The Oval Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff were attentive and friendly."
• "All staff around the ground were friendly, polite and helpful."
• "Staff are pleasant and friendly."
• "The staff are exceptional - so friendly and helpful, made my visit even better."
• "All staff encountered were courteous and respectful."
• "The staff and stewards friendly and welcoming."
• "Staff were helpful, toilets were clean and never had to wait."

Cons:

• "The uninterested staff who think they are too important to work there."
• "The miserable staff who serve food and beverages."
• "Very poor management this time around."
• "Spoiled by extremely loud music in The concourse, catering staff could hardly make out customers orders."
• "Wasn't blown away by staff, who lacked some intelligence and aggressively accused me of vaping when I wasn't."
• "The worst hospitality I have experienced and I have experienced a lot of cricket hospitality."
• "I found security guards unhelpful and rude."

Facilities and Cleanliness

Pros:

• "All facilities really clean, lots of food options to choose from plus different drinks outlets."
• "The facilities are good with plenty of kiosks serving a range of food and drinks."
• "Lots of toilets, food vendors and bars, clean and modern."
• "Toilets are all across the ground and very clean."
• "The toilets are very clean and spacious and the new layout means there's plenty of space to move around."
• "Good toilet facilities in the family zone."
• "Plenty of clean toilets all around the stadium."

Cons:

• "We have to baked in sun no rooftop, not enough space to walk around the food stalls, may be over booked, not convenient for spectators."
• "The seats are so tiny and cramped you can barely sit on it."
• "The concourse gets ridiculously crowded during the lunch and tea breaks in play."
• "Queues can get very long and due to its shape, it can be hard to walk round."
• "Some toilets were relatively unclean."
• "Very little space in the concourse areas. Absolutely rammed at lunchtime so could hardly move."
• "We had a post blocking are views."

Food and Drink

Pros:

• "The atmosphere was incredible, the venue was great with a good range of food and drinks and everything was well organised."
• "Plenty to do around the ground many food trucks, Fish and Chips, Burgers and pies."
• "Nice Drinks and food options available."
• "Restaurant was amazing food!"
• "Had many food options and beer was not that expensive either."
• "A huge range of food to choose from, including halal kebabs and vegan ice-cream!"
• "Multiple food outlets and drinking options as well like Indian, Italian, American, etc."

Cons:

• "Food and drink are however rather pricey."
• "The beer is expensive and lacks flavour!"
• "Food and drink is super pricey for what you get, so be prepared."
• "The food and drink is quite expensive, £7.60 for a pint of lager, £12.50 for a pimms, £4.50 for an ice cream."
• "Food and drink is crazy expensive."
• "Food prices were astronomic."
• "The food Concessions are pretty pricy."

Accessibility and Location

Pros:

• "Easy public transport from both Oval and Vauxhall stations and pretty quick getaway at the end of the night."
• "Commuting to the Oval is also pretty easy and accessible."
• "Public transport is widely available."
• "Just 3 minutes walk from the Oval underground station (zone 2) Northan line."
• "The Oval is easily accessible by public transportation, with the Oval London Underground station located nearby."
• "Very accessible from Oval tube station. A 2 minute walk."
• "Conveniently close to Vauxhall station."

Cons:

• "There is no dedicated parking for this stadium and it is better not to drive as well."
• "The only problem is there is no parking near by as is in the heart of London near all the tourist attractions."
• "Shame the Oval underground station is simply not fit for purpose to quickly clear large numbers of people going home."
• "However, on match days, it is quite crowded and because of very narrow roads around the stadium, there is always huge traffic."
• "Post match do keep in mind that underground would be flooded."
• "At the end (rain) rather frightening trying to leave, the concourse absolutely packed."
• "There are issues with the quality of the curbs and getting a wheelchair up was difficult."

Atmosphere and Experience

Pros:

• "Great experience. Stewards welcoming. Easy to get about. And match was great."
• "Fantastic day, Being my 1st time at a English Cricket match let alone The Hundred, Fantastic atmosphere for all."
• "The atmospheres buzzing, fans are friendly, and there’s quick access to toilets, food and drink."
• "The Atmosphere was electric."
• "Fantastic experience, Amazing atmosphere, good match."
• "The crowd's infectious energy made the atmosphere electric, and the match itself was incredibly entertaining."
• "Great atmosphere, family friendly, great food and drinks on offer, clean facilities."

Cons:

• "However like any sporting event it was difficult to be seated on my designated seats as people come in a gang and want to seat together."
• "No information provided go supporters during a storm which the players had to leave the field for safety reasons."
• "As it doesn’t have roof over the seating spaces in most of the part, you might consider keeping an umbrella during overcast conditions."
• "Sound system was rubbish though - especially under the covered stand."
• "I am disappointed with just extremely horrible beers bad odour in J M Finn balcony sitting."
• "Rain cancelled the woman’s game and then two pitch inspections finally allowed the men’s game to proceed 80 mins late - we had to miss it for a long journey home."
• "Our visit to watch Test Cricket (Aus vs India) was spoiled by unnecessary and blaringly loud music played at any opportunity on the speaker system."