If you want to waste time this is the place for you ! we had someone in a wheelchair and had issues with the lift it does not stop level with the shop floors so took some effort to get out , in the end 2 floors were inacessable . We gave up and left without buying anything ,won't ever visist again.

We visited Botany Bay on the 29th April 2012 as we'd wanted to go there for ages. Well I wished we'd have read the reviews first! The place is a shambles. The building is lovely but that's about the only positive thing that can be said about it. First off the car park is small and full of very large pot holes. It was raining the day we went and I had to step into a massive puddle to get out of the car. Once inside, I thought it was going to be really good as it looked nice inside, but essentially the place is full of tat! What annoyed me was that some stalls were selling stuff that was blatantly second hand, alongside new stuff, but there was no clear indication of this. We picked up a lovely jacket for our baby daughter, only to find it was a George at Asda coat, which had been used! However, the biggest complaint has to be reserved for the restaurant (if you can call it that) on the 4th floor. I can honestly say I have never had such a horrible meal in all my life. I had a burger, which was basically a dry bun with a thin frozen burger placed in the middle...nothing else! The chips were cold and greasy and the meal took ages to arrive. Then they have the cheak to charge you £6.95 for it! I'd have gotten a better burger at a football match! My family's meals were poor as well...with cheap ingredients warmed up in a microwave. DO NOT EAT HERE! I definitely won't be going back...ever....and can only say that the place has such potential but is understaffed and expensive. Whoever manages/owns this place wants shooting! The cafe downstairs isn't much better and was filthy as no one cleared up. Gives the north west a bad name...places like this.

food cold and pricey staff very rude with no manners what so ever the place it's self was like going to a car boot full of people's old junk. Took my daughter into puddle town disgusting very very dirty old fassion thoughts before I went were maybe puddle town will be ideal for my daughters 4th birthday. No chane now after seeing the state of it i will not be visiting again!!!!

I entered Botany Bay at 9.30am, and went to the furniture floor to purchase a table which I had seen the day before. The staff at the till where very rude and told me the shop wasn't open till 10am, and that they would not serve me(obviously didn't want my £130 cash). When I went to leave I asked the security guard who was on the door, why let members of the public in when it is still shut? His answer was he hadn't seen me come in!!! An utter shambles and a waste of my time and petrol going there. Pity though, as it was a gorgeous table. Would definitely not go there again, and the staff need to be replaced.

Yesterday we visited Botany Bay from 70 miles away having noted they no longer charge you to go shopping there, but we almost didn't go having read the negative reviews. What we found was a very different place from that portayed by these reviewers.
1. The car park is no better or worse than most public car parks
2. The inside is a very pleasant clean place to shop
3. We were unable to find the empty stalls
4. The well stocked stalls were not filled with "tat", but with good interesting items
5. The staff were pleasant and polite
6. The ground floor cafe sold all sorts of drinks with good polite service
7. The 4th floor restaurant was not Michelin Starred but served good value food

The only small niggle we found was with the "filter coffee" in the ground floor cafe. If you are charging Costa/Nero's prices you really must put some coffee in the coloured water. It was too weak to decide what it was suppposed to be. A small complaint on an overall pleasant day out and I wonder if some of the negative reviews were written by a rival outlet.

paintermac

A Ghost Night at Botany Bay with Jason Karl

On the 22nd May 2010 my wife and myself went to one of Botany Bays ghost nights, what a load of rubbish and a rip off it was not worth the money of £49 each

We arrived at 19.05 and not knowing what to do asked a member of staff and he gave us two forms to fill in, there is no welcome or drink as stated, the staff they employ not very helpful and they found it difficult to talk, We was told to be there by 19.15, we hung around in the foyer until 20.00 when I asked why was told kitchens are not ready? Then we was taken upstairs to the very warm glass of wine,

The meal well what a joke, my wife and I both had the curry, It was the cheapest rice going and the curry was so wishy washy and very bland no taste, child portion, like the sort you get from Iceland for a £1,it was not filling at all, I had to go and buy a ham salad roll, the sweet was no better, I asked for cheesecake they ran out, I was starting to get annoyed, I asked the lady member of staff are they always this disorganised, she smiled and said well!!!,

We then had the comedy act Jason Karl (The scarlet pimpernel) and his team, that started with an hour long slide show of pictures of ghost, what a load of rubbish, He than passed us on to a medium and a historian who took us on the tour, with signs on the floor that says ghost hot spot, the medium then start saying I feel something It was like watching Ant and Dec again no very organise and a bit of a joke, if they were ghost expert I would give up the ghost and get a proper job, The lady with the Ouija board was pushing it, the only spirits in the place was behind the bar

I did not believe in the paranormal at the start of the night and by the end with third rate actors, I left Botany Bay knowing what a load of rubbish , and been ripped off big time, all together with Hotel I spent £188 is this what you mean, a night to remember,

If I was ask to sum up a Ghost Night with Jason Karl
Jason Karl did a disappearing act at the start,
Second rate mediums
Third rate food and over priced drinks
Totally disorganised and I will avoid like the plague,,

If you are looking for a truly depressing day, looking at second hand (Goods) ( ha!) please feel free to pay the admission charge, firstly the car park is dangerous, far to many holes, could damage your car, secondly you enter with great hopes after paying to enter you expect to be enthused, delighted even entertained - Forget it - the staff are miserable beyond words I enquire if the Mill is closing down as a lot of the stalls are empty - "we don't know, just always empty these days" the 2nd floor I would like to to a car boot sale - without the car boots , just tat on dusty dirty dank shelves - WHOEVER OWNS THE MILL - OR BORING BAY - YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING DESPERATELY - AND AS FOR THE FIFTY QUID FOR A GHOST NIGHT ARE YOU SERIOUSLY JOKING PAY TO GET IN THEN PAY FOR AN EVENT - RAIP OFF

A bizzare concept of paying to go shopping. I suppose we are used to paying for car parks but it like a delipidated farm road and could do some serious damage to your car so to have been asked to pay would have been ridiculous.