Marks and Spencer in St Albans

Easily the best M&S I’ve ever been to. Great layout. Fantastic staff. Food hall is amazing. The only negative is the cafe closes far too early when the store is open till 9pm? Don’t get?

Oct 2024 update: I originally rated 1/5 stars (please see below), but would like to say that the M&S Cafe is much improved now, so credit goes to the whole team there. The computer ordering system is still rather inflexible, but people are used to its limitations by now. The fiasco with mobile ordering has also been done away with, thankfully! --- The refurbished restaurant is an unmitigated disaster. Three months after reopening, the kitchen is still constantly short of food, the staff are overwhelmed and short of training. The ordering system is inflexible and doesn't tell you if an item is out of stock until you've gone to try and add it to the basket. At least with the old tills, we were able to amend items (no sauce etc). Now we're told there's simply no way to ask the kitchen for such tweaks, vastly reducing the menu available to those with allergies and particular dietary requirements. The restaurant itself is now ridiculously overcrowded. The sheer number of tables packed into the restaurant makes it impossible for people to navigate through, as well as leaving the inexperienced waiting staff roaming around looking for the right table to deliver any food that miraculously makes it out of the kitchen. Considering how long the restaurants were closed for refurbishment, it is very disappointing that more thought wasn't put into how to provide a functional dining service. We might have spent a long time queueing for food before the refurbishment, but at least once we'd ordered, the food was guaranteed to arrive promptly. Now, we can order and end up spending an eternity waiting for food that'll never arrive. If I could give this review zero stars out of five, I would.

Big thank you to Annette and Maia for helping pick a suit, their advice on the style and correct size was excellent. Service was outstanding and very happy with my purchase.

Went today and sat for over half an Hour waiting for a pot of tea which failed to arrive. I watched staff walking around looking for the numbers on the tables to hand the correct food to : which seems to take ages. I asked two staff if they knew how Long might be waiting . They walked off. They were letting more and more people order food without informing people how long they might need to wait. It’s a very unpleasant experience : so noisy , no real interaction with staff. I will not be ever using the cafe again. Shame. The other one was much better. In the end I asked for a take away tea and the staff who served me said herself ‘ it’s chaos’ today.

Angela and Kay at Marks and Spencer in London Colney were brilliant at helping me find the clothing that my mum needed. Without their help, I would have struggled to find the right items. I cannot thank them enough! Roland Timmann

I needed an outfit for a wedding and went into the Jaeger department and spoke to the assistant Rachel she was brilliant she really helped me. I bought a gorgeous sale Jaeger dress navy and cream felt great in it and bought some cream shoes to match. Huge thank you it was a wedding in the cotswolds the next day and i looked great and will wear it again and again. Size true to fit

Best green grapes and watermelon I've ever eaten.

James in the London Colney foodhall checkout offered fantastic service, he is a real asset to M&S and great to see such diversity of employee! 👍🏼

I had an order to collect at Argos located in Sainsburys but also ended up with a trolley load of purchases from Sainsburys itself. I was so disappointed to discover there were no serviced tills whatsoever!!!! I was directed to self service which , on principle I will not use. I always used to say it’s the thin end of the wedge but in this store the end of the wedge has been reached! Apologies to the staff who would have had to replace all of the items I was hoping to purchase, but it’s in support of jobs for you that I made my little protest! Maybe if others did the same we could demonstrate to management that some of us prefer a serviced check out over a self service. Interestingly , in some Scandinavian countries they are reverting back to offering serviced check out tills as customers have demanded them!!!!

My 5 stars go to Nick in menswear! Nick was so polite and helpful. Fantastic customer service.

Huge store and food hall. Café upstairs is large, staff always friendly and food always nice

I ordered a personalised celebration cake for my in-laws 60th wedding anniversary. The on-line ordering was easy, communication was great and the cake was beautiful and very tasty. Thanks M&S! Highly recommend.

This is a great place for a family shopping you can buy anything you need ,and plus you got a massive car park where you can enjoy your shopping for longer !!

Great shopping experience. Lots of other shops in the area. Free parking onsite. Sainsbury nearby. Cash withdrawal available inside the complex.

The best place for some fun shopping with family.

Excellent products and quality. They have a very big variety of organic foods.

Has improved a lot recently, now it's food only.

Lucy and lily are so lovely they helped me find a dress for a wedding. They deserve some recognition for their hard work. Thank you girls <3

Shocking I have never been in here and been satisfied…. Brought my uncle on for a coffee took 14mins to get it . He said why have they gone down hill so much . They used to be a lovely company 😢

This was our first vusit to the cafe. Ordered Full English breakfast, poached eggs hard, streaky bacon full of fat, sausages hard, beans mushy. All items were not fresh, they were overcooked as if they were cooked hours ago. Couldn't finish. Pot of tea nice, however was given a dirty cup which I returned only to be given another dirty one. Whole experience was inadequate, never go back to M&S cafe. Thoroughly disappointed

It was bad and when i went my to get a coffee a guy named alfie shouted in my face and when i drank my coffee it had a moth in a there salad is off with mould

If you need help make sure you don’t ask the staff They might be too busy talking too friends and attempt to tell you off for interrupting. Shocking visit avoid!

"Priti Shah from the food section at M&S in London Colney, St. Albans, deserves high praise for her exceptional customer service. When we encountered a billing issue with a gift card, Priti demonstrated incredible patience and determination in resolving the problem promptly. Her professionalism and dedication have left a lasting impression on us, prompting us to become more frequent visitors to M&S despite our loyalty to Sainsbury's. Priti is undoubtedly an invaluable asset to the team, and we highly commend her outstanding assistance."

We recently had the pleasure of visiting M&S at London Coloney - St Albans City Branch as part of my weekend shopping routine, and We couldn't be more impressed with the exemplary customer service provided by employees Rosie and Priti Shah from Food. As a regular Sainsbury's and Morrisons customer, We've recently started exploring M&S for my shopping needs. We had multiple gift cards with unused cash lying around for months, and I was eager to release the spare cash from these cards. Miss Rosie , along with Priti Shah from Food, at the M&S store went above and beyond to assist me. She was incredibly kind, patient, and waited patiently until I finished utilizing all the cash from the gift cards. Her level of dedication and willingness to spend the extra time to help a customer truly stood out. Rosie and Priti Shah have provided exceptional customer service has left a lasting positive impression on me, and as a result, We are considering making M&S a more regular part of my weekend shopping routine. I appreciate the outstanding service and look forward to future positive experiences at M&S.

I want to say a big thanku to Eleanor very friendly and sweet lady very helpful 😊 ☺️ also big thanku to Kelly who solved my order problem. I'm sure all staff are lovely but I really enjoyed my serviceby these ladies. There was a nother lady(didn't quite catch her name) if she comes across this I'm the lady who asked u about kids uniform). Who had a walking stick maybe she was a manger I don't know but very good customer service and helpful. xxx

shop is great self service café makes marks look like macdonalds bring back humans

Very poor customer service from a lady in the children’s wear department this morning. Visited to exchange/get credit note for a child’s gift in the wrong size. New (and pleasant) lady on the til being mentored by an older blonde lady with glasses. This older lady spoke disparagingly about customers, was abrupt and unhelpful when I asked if a gift receipt could be used online “yes just looks at the writing at the bottom”- (turns out she is incorrect) so not only have I been given the wrong information this staff member was rude and I feel compelled to let Marks and Spencer know.

Came here with my son to do Xmas shopping. A lovely member of staff called Kay walked us round the store for 15 mins and helped us with everything we needed. Brilliant service. Merry Xmas Kay and thank you.

It was very nice, only two attendants ordered coffee, and it wasn't hot enough, so they asked to heat the coffee, and it didn't come back after more than fifteen minutes! After they asked at least three times from three different people! And someone else ordered hot chocolate, and it didn't arrive until we had already finished eating! But the food was very tasty, so I can't give it less than 3

Stopped for a M and S breakfast on a journey to Norfolk. Good grief. What a terrible disappointment!!!!!! A new so called revamped cafe. Gone were the pleasant staff to take your order. Replaced with soulless, irritating and time wasting ordering screens. The whole place smacked of a Korean self service fast food outlet. Yes the food came by hand...... A dour and miserable staff member who arrived without a word and plonked the plates on the table. So, this is the new shape of M and S. Unfriendly, sterile and frankly unpleasant. We won't be frequenting another M and S anytime soon. Wake up M and S. Revamping doesn't make it better. Indeed...... It is appalling.

I like this M&S store but they need to be more clean for the food hall! Cake was yummy 😋

I went to the cafe to treat myself for breakfast. I ordered coffee, and I always like my coffee piping hot, so I always click on extra hot. When I received it, it was luke warm. Why have a button says extra hot, and nobody reads it, this isnt the first time it has happened. Also, I had the breakfast, and it did look great, but the poached eggs were stone cold (tastes like it just came out of the fridge), and the other things on the plate were warm edible just.... I feel like everything was all reheated in microwave.

Brilliant, always enjoy my visit

Great newly refurbished store with coffee shop upstairs with self service machines. The food court supermarket is clean and modern.

They've increased the size of the food hall and it's brilliant for buying food now. Still a good amount of space for clothing, home, etc, in the other half of the store. Cafe upstairs too in case you'd like a drink or a meal.

Tried to order afternoon tea eventually realised because there was no clotted cream!!!! This was not possible… think outside box people go downstairs to ur supermarket and pick up few containers of cream and serve on the side… hard key rocket science 🤨.Restaurant untidy floors need swept . Service ok food fairly good. Waiter very helpful and pleasant pity our experience was let down by lack of initiative/management not what we expected on Sunday afternoon in M&S

Horrendous, soulless and devoid of staff. No customer service any more, no till, I helped an older lady who needed help on the shop floor and then to use the till. The two staff there were dealing with returns, queries and till problems. Not user friendly, poor stock, all self service and a layout that would make Hampton court maze look easy. You have run down a good store, rebuilt is as an airport terminal store and forgotten your customers. shame on you M & S

Cafe was worse than eating in McDonald's. Not as you would expect from M&S. Shop floor massively under staffed and poor selection of Men's sizes in to try. Very disappointed waste of a 1 hour long round trip.

The store is good but the excellent café as was replaced by an unattractive, impersonal, gloomy space on the first floor. We used to meetup with family at the café but never again, until it's replaced and improved.

M&S cafe: amazing tech... McDonald's style, you order and pay on a screen at the entrance; take an electronic disc; the disc is read by a reader under the table and the waiter brings the food straight to your table. So no waiting in a line, and no getting out of your chair. Very easy to use.

A big store with plenty of good quality products. Nice cafe and lots of parking spaces outside.

I love there authentic curry meal deals my favourite is king prawn buna curry pilau rice Bombay potato onion bhaji & naan bread exceptional quality meal just like you would get in an indian curry resturant and finally a bottle cobra beer to wash it all down please just try it

New restaurant upstairs is nosiy, customer unfriendly . Staff seem to have to run back and forward without being able to interact with customers.Bad experience. Will not return

Such a beautiful and spacious store let down by awful staff. I work in retail and I know how difficult it can be. But….a vast ladies wear department without a member of staff! Took some items into the changing rooms, I needed another size and came out of the cubicle to find help. The lady on duty was adamant she was the only staff there and couldn’t help. This despite another lady returning with a sandwich and snack! I had to get dressed leave my items in the changing room and go and find sizes myself. I couldn’t find the item and asked again. The lady very grudgingly went off rolling her eyes. I was polite and grateful at all times, apologising for troubling her etc. when I handed back the pieces I wasn’t taking I was almost accused of taking a hanger and had to explain that one of the sweaters had been folded not hung up!! I went to pay and put my items on the counter when it was my turn and assistant asked “are you purchasing these”? Well yes that’s why I brought them to a till, I didn’t say that obviously but it was a very offhand and dismissive greeting. Next venture into the very stunning food hall.. I picked up a ciabatta loaf and an apricot pastry. Went to the self checkout and looked up the ciabatta and added it to the till and put it aside. At this point a small lady came rushing up to me, snatched the bread and scanned it telling me it had a bar code I didn’t need to look it up and it wasn’t ciabatta!! She was so rude! Next she moved me out of the way and started typing onto the screen to scan the apricot danish! I was already on the sweet bakery page and was perfectly capable of identifying it and adding it, I hadn’t asked for it needed help. I was annoyed at this point and told her she had now added the ciabatta twice and I was managing fine without help! She was very sheepish when she saw the ciabatta had been added correctly by me and she now had to void the extra one. Honestly what an experience, stand offish and patronising staff with not a friendly bone between them. Thai is not the calibre of Marks and Spencer I expect. I was there at 6.30pm today. Who is training these people?

Order your own food on screen. Waiting along time for drinks let alone food. Not as good as before. A lot slower. Lovely staff slow service. Chairs very uncomfortable. No personal touch! Not impressed. Half the sandwiches sold out!

To set the record straight, the café is great - lots of helpful staff, no queuing, and the food etc is brought to your table. What's not to like!

Mariella in the menswear department was such a help and was so kind and helpful to my father. She’s great! Thank you!

So much selection both in clothing and food! Favourite aisle...see the photo!

Comfortable shopping environment.

I went to the upstairs cafe to meet my brother who is autistic. I told him to meet me there so he does not get lost and is safe. I was also with my 12yo daughter. As soon as I went up to my brother, a member of staff named Clara came out from the back and started yelling at me. Telling us to 'GET OUT GET OUT WE CLOSED' etc. I asked her why she was being rude and shouting and she started to argue with me telling me that I can't tell her what to do etc. I said that if she wanted me to leave, why not say it nicely. She got even more irate and hurried off saying quite loudly that she was going to get the security to throw us out. My brother & daughter were clearly distressed by this. Absolutely disgusting behaviour. A member of staff must have heard Clara shouting and came upstairs and was very supportive and apologetic. We felt traumatised by all this. Siobhan a supervisor appeared to support us but I was later informed by a member of staff that Siobhan is not to be trusted as her report about the incident was not factual & not in my favour! This explains why my attempts to get this investigated by the store manager have been ignored! I will not be going to the cafe again because as my daughter said, Clara might do something to our food!

M&S cafe: absolutely dreadful. Run like MacDonalds with order screens. Can’t order anything at a till, can’t see the food on display & service is piecemeal. No sound baffles so very loud even when 1/2 full. The cafe/restaurant used to be great but it’s totally devoid of character and some of the elderly demographic cannot work the screens at all well. Turn round and go to Sainsbury’s cafe (not much better) or Next Costa.

Lovely food hall! But there is never any staff around to help!

We visited the store today. Lots of lovely fashion and the food hall was really pleasurable UNTIL..we wanted to pay. Oh my goodness how awful are the self checkout tills! I didnt see one customer who didn't need assistance at some point. I got really angry and frustrated as the screen repeatedly said "call for assistance ". This makes me so sad that our society now has been reduced to this nonsense. No customer service. Simply horrible experience. How on earth do non-tech minded people cope? I would imagine this horrendous technology would be one of the main reasons elderly people are becoming more and more isolated.

Such unfriendly staff in the Cafe was the first time I had been to this store and I was not sure how to use the new ordering machines 3 times I had to ask for help and was ignored. Won't be going there again.

Café is absolutely pathetic!!!! Absolute shambles from the moment you step in there Rather than faceless computer ordering how about employing people to take orders and deliver in the right order to people at till. Such a backward step and absolutely no customer pleasure or enjoyment When I am paying for something I expect a certain standard of service and certainly from M&S

Shocking to say the least. The staff on the food tills/self service are rude and unhelpful. One in particular should not be working with the public ! What has happened to the M&S recruitment ! Disgrace !

Self service is impersonal,and I recieved a tepid "hot chocolate ",last visit for me.

Love the new food hall but the cafe if really disappointing. It's difficult to make a decision on what you want when you have a queue of people waiting behind you. Our food came separately and was OK. What was wrong with having the 2 ladies taking your order at the till?

Food is fine, but it takes so looonnnggg. We ordered only soft drinks with our food and they came 5-10 mins after the food and only because I asked one of the servers. My son had finished his meal by the time his coke arrived.. been several times, doesn't improve, we won't be back.

Good customer service. Short of some lines of stock.

The biggest and best M&S in Hertfordshire can be found here. boasting a wide selection of clothing and food products.

Ordered food waited 40mind and only half the order turned up

Many choices on Ready to go meals Also have fresh sushi and pizza. Cafe is spacious too

Why is it that you cannot speak to a person in a store if an item is not available online but only in stores - absolutely rediculous and you lose customers this way. There should be option to speak to a customer service person for help in your stores via a phone call. Can only speak to customer service in another country who advised you have to visit as they cannot ask either. Very disappointing for a company your size and not keeping up with competitors

Thanks for everything I really felt welcomed when I worked here every ones so nice to work with and the customer s even my 1,st week for understanding when I used to work here

You have to have an IT degree to get one of the free items in your sparks account. Checkout assistance knows less than you! No help at all, but they’re good at letting you know there’s something free though! Ridiculous marks and Spencer’s!!!!!

Visited the store following the refurbishment. I am not keen on the new dark decor with Neon lighting. I cannot believe that all the tills are self- service. This is not good for people who cannot use screens. The cafe on the first floor had the same screens for ordering food. Went to Costa for lunch instead. I hope this is not the way all M&S stores are going to be in the future

Went to the new cafe, sadly was disappointed as the design and running of the place was a bit if shambles and know have to serve on the screens as I noticed some customers struggling as the elder generation could of done with some assistance and did notice some did ask staff but just told use the machine, as you can imagine did cause few upsetting and did help them as best as I could but was massively busy and seating was all over and felt rushed and noticed that food was coming here there and how do you know where customers are sitting? Equally just was not the best as prior was great seating and even outside if needed i know today was fresh but not seeing it as all changed, as for getting food and drinks I finished 2 hot drinks prior to my toastie, so think could be bit more better run streamlined as even saw some staff chewing gum and got noticed not just by me few other customers noticed, did not expect that and hopefully can see improvement will I be back 50/50 at Moment. As can see other people's reviews and is such a shame as was nice treat out but know seems more like a chore such a shame. Equally goes on about allergies in big bold lettering as you enter the the guide court I asked the the question and got a blanket look so guessing no idea ?

Not impressed with cafe at all. Went in today with my Mum hoping for lunch to be greeted by ordering screen and very limited options for gluten and dairy allergies - after 5 mins of looking through the screens - chose to ask a colleague for help. We were directed back to ordering screen and shown how to find info on the products to find that while my Mum could choose I was limited to one type of coffee , a plate of chips and a fruit scone . No options to change to no dairy or gluten. May consider coming back however not at present.

The cafe upstairs is such a failure. Food takes over an hour to arrive and hasn't been any improvement since it was opened.

Terrible used to love coming here. Cafe rubbish for elderly and people who are not savy with technology. Online order pick up spot rubbish again, my mother can't use screen, long wait while orders brought downstairs one at a time, cash is legal tender why is it so hard to use it in cafe?

Great store, lovely staff. Terrible management comes from the top with store manager and team managers no better. Treat staff disgustingly and frequently gossip about their teams personal issues in and out of work. One thing M&S fail on - Looking after their staff. Look after your staff and they will look after your customers!

Had brilliant customer service by Anistasia she went above and beyond I didn't have a basket she took me to tills where baskets were and carried 2 boxes of food to the till thank you such a pleasure actually having someone to help me and didn't mind doing so keep up the good work

I love what they’ve done to this store. Easy to navigate, open and bright. You can wander seamlessly from one area to the next. Was not sure I’d like the new cafe system but worked so well. Quicker smoother - brilliant

Brilliant refit. The food hall is wonderful.

Much improved after the renovation. Fresh fruit and veggie section is very good.

Refurbished M&S now open. Visited 3 times this month. Terrible experience. Cafe is serviced by 1 lift and a flight of stairs. No cash payments taken in cafe. Self service electronic payment screens. How on earth do they think they'll serve elderly customers, those with English as an additional language etc. Every table dirty. Short of staff. Rubbish everywhere. On main floor tills are located at the back. Did not see 1 staff member on the shop floor. All clothes on wrong size hangers. Worst experience ever!!

I went shop yesterday...staff very helpful and polite. Thank you

Like the new layout. Except, the self service tills in the non-food section. I had bought glassware and there were no obvious facilities to wrap to protect. Just held it in my hand till I got to my car and wrapped it there. Perhaps M&S could have a think about these sorts of items?

Absolutely shocking……….all self service tills, couldn’t pay for clothing on a certain till as it will freeze it. Went to get a coffee and it was self service………bring back humans!!!!!

Terrible new cafe, you have to order from a computer which is not bad but we have to wait for our food for ages and it doesn't come with spoons and sugar etc. Not sure about coming again

Their new food hall is superb - really exciting to visit, great food and surprisingly some very competetive prices

What the flipping heck have they done to the food hall? It's a shambles and goodness knows how much it cost? (can't pay staff more but can spend x amount on this monstrosity, doesn't make sense) It used to be a lovely food hall, but now there is no clear direction about where you need to go to find what you want. Prices have also become inflated, £6 for sweet and sour chicken, madness, probably need the money to pay back for the renovations. I also brought a baguette which even though fresh was also soft and not enjoyable at all. It used to be something to look forward to, to go to Marks and have a coffee and buy a few bits, but I'm afraid no longer.

Lovely new food hall. Was told it's one of the biggest ones they have. A new large dedicated home section which opened last week is great. Lots of self service checkouts (I'm sure this will be a gripe for some) which is great as I use the scan and shop option on the app for food which is amazing. The quality of clothing is great. Some bits are expensive but others are also very comparable or cheaper than other high street stores. The brand has done a lot to move with the fashion trends and as a young male I really like a lot of the clothes.

Used to really like this place but they have ruined it. It's really confusing and cluttered. The café is awful. Won't be going back in a hurry.

Came to .marks and Spencer new coffee shop, and it was so weak had to take it back, will not be using it again.

Cafe self service ordering screens are full of stuff that when you try to order say out of stock. It becomes like some twisted hunger quiz game trying to work out what is in stock. I almost are my own finger I was so hungry by the time I found the one thing they had

We were waiting for 35mim for 3 hot drinks and cake. Staff couldn’t explain why. Staff not helpful They just wasted our 35min of our life for no reasons which is really unfair

Customer Service at M&S in London Colney is disappointing. No smile or customer care from the female cashier on the gents returns section. Rude and very helpful. 2nd time this has happened with the same cashier.

First time at newly opened cafe. Never liked it before as dark and depressing and honestly it doesn't look much different! Unfortunately the lift was out of order too today. I had heard there would be different food stations so thought that would be innovative and interesting and didn't expect to be ordering via a screen! I'm OK with technology but there were lots who weren't and finding it stressful instead of a relaxed experience. On the plus side they did have helpers. The waiting staff were lovely and obliging and the food came quickly and was hot. But I won't go back in a hurry and wouldnt choose to meet a friend there for a relaxing meal. About the clothing part not as nice as before and only one small pay section and a self service section. I used the self service for 2 items but the machine kept calling for assistance for no reason so took me twice as long!!!

The store has been rearranged with out the necessary signage. As a result it is difficult to find your way around, we had to ask 2 or3 times during our visit. The new electronic tills needed an assistant to correct their operation. We will not be going back anytime soon.

Was a very large store , didn’t know where to start . Very impressive.

What have you done to this lovely store! I came from Windsor to shop and the new layout was a great disappointment and left with nothing! There’s a big Sainsbury’s supermarket next door, why did you feel the need to expand the food department? It’s not needed! I won’t be going back, a very disappointed customer. 🥺

Love the new foodhall, feels like an experience in itself with a huge range of brilliant products. Even the baskets are cute

Just visited since the revamp of the store . Consumer unfriendly layout of the menswear section and as for the food hall ....I left my basket and went to sainsburys. Won't be visiting again

We visited the London Colney store last night (27/10) at around 6pm for shopping and to try the new pizza service - both the girl and guy at the counter didn’t even bother to make eye contact or acknowledge us at all, we waited a good few minutes to be served but neither really bothered doing their customer service job. Shame on you two, for ruining on the 1st weeks the new look of the store.

This used to be a lovely bright store but is now dark and dingy with no clear layout or focal point. Not sure who thought this redesign was a good idea but it wasn't thought out from a consumer point of view

Good Bacon rolls in the cafeteria.

The new store layout is terrible. Feels cluttered and very confusing. You end up going round and round in circles from dept to dept. The old layout was much more logical, spacious and easy to navigate. I can’t imagine an elderly or disabled customer to get around easily. Also, hardly any staff to help you. If you are going to change the store around, at least have staff on hand.

Great store. The staff are always helpful. Can't wait to see the new food hall.