Your Local Garden Centre Alver Valley Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "The staff were very friendly and helpful."
• "They are always friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful."
• "All staff were very friendly and helpful."
• "Staff very friendly spoke to a member of staff called Angie to day and she was very helpful."
• "The staff all seemed friendly and only too happy to help."
• "Staff are always helpful and happy about it!"
• "Friendly and helpful staff, plenty of parking available."

Cons:

• "Went to the garden kitchen service was poor, we had to wait a day and an age for the lady (Michele) behind to food counter to take our order."
• "Although the staff did attend to our needs they had no sense of urgency about them."
• "No one seems to know what needs to be done."
• "Be prepared to be stereotyped by the staff, started at, talked about between staff and then followed around the store."
• "The lady serving us was unhelpful, unfriendly and making minimal effort."
• "Restaurant staff didn't notice our coffee spilt over the counter to the floor."
• "We were followed around the store by staff, we were made to feel like we were going to steal from the store."

Cafe and Food

Pros:

• "Cauliflower cheese was lovely and potato in its skin was ok."
• "Enjoyed nice coffee and a bite in the restaurant."
• "Food was top notch and still hot when we were all ready to eat."
• "The food on offer in the cafe was brilliant and plentiful but most importantly tasty."
• "Brilliant shopping experience, good selection of gifts and plants both Indoor and outdoor. An all round brilliant experience and a fabulous cafe with freshly made cakes, sandwiches, ploughman's and hot food at reasonable prices."
• "Cafe is outstanding! Lots of friendly staff and lots to choose from for a food."
• "The best bit is the restaurant and all the amazing food choices from curries to cake."

Cons:

• "Lots of outside seating but slow service due to queueing."
• "Went in there today 16/10/22, had breakfast in the lovely clean cafe, what a shock to find when it arrived it was cold."
• "The cafe is very poor. Hugely overpriced for what it is. Very slow service and coffee machines which stop working."
• "Rubbish jacket potato’s every time I’ve been there, brown and mushy inside."
• "The beef was tasty, but the roast potatoes were difficult to cut and the vegetables and gravy were lukewarm."
• "Chaotic and slow food service, which was frustrating for staff and customers."
• "The cafe was appalling if I’m honest. Not enough staff and a queue of at least 20 mins just to get a drink."

Facilities and Layout

Pros:

• "Very well stocked garden centre ... Nice cafe inside as well, with a seating area designated for people who have brought their dog with them."
• "There is plenty of parking and the restaurant has lots of seating."
• "Great to have this centre so locally to lee on the solent."
• "A lovely bright airy building with plenty of room in the cafe."
• "Good selection of plants, even those on the sale's table looked healthy."
• "Lovely new garden centre, on a par with Garson's. Great variety, with clothes, shoes, gifts, food and of course almost anything you could want for a garden."
• "Big car park and good signage to location. Large and well laid out store and everything easily located within the store."

Cons:

• "Alver Valley Garden Center ought to cower in Garson's shadow, an establishment in which you aren't addressed as 'love' and where the staff have more than a shared brain cell between them."
• "The cafe needs to be better organised, only one queue, so if you are just after a coffee you'll be stuck in the queue for food unless you're prepared to push through."
• "The checkout experience is unbelievably slow."
• "It has not been open for that long so still has that shiny new feeling."
• "Quite expensive although probably on a par with the other large ones nearby such as Garsons."
• "The trollies are so large, maybe choice if few smaller ones as supermarkets."
• "Your large beautiful coffee shop service is atrocious."

Pricing and Value

Pros:

• "Great selection of really healthy plants. We'll laid out and reasonably priced."
• "Good prices."
• "Ample car parking, a huge variety of plants for really affordable prices."
• "Definitely the best garden centre locally! Had everything on my shopping list, it is well laid out and staff very helpful plenty of car parking places and prices reasonable."