With some personal health issues I will no longer go to this place. The biggest problem is why it…read morewas built in a big hole in the ground. I got stuck down Wesley slope. The angina kicked in and it took me nearly an hour to get back up to the M&S store level

Changed the way the world viewed Basingstoke! I used to go to Reading, Southampton or Guildford…read morebefore Festival Place was built. Now I very rarely find the need to go further afield. Has a wide selection of shops, places to eat/drink and is always kept clean and tidy. Plenty of parking too, which always helps. If you've not been before, it's worth a visit.

I think Toys r Us is amazing and this is my favourite branch - barely a week goes by without us…read morevisiting. Toys R Us's are all very similar to look at, and have the same layout. They always have plenty of stock, and lots of special offers. The Basingstoke branch doesn't have a toilet and baby changing facility, which is worth knowing as most branches have, but thats the only downside. Staff will go out of their way to help you. If what you want isn't on the shelves, they will go and check the warehouse: and last year when everywhere was sold out of pink DS Lites they weren't allowed to reserve stock for people but would call you as soon as the item came into stock.

Trek for me, stars for some…read more Yep, its Christmas again and I have kids who demand (actually, they ask pretty nicely and write letters to Santa etc) So, its off for a visit to ToysRUs who have everything don't they? Well, they've quite a lot (if you crane your neck to look up as well as down) and the prices are pretty competitive. If only it wasn't so bright, garish, there was an opportunity to rest your feet (the store's pretty big). Anyway, I still exited lighter of wallet, lighter of heart (got what I was looking for) and pleased that I, a father who has precious little time to go to real shops, managed to contribute to my little ones happiness.

It's cheap, it's big, it's Asda…read more Asda has to be the cheapest supermarket in town. It has a great range of non-food goods too, clothing, electricals, toys and games, books etc, which is great. There's a hot food counter which does hot chickens and pizzas made to order, and a coffee shop too. What's not great, in my experience, is the fresh food. It doesn't tend to last long before it goes off - i'm talking greengrocery and meat here. In fact i'd never buy meat again from Asda, especially chicken breasts which i've had several bad experiences with now. But on a positive note, it's great value, has lots of checkouts including self-scan ones and is noticeably cheaper than Sainsbury's or Tesco for a weekly shop.

Asda, hmmm im not a fan, the last time i was here i abandoned a shopping trolley 1/2 way though a…read moreshop, as they didn't have the brands i needed, and such had to go else where anyway, so got it all elsewhere. They do seam to specialise in their own brands, rather than stock a wide range of other brands, and seam to stock mostly middle of the road brands, with no higher end stuff in most categories. They do have a large homewares department, thanks to them being part of the wallmart group. This covers seasonal (i did get some nice Halloween bits in here last year), clothing, home electrical and wares, and entertainment. The name that they once had for selling top 40 books cheaper has dwindled the range of books has stayed high for a supermarket, but pricing has come up and now quite often isnt that competitive.

Chineham Shopping Centre is served by the local community of Basingstoke and the surrounding…read morevillages. It has excellent car parking and shopping facilities including a Tescos, Next, Matalan, Iceland, Boots, Superdrug and Lloyds Chemist, Clarkes and Brantano shoe shops. There is a large Newsagents a public library plus other smaller establishments. There is also a hairdressers and plus public toilets are available at the centre also. There is a Fish and Chip shop which is well known by the locals and serves excellent fish and chips which you can eat in or take away. There is also a very nice cafe and a Dominos Pizza. At weekends sometimes there is also a Van that parks right in the middle of the shopping centre and serves very tasty food. You can also sit outside to eat this as there are usually table and chairs provided. I shop here quite often and as I don't drive it is very handy as there is a bus stop which drops you right off at the Shopping Centre. If you fancy a short walk there are quite pleasant woods that you could wander round just across the road from the Centre.

A very large Matalan in chineham shopping centre, there is loads of free parking - two huge…read morecarparks to chose from within 2mins walk, one carpark right outside matalan. Its two storey and they sell just about anything from childrens,ladies and menswear to toys and homewear. I love coming in here but you have to have loads time because there is so much to look at! The clothes are what i normally go in for, and i think they are good quality and very reasonably priced! Lots of tills and plenty of staff that are cheerful and willing to help!

Popped in for bite to eat and cuppa, unfortunatly they had sold out of alot of items due to quality…read morecontrol issues but having a pot of tea and only costing £1 like the other supermaket says, every little helps.

A large Sainsburys this disappointingly does not stock TU clothing, with the exception of a small…read moreselection of kids clothing tucked away at the back of the store adjacent to the nappies! There is a very decent pharmacy instore where the staff are helpful and knowledgable about most issues! I find that the store as a whole tends to quickly sell out of special offers, and the staff as a whole are unaware of what the offers are which doesn't help if you need either clarification or to know when they will be replenished. They have quite a good selection of household products such as duvet covers and kitchen appliances, mostly priced at a reasonable level. There is a cafe in store although i have never ventured in, but it does serve ben and jerrysyum! Dry cleaning gets sent away from this store, so good if you don't mind waiting for a week for it to return! Petrol is always competively priced here to! And don't forget your nectar card, as they never ever ask you for it!

The Zara store in the Festival Place is a middle sized store that has the basics available in all…read morezara stores as well as a few of the other pieces. In general Zara is a mid priced 'classy' clothing store. A lot of the pieces are suitable for working in offices. They have a continual Basic line of clothes, so if you find something that you really like chances are that the a couple years down the road you can replace it if needed. Or get another 5 or 6 colours if that's what you prefer. There are also always other nice things to supplement the basic range. Zara also has a children's and a men's clothing range - I don't have too much experience in these ranges.

Zara is Zara, really. It's not as if it varies that much from place to place. This is a pleasantly…read morespacious, well laid out store with a range of clothes, often at surprisingly cheap prices. It looks like it should cost more - with their trendy layout and lighting it's a lot classier than the average mid-priced clothes store - which is a nice surprise. Also located conveniently for the average Festival Place visitor, so handy if you're in the area.

Not a bad supermarket, but not as cheap as you might think. If you stick to their 'deals' they're…read moregreat, but otherwise I don't think they're any cheaper than Tesco. They do have plus points over Tesco though: 1. Parking. I prefer the parking here to Tesco in Chineham. You can park near the front of the store which is useful when you have a trolley load! 2. The salad bar.yummy! 3. The hot food counter.also yummy! 4. The cafe/restaurant. Great for a cuppa and they do a really reasonably priced breakfast. If you're a Tesco shopper and you fancy a change, I'd recommend you give Morrisons a try. PS. I do agree with the comment about fruit and veg though, it tends to have a very short shelf life.

Morrisons (Safeway) supermarket. This is where i perform the weekly shop. With great parking…read morefacilities it just gets better and better. With the convienence of cashpoints outside and a post box inside i always feel at ease shopping here. Fish mongers, Deli counters, Entertainment centre, and a salad bar all available. I often take a break after the shopping at he Cafe which is always relaxing and friendly. Plesent shopping experience week in week out.