CHOOSE GARDEN CENTRES BY COUNTY BELOW
PLANTS AREA: One of the largest in the UK, very comprehensive and well laid out but lacks design flair to inspire.
See lower down this article for a more comprehensive review of the Dobbies Atherstone plants area.
Plants Area Rating:
INTERIOR SALES AREA: Just about everything you could expect from a large garden centre
See lower down this article for a more comprehensive review of the V interior sales area.
Interior Sales Area Rating:
CAFE: Large but uninspiring. Times to queue are a major problem for this garden centre.
See lower down this article for a more comprehensive review of the Dobbies Atherstone cafe.
Cafe Rating:
DOG FRIENDLY? Dogs are not allowed in the Foodhall or children's play area. In the restaurant they are only allowed in the Dog Friendly area and in the outdoor seating area. They are allowed in all other areas on a leash.
Recognised Assistance Dogs are permitted to accompany their owners in all areas.
VALUE FOR MONEY:
Entrance to Dobbies Garden Centre
OPENING HOURS DOBBIES ATHERSTONE GARDEN CENTRE |
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| Open | Close | |
| Monday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
| Tuesday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
| Wednesday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
| Thursday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
| Friday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
| Saturday | 9.00am | 6.00pm |
| Sunday | 10.00am | 4.30pm |
| ||
Hoar Park Garden Centre
Littlehurst Nursery and Garden Centre
Woodlands Garden Centre
Sapcote Garden Centre
SIZE: A very large cafe with a large seating area
FOOD TYPE: Garden centre type of food with everything from coffees to main meals and breakfasts.
FOOD QUALITY:
Food
quality is about average with the portions being a reasonable size. We had two
meals at this garden centre cafe.
Ham egg and chips which was just below mediocre. The ham was not particularly tasty or good quality. The chips were very mediocre.
The picture below was taken by us to illustrate what the meal really looks like (click the picture to enlarge it) compared to the same meal as shown on the Dobbies official website.
Dobbies Ham, Egg and Chips
served to us when we visited
The picture below shows the same meal as it appears on the Dobbies official website.
Dobbies official picture of their
Ham, Egg and Chips
Chicken Caesar Salad which was slightly above average. The salad part of the meal was crisp and fresh, the chicken chunks and the croutons were average.
The picture below was taken by us to illustrate what the meal really looks like.
Dobbies Chicken Caesar Salad
DECOR:
Nothing special, the decor is modern style. Our major complaint is that the
table tops, chairs and the floors especially, were not clean at all. They could
well be described as unhealthy.
OUTDOOR SEATING:
The
outdoor seating area was closed off when we visited.
SERVICE:
We
visited the cafe twice, both times were not peak times nor peak days but it took
us an average of 23 minutes before we sat down to our food. On both occasions
other people in the queue were complaining about the time it took to reach the
checkout. Aside from the long wait, the service was good.
VALUE FOR MONEY:
At
the time of our visit example prices were:
Considering the quality of food, the decor and the service we have rated this cafe value for money as average. The major let down for this cafe was the length of time to queue up.
SIZE OF PLANTS AREA: The size of the plants area is very large and has all that you would expect from a very large garden centre. The Greenhouse People concession have an extremely large display area of greenhouses, sheds and other garden buildings. This is an excellent place to visit if you are planning for a new greenhouse or garden building.
PLANT SELECTION:
Extremely comprehensive is the only way to describe the range of plants on
offer. From small bedding plants right up up to semi-mature trees - if you can't
find the plant / shrub / tree you are looking for at this garden centre you will
probably only find it at a specialist nursery.
Hardy plants are guaranteed for your lifetime.
LAYOUT:
The layout is highly practical. As you exit the interior sales area you enter a
large covered plants area for all the tender plants. This leads out into the
main plants area which is mainly uncovered but it does have covered pathways all
the way around it, very useful if it is raining.
Signage to plant groups (e.g. shrubs, fruit climbers, roses etc.) is excellent and the plants within each group tend to arranged alphabetically.
The layout is plain and functional with little attempt made at an inspiring or interesting layout. It lacks character and design flair in favour of functionality.
VALUE FOR MONEY::
Prices
are slightly above average for plants, however the large choice made up for this
to some degree.
SIZE: Dobbies Atherstone has one of the largest of all garden centre interior sales areas. Everything is here, cards, gifts, food hall including Trotters Butchers, Maidenhead Aquatics, The Greenhouse People and others. The star of the show for us was Mobility Centre Midlands which have an exceptionally large and well presented display area.
There is a very large area concentrating not only on gardening products, where almost every need is covered.
VALUE FOR MONEY:
Aside
from the concessions, Dobbies sell a huge variety of products and in general
these products were priced either slightly higher than average or average.
ACCESS:
Excellent access in the interior areas with some areas accessible by gently
sloping paths. Outside in the plants area, all the paths are solid (either
tarmac or concrete) and easily navigated by wheelchair users. Toilets are
available exclusively for the disabled and wheelchairs are freely available at
the entrance to the garden centre.
The car park area is on solid ground with gentle ramps for wheelchair users.
FACILITIES: The car park appears to be large enough to cope with demand even at peak times. It is flat and on a hard surface.
Toilets are clean and well kept.
ADDRESS:
Cross Lane Farm,
Nuneaton Road,
Mancetter,
Atherstone,
Warwickshire CV9 1RF
OWNER:
Dobbies Garden Centre, owned by Midlothian Capital and Hattington Capital Holding Company.
TELEPHONE NUMBER:
01827 715511
EMAIL:
Use their contact web page
here
WEBSITE:
Dobbies Atherstone webiste can be found
here
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