art gallery of Manchester."
• "Free entry and not tickets need. Amazing exhibition."
• "Well appointed with seating for mobility issues and toilets accessible."

Cons:

• "Roads getting near the place are a nightmare tho, sat nav tries to take to you up a bus lane."
• "Being adjacent to the main hospitals can at times cause a shortage of car spaces."
• "Just such a shame that there is no designated parking. Makes it very difficult to access especially when you are bringing young children from a distance."
• "Parking is a nightmare, the streets surrounding it are chocker blocked so you're left with car parks."
• "The most frustrating aspect was part of the city wide festival was a collection of art explained by pamphlets, but the pamphlets had run out!"
• "Tried to get into the cafe, but it was full, again full of mum's and children, so left, pity as I'd been told it was good."
• "The Gallery's Cafe was a nice break. Finally a proper cup of coffee."