Foyles Reviews Summary

Book Selection

Pros:

• "Can you even imagine walking into a bookstore with 5 floors of the most amazing books spread across every conceivable topic?"
• "Wide variety in the selections."
• "Foyles is a bibliophile's dream come true, boasting an extensive collection that spans genres and interests."
• "Absolutely brilliant bookstore over 7 floors, really nicely laid out and easy guide on walls to where different sections are."
• "This bookstore is a book lover's dream come true. With five floors of books and a great selection of philosophy, history, and language books, it's easy to get lost browsing for hours."
• "The best bookshop in London and probably the UK. Fantastic displays and choices of all kinds of subjects."
• "Large selection of books including a large section of foreign books, which are hard to come by elsewhere."

Cons:

• "Book selection were disappointing and expect to pay fully printed prices in most items."
• "The 'quite' is due to it not being as well stocked as a few years ago."
• "Back in the day, Foyles had everything bookwise. But now .. ask for a map of Britain's second city and they direct you to Waterstones."
• "weird choice of books - field guides for the arctic, but no standard British field guides in the natural history section, and oddball computing titles."
• "The last three times I've come in here they haven't the book I was looking for."
• "Books everywhere but unfortunately there were none I wanted and I couldn’t find anyone to ask."
• "No Odo Hirsch books in the children's section, an author I like very much."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "One of the staff at the South Bank locations helped me find out that the second had the book I was looking for."
• "Staff on all levels were super helpful in pointing me in the right direction."
• "Always very nice and helpful."
• "The staff who are always very prepared and ready to advise you."
• "Staff are still friendly and helpful too."
• "The staff here are quite good at what they do. Very courteous and willing to help."
• "Friendly staff helped me find the last copy of a book for a last-minute gift."

Cons:

• "Only negative was very few staff to be seen."
• "I found his attitude towards a paying customer condescending, pretentious and plain rude."
• "Very rude staff at the cafe; even though you are a consumer and there is plenty of space they make sure you feel uncomfortable for you to leave."
• "There weren't very many clearly obvious workers on the shop floor to ask for assistance."
• "Sometimes there is no one at the till to serve customers on the languages books section."
• "Especially in the fiction section I can NEVER find a bookseller to help me."
• "Terrible customer service. Long queues. Staff just chatting rather than dealing with the queue."

Cafe and Amenities

Pros:

• "Also has a lovely cafe with good ambience."
• "Worked in the cafe on the 5th floor for a while and really enjoyed the ambience."
• "The cafe gets really busy but is overall quite nice."
• "The cafe was also a cute place to hang out for a bit."
• "Cafeteria on the 5th floor and occasional live music."
• "Good selection of cakes."
• "On the top floor there is a cafe with free Wi-Fi and great coffee indeed!!"

Cons:

• "The toilets are awful - one has no lock, just a bit of cord to try to tie it closed."
• "Also used the loo, both hand washing sinks were broken."
• "The cafe felt very unfriendly."
• "Food is pricey and average."
• "Really poor service at the cafe. Staff have no concept of hygiene."
• "Avoid the cafe at all cost. Chaotic, dirty, credit card machine out of service for weeks so it’s cash only."
• "The most disgusting vegetarian lasagne I have ever tasted."

Store Atmosphere and Layout

Pros:

• "LOVE what they've done with Foyles. I have been going for years, and the upgrade is impressive."
• "It's a welcoming space where you can lose track of time while immersed in the world of words."
• "Big, airy, open plan floors with lots of natural lighting."
• "It also has a very nice cafe in the top floor for lunch and reading or sitting with your laptop to do some work."
• "The ambiance of Foyles encourages visitors to linger, with comfortable reading nooks and cozy seating areas scattered throughout."
• "The Charing Cross location has such a beautiful layout with multiple floors!"
• "It's truly enormous, there is a book for anyone and everyone."

Cons:

• "I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this place felt soulless."
• "This place is huge, maybe a bit too big to my preference."
• "I found I really couldn't vibe with the place."
• "It is not a library and people treat it like one. Sitting there for hours with a single cup of coffee. Not cool."
• "Shame they redeveloped the shop and ended up with more space to roam but less space for books."
• "Some comfier seating wouldn't go amiss, maybe take your purchases to a nearby coffee shop instead!"
• "Big, airy, open plan floors with lots of natural lighting couldn’t dispel the soulless feeling of the place."