Address: N Orbital Rd, St Albans, AL2 1DH, United Kingdom
Phone: +441727822255
Rating: 4.6
based on 327 reviews.
Staff and Service
Pros:
"Staff always very helpful, knowledgeable and friendly."
"Friendly, helpful staff throughout."
"The staff are always very helpful, but today they went above and beyond."
"Staff very knowledgeable and helpful."
"Great, super friendly helpful staffs, always smiling."
"The staff I spoke to very friendly."
"Everyone I encountered was so helpful and knowledgeable."
Cons:
"Was needing some help with plants, but the staff outside didn't seem to have enough knowledge to help really so that was a bit of a disappointment on that part."
"They need to sort out their fork truck guy. He's so miserable and makes it a very dour experience having to go there."
"One particular Till operator made me very uncomfortable and made a fool out of herself."
"Sadly today the man & woman working at the entrance desk were particularly rude & difficult."
"The till staff are really miserable and have been consecutively for many visits."
"Only the one male member of staff, in the information center, was truly helpful with the questions we had. The other female staff we spoke to (3 of them) were condescending, not well informed, and unwilling to help where questions were more general and needed them to think."
"The waiting staff very slow and got our orders wrong, it took two attempts to get this right."
Facilities and Layout
Pros:
"Very well laid out and an altogether lovely shopping experience."
"It's a super cool atmosphere and even if you don't buy anything you can go for a walk there and it's like a car park where there's also a Costa and a food shop and even a furniture shop so there's a lot of stuff."
"Excellent garden centre with a vast choice of indoor and outdoor plants, currently has lots of lovely Christmas decorations."
"There's a stunning garden to the back of the overflow car park that's open all year round."
"The car park is great too as there’s loads of parking so finding a space wasn’t an issue at all."
"Car Park now relaid, extended and remarked."
"Carpark layout now improved, with overflow parking still available where necessary."
Cons:
"New parking arrangement means longer walks for the disabled."
"It's not the easiest navigating a full trolley load of goodies around the maze to the tills!"
"REALLY need a safer way to access and exit the shops along here!"
"Directional posters got a bit confusing trying to leave Xmas decoration area."
"Dangerous trying to get in and out of site, due to traffic speed, use 'back entrance' for safety."
"It's also quite awkward to get in and out of, off a very busy main road."
"Parking can be a little tricky with many crossover points."
Product Selection and Quality
Pros:
"Good selection of plants well looked after extremely rare to see any stock showing signs of distress or disease."
"All their trees, plants and shrubs are of the best quality and are well cared for."
"What a great garden centre, huge selection of plants with good prices. All the plants in great condition, so much choice and helpful staff."
"The Nursery is good, there is a large selection plants, although not everything we were after."
"Great variety of plants and choice."
"Excellent range of garden and indoor plants - all appeared very well cared for."
"Plants are of supreme quality, look fantastic in your garden and once they flower, they are there to stay!"
Cons:
"I visited a bit late to get what I always search for (fruiting plants)."
"Due to the time of year (just after Christmas) stock was rather low on certain products."
"We were all quite disappointed- the guy helping with the hedge trimmer was helpful but couldn't find the box or proper manual."
"The food was awful......dried bap that was like wool."
"It's pretty expensive, hence the loss of a star."
"In the last few years the prices have been steadily increasing."
"It used to be lovely- spacious and self service but it's now enclosed and cramped. The service was slow and our coffee was a bit cold."
Cafe and Dining Experience
Pros:
"The food and service in the Cafe was excellent."
"Food was good. Staff friendly."
"Also treated ourselves to an excellent meal in the cafe."
"Best of all is the level of service from staff around the place with very good service in the restaurant."
"Enjoyed a very nice lunch in the cafe."
"The cafe is to die for. They catered for my intolerance of white bread and replaced with beautiful whole meal loaf."
"The Cafe is superb, with a selection of Jam preserves to die for."
Cons:
"Cafe is closed currently though due to covid, but they do have a festival garden running."
"However due to its popularity queues can build up so arrive early."
"The food/cafe: Boring, bland, little to no choices for people with food allergies, staff not knowledgeable about what's in the food."
"The cafe is overpriced and disappointing."
"The new restaurant has a few teething problems so along with a couple of other tables we eventually left."
"Used the new cafe for the first time since being revamped. Staff very pleasant but the food is not as good as it was and very, very expensive for what we had."
"Food was a big let down today in the cafe."
Accessibility and Convenience
Pros:
"Everything you need and expect from a garden centre. The cafe is nice too... Dog friendly as well. Worth a visit."
"Dogs are permitted as long as well behaved and kept on leads."
"Very excited to find 3 x 22 Kw EV charging machines (untethered) which can charge 6 cars; wide spaces and well lit."
"There's also electric car charging available in the carpark, which I hope to make use of on a future visit."
"Electric car charging points available."
"Ayletts is a fabulous garden centre, especially in the summer when it's the Dahlia Festival."
"The Celebration Garden is also absolutely beautiful."
Cons:
"The food hall is very good - well made food and good service too."
"The coffee shop is good but it's a shame you can't see the cakes like you used to before covid as it's waiter service only."
"The prices of the plants, pots etc are too high."
"The cafe waiting system doesn't work, we walked away and so did 4 others, your loss."
"Long queues and then further waiting when you've ordered and really limited options for people with allergies."
"The cafe however really lets the place down... The wait to pay was particularly long and I don’t really understand why this format was chosen for a garden centre cafe."
"Food reasonable, but accompanying salad now does not include tomato or cucumber, only 'leaves' (without a dressing)."