Westminster Lodge Cafe in St Albans

I get sandwiches and coffee here every week and I’m frequently amazed at how rude some of the staff are. Even when I am super polite the lack of basic customer service is notable. That said, there is at least one nice staff member and I am always relieved when she is on duty.

Refusing a plastic or even a paper cup (because "the paper ones are for coffee") for a bottle of drink your customer buys FROM YOU, because apparently you are trying to save the environment, is not going to get you far in this business. You're supposed to be a cafe, not Gregg's. Use ceramic mugs if you care about the environment.

Arrived at 5.30 to buy my son a healthy snack before swimming. It was closed with a paper printed sign saying now closing at 5 daily. Not 6. Everyone Active please end their contract and get a cafe company in that will work till 8 or 9pm to service the hours this community fitness centre is in Operation which I think closes at 10pm. It brings down the Westminster lodge experience.

Last time I was here I made it to the fridge before a male staff member came and said they were closing. It was 10 mins to closing time. Today they have shut early at 5 due to lack of staff. Let a company have this venue that want to serve the community, offer customer service. Don’t bang chairs around an hour before closing time. I have been coming since it opened and it’s a place you dread going into because the service is so bad and it’s always dirty. I think they leave it till the end of day when the Westminster lodge staff come on shift. Pret would be so much better

I've walked through the cafe to pick up a snack whilst my children swim! Omg it's disgusting! Food, dirt, plates everywhere, I know it's busy but there's no excuse for the amount of food and drink that is all over the floor and tables. Staff are all standing chatting whilst this "healthy" eating cafe looks like this! I decided not to eat and wait with my bottle of water instead! I will not eat here again and will not recommend either!

Stopped here on a walk to get a coffee. Decided to go for a smoothie instead. Wish I hadn’t bother as at £4.60 for a “medium” I got something that was so watered down I doubt there was much fruit in it. Calling it a smoothie is a bit of an insult tbh. At £4.60 it’s very overpriced and I have had much better at the Shaken Cow up in town. When I ordered I had to wait whilst staff seemed to sulk around chatting to each other and centre staff before my drink came out. The seating areas are a mess - food on table tops, rubbish and empty coffee cups etc. The floor is covered with mess and it just generally doesn’t feel clean or hygienic in customer areas. Looking at the feedback, this is a constant message people are giving. And clearly management are either not aware (which in itself is a worry) or simply do not care how they are running this place. This cafe could be a goldmine with walkers coming through the park and past, let alone centre customers / members. My advice - keep on walking up town and you will see better run cafes at a cheaper price.

I got coffee which i ordered 15 min before and was cold and horrible. Nobody apologised to me or make for fresh coffee.

We ordered two children's meals chicken nuggets, chips and peas. Our order was either forgotten, overlooked or given to some other family. We had to go to counter 3 times only to be told they were busy and we'd have to wait as there was a back log. On the 3rd visit to the counter I could see chicken nugget meals being lined up in the kitchen. The staff member effectively ignored me. I was by this time making my presence known! A further staff member came out of the kitchen with the order but said it was for another family. I did not accept this and took the order from her and fed my children. This is not rocket science get your customer relations and service right ... especially with the prices you charge!

Awful. Really tried with this place, they are so lucky it is part of the gym and no other choices within easy distance. 3 behind the counter doing nothing when it is appallingly dirty and needs cups, food, packets, to be cleaned up, there are so many other daily examples. I sadly come in here a lot due to the use of the wider facilities, and they just don’t care, or want to care, or want to get better. I can see this place already has a poor rating on trip advisor, and I still think that’s being kind.

Could you get some newspapers especially on Saturday/Sunday and have them there for 7.30am. It would be good for business. Thanks

Title says it all really. Really interesting and healthy menu, but the tables and floors are always filthy. They seem short staffed, however this might just be at peak times when we tend to visit.

My friends and I use Westminster Lodge a few times a week. We used to pop in to the cafe after our classes for, mainly, jacket potato and salad which we enjoyed. We have perseved with Crush because it's so convenient but have now called it a day and don't buy food there anymore, preferring to bring our own as most of theirs is pretty awful. The menu is very limited. The scrambled egg on rock hard dry sourdough is inedible and the avocado on dry sourdough not much better and likely to break your teeth. The presentation is poor and looks as if the food is just thrown on to the plates. The jackfruit chilli is acceptable but not wanted every time we visit. Although most of the staff are friendly they seem to change regularly and whenever asked questions about the food say they are new. When asked about gluten-free for a friend with caeliac disease was given a huge folder to look through. The location is suberb but the menu needs extending, at least jacket potato with salad and fresh soup. The place is not always clean with rubbish on the floor and the tables not cleared. Lots of improvement needed.

I visited today with a fourteen year old and the café is now a healthy eaters paradise - but few were in there! The selection of food available, both on the counter and on the menu boards was fairly awful - and I am being kind. We simply left and ate elsewhere after having a drink. This was my first visit since the 'new looks' and will certainly be by last. May I suggest you also cater for non-squirrels?

I’ve had it with this place. I’ve only kept going over the last 8months because it’s the most convenient place to sit down and have a drink after visiting the gym - but sadly it seems the management rely on this to keep people coming. There really is no other reason. Today I counted 4 members of staff on duty. That’s 3 more than is often the case. They are consistently slow and sullen, careless and the service is very laboured and poor. Make no mistake this isn’t their fault - this is a management issue because clearly no standards have been set to work towards. Seriously, in a place teeming with coffee shops and places to eat and drink you would have thought the need to meet an acceptable standard was obvious - clearly it isn’t. Today was the last straw. This place doesn’t deserve my custom (however convenient) or yours. At least not before someone takes the bull by the horns and sorts out the very basic problems which have so far not been a priority.

This cafe is disappointing due to slow service and poor management for keeping it clean. This is such a missed opportunity for this busy leisure centre.

I come to this cafe regularly due to its location and activities it provides within my local community. It has become clearer of recent times - used to be filthy but my main concern is staff attitude towards allergies. I didn’t get the reassurance I needed or help / advice when eating here. Staff made me feel uncomfortable for asking for this information - allergies can and do kill people. They are very important. You can feel very isolated when suffering with food allergies - it’s not nice to be made to feel like a total alien for asking basic questions - lack of education on this topic I think. It is Such a perfect location and the sports facilities are good, toilets v.clean. The cafe could be so good. But it’s just not, it’s average and expensive.

No welcome and no waiting Service, this is self service and self clear up. It could be so Good, it could be like the Abbot's Kitchen, it could be like Ayletts or Burston Nurseries which are destination places. The sports centre could be a destination too as car parking is great. Food choice is limited.

The cafe has a great location and a great view. However, the service is too slow making it a long queue. The coffee is served far too hot making it undrinkable, and the tables are filthy. It needs better management and an eye for cleaning.

Westminster Lodge Café: ¿Por qué en mitad de la tarde son sillas en las mesas y todas las sillas y mesas bajas pegadas a un lado y, por tanto, fuera de uso? Tuvimos que preguntar si el café era todavía abierta, sólo para que nos dijeran que no es no cerrar por varias horas!

Ir cada semana después de mis 3 años clases de natación para mayor comodidad. Buena ubicación y la comida no está mal, pero un poco caro.

Solicitamos que las bebidas con un amigo en el Café Bistro esta mañana.

Fui allí con mi familia mientras mi nieta fuimos al parque infantil. Cuando llegamos tarde todas las mesas con las sillas cómodas estaban llenas de escombros y el suelo estaba lleno de restos de comida al suelo. Nos aclararon una mesa, así que nos podíamos sentar y no podía creer la desinteresada actitud del personal. No hicieron ningún esfuerzo para limpiar las mesas.

The bistro at Westminster lodge leisure centre is a modern, clean and comfortable environment with glass windows/doors that look out onto the scenic veralanium park. In the summer the cafe is fabulous as the doors are opened and there is an outside seating area, perfect for the kids to let of some steam after their food.

La comida es en su mayoría no muy sano (azoteas sándwiches, un montón de comida chatarra) y las comidas cocinadas no son muy buena calidad en general, simplemente no es muy bueno. decepcionante que un muy bonito y moderno centro deportivo alberga una cafetería soso....

Este es un hotel encantador, bien ventilada sin pretensiones café en el nuevo centro de ocio St Albans, con vidrio alrededor de un lado para disfrutar de las vistas hacia el centro de la ciudad y la abadía y en el parque. El aparcamiento es...

No apoyar a uno de los principales eventos deportivos de la caridad en St Albans? Cierre su aparcamiento a cualquiera, pero los clientes que vienen a que ese día dejando que medio vacío pero más cercana al parque Verulamium y sólo cambian en el comercio del haz que fue traído a usted por el evento ... lo que le da nada a cambio? ¿Por qué no tienen una pequeña sección aislarse para sus clientes ese día y el resto se abrió a la carrera por la vida ( £1 o 2 incluso cobran por el aparcamiento) para ser donada a la investigación de cáncer? En su lugar había un enorme aparcamiento vacío de media que todo el mundo tenía que atravesar para llegar a la carrera lo que lo convierte en un harder día para todo el mundo tratando de recaudar fondos para la caridad - afortunadamente Sainsbury's y MacDonalds apoyaron el evento. que pena por ti - yo ya no estará viniendo a usted para mi actividades de ocio a menos que ver una disculpa pública.

The Café / Bistro at Westminster Lodge is open to all. It has ample seating, including some soft chairs / sofas, an outside area, free Wi-Fi, selection of newspapers and clean toilets.My coffee was served too hot (even after 15 minutes it was only sippable). However, our heated sandwiches were very nice – one was served with chips and the over with a side salad; neither of which was expected but I did enjoy the side salad which had a very nice dressing.When visiting Verulamium Park this café does provide an alternative to the “Inn in the Park” and the “Abbots Kitchen” (aka the Cathedral café).