Advantages: Attractive shopping area, Lots of Attractions (food, cinema, bowling, shops etc), designer clothes at reduced prices.
Disadvantages: The shops will not appeal to everyone, complex is not undercover.

...on two levels. Quite a nice place to grab a drink. It is near Tiger Tiger so a nice place to go for a drink before clubbing. Jongleurs: this is a comedy club. Ha Ha Bar: Quite an attractive bar with nice seating. You can also eat here...The nice thing is that it has an open plan kitchen. ***WHAT I THINK ABOUT GUNWHARF*** I like the location (near the water), this is especially nice during the summer. The selection of shops however don't really appeal to me. I much prefer highstreet shops...and I never really find anything I like at Gunwharf. I much prefer to shop at West Quay in Southampton (see my review on West Quay for more info) as it has a mixture of designer shops and highstreet shops. Additionally West Quay is undercover whereas Gunwharf isn't. Although I prefer West Quay in Southampton for shopping, West Quay... Read review

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Advantages: Very reasonable, close to the coast and ferries, situated in historic Portsmouth
Disadvantages: Cold in the winter, getting there is a nightmare, busy at weekends.

...I expect most of you have not even thought about Christmas 2006, however if you are like me, then you start thinking about buying pre-Yuletide gifts now. In that case then it might be worth your while to take a trip to Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth. Gunwharf Quays is a relatively new waterfront development between the Dockyard and Old Portsmouth, a haven for businesses, shopping, entertainment and restaurants. Very recently the Spinnaker Tower was finally completed and you can ride up to the top in its glass lift. Not for those who don't like heights believe me but the view is fantastic I have been told. The Spinnaker Tower is set to become a new icon, soaring 170 metres above the harbour of Portsmouth. The Spinnaker resembles a large sail and if you keep this into view whilst driving towards Gunwharf, you wont miss the car... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Loads of shops under one roof, plenty of places to park
Disadvantages: Parking can be expensive, Gets very busy around Christmas time

...If you are a shopaholic like me you will love West Quay Shopping Centre in Southampton. The long awaited West Quay Shopping Centre opened in September 2000. West Quay is the not only the new home to many of the high street favourites such as Dorothy Perkins and H Samuel but it has also encouraged many new shops into the area such as Karen Millen, Pumpkin Patch and The Bear Factory. No longer does one need to make the arduous trip to London or Bluewater to have a wide choice of designer shops. The two main shops associated with West Quay are John Lewis and Marks and Spencer, but as you will see from the list of shops detailed below, whilst John Lewis and M & S are valuable assets to West Quay there are a lot of other shops equally worth a visit. West Quay is situated in Southampton Town Centre and is home to well over 150 shops... Read review

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Advantages: large, airy, easy access
Disadvantages: not enough variety

...If u look back over the last few years you will all recall the hype and publicity as the old Echo building was demolished to make way for Europe's largest city centre shopping centre. The huge hole in the ground suddenly grew into this gigantic brick and glass monster, now known as West Quay. Before we knew it, September 28th 2000 was upon us and West Quay opened its doors to let the enthusiastic shoppers in. Was it all worth it? At first glimpse it was big, open and airy. It looked fantastic! Then you walked into the High street and saw all the empty shops that had now moved into West Quay. It seemed all that had happened was the big shops had gone into West Quay and left derelict ugly buildings behind that no one wanted. Was this the idea? Even to this day no one as moved into the old Tyrell and Green buildings... Read review

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Advantages: Undercover shopping, Modern, Mix of Designer Shops and High-Street Fashion.
Disadvantages: Can Get Very Crowded on Weekends, You Have to Walk a Long Way Round to Go Up or Down to Next Level, Can get Quite Hot in Shops.

...***WHERE IS WEST QUAY?*** West Quay is an undercover shopping complex in Southampton City Centre. It is a short distance from Southampton train station, and provides 4,000 parking spaces for those who wish to drive there. As with anywhere, the parking is fairly pricey, but not excessively so. ***WHAT SHOPS ARE THERE?*** West Quay is on three levels. The top level is where you will find places to eat and drink: such as KFC and Singapore Sams. Upper shopping level contains shops such as: Benetton Levis Marks and Spencer John Lewis La Senza (women's underwear) Goldsmiths Next Faith (shoes) Schuh (shoes) H & M Jane Norman New Look Claire's Accessories Dixons (electricals) Game Orange Phone Shop Clinton Cards Wallis Monsoon Warehouse Evans (and many many more...) Lower Shopping level contains... Read review

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Advantages: Accessible, pleasant environment, wide range of shops, plenty of parking
Disadvantages: Disappointing food terrace, slightly poor layout, not a self-contained centre

...A few years ago now I remember hearing the first whispers about the new shopping centre which was to be built in Southampton. It was rumoured that it was going to rival Lakeside, or even be the biggest shopping centre in Europe. Well, I wouldn't agree with either of those statements, but West Quay (as it was to become known) has most certainly improved Southampton as a shopping destination. Before the opening of the West Quay Centre, Southampton's shopping area consisted of a very long, partly pedestrianised street, which was home to the majority of the usual High Street stores, together with a couple of modestly successful arcades (Bargates and the Marlands). I always found shopping there completely exhausting as you had to cover such a lot of ground in order to visit all the shops, and very rarely went to Southampton shopping... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Loads of shops + restaurants
Disadvantages: Too much choice

...West Quay is a relitavely new shopping centre in the middle of Southampton. *Getting there The easiest way to get there is by train and bus. Just get the train to Southampton Central and then take the free bus that runs every 10minutes to West Quay. There is a large multi storey car park with lots of spaces but cues have been known to be quite bad for them. If you are coming from the ferry terminal the best way is to take the free bus that again runs every 10 minutes to West Quay. West quay is in the centre of southampton and you can get to it from the main shopping street. *The layout The shopping centre is split onto two floors, upper and lower shopping. The building is well lit and has a great feeling of space. Access between the floors is provideed by escalators and lifts. Below the shopping centre is more car parking... Read review

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Advantages: Premium outlets with discount prices.
Disadvantages: Only here in Portsmouth at the moment.

...is privately owned and ran by a company that have huge future development plans for housing, in fact you only need to look out of any Portsmouth home to the skyline and you get an eyeful of the Spinaker Tower, a monumental millennium come 6 years later project that tore the community between eyesore and magnificent. Primarily Gunwharf is a 30% discount factory outlet site, not a shopping mall such as West Quay boasts. Any company wanting to place a shop here has to offer the consumer (that's you guys) a chance to beat high street prices and grab a few bargains that would otherwise elude the average purse strings. Gunwharf boasts shops such as Animal, Levi, White Stuff, Remington, Adidas, Pu