Goodwood Racecourse — Attraction in Chichester

This is not a review of the actual racecourse itself as we had a great day out there and would definitely go again. This is a review of the food specifically "Gourmet Burger" we were in the Lennox enclosure and the food choices were quite limited and all had long queues (which you would expect at a popular venue). We decided to have a gourmet burger that was advertised as a steak burger with lettuce, tomato and onion and sounded OK. As we were nearing the front of the queue We noticed that the burgers were being thrown on the counter by an angry looking lady and didn't actually look very appealing. At the point of order I questioned whether these burgers actually came with the salad as advertised and was assured by the lady on the till that they did and it would be added on request. I paid £21.00 for two burgers and a portion of chips !!!!! When moving down the queue to receive that food two very plain drab looking burgers were thrown on the counter by angry lady. I requested that the salad was added to be told that they didn't have any. I said that they were advertised as coming with salad and I was assured at the point of sale that they did and was charged accordingly. Angry lady then said that actually the salad was free and therefore the price is the same and that's all you are getting. I then requested to at least have some onions and was greeted with same response. We reluctantly took the food as we had queued for over twenty minutes and would miss the next race if we didn't. We went to get condiments and there were none just discarded empty bottles of sauce. The burgers were terrible and the chips were raw and cold. I took these back to the counter to let them dispose of this inedible food (I didn't dare ask angry woman for a refund) never the less I was still greeted with a barrage of abuse. This was appalling service and standard and it just felt like they were abusing their position in a captive market serving a shoddy product at an inflated price and they really had no interest in what they were serving they just wanted the money. Its a real shame that the course allows this exploitation as everyone else we met was very pleasant...

Where to start? The reason it's not just one star is the setting on the Downs is lovely and racing can be good. Prices-at 38 quid a ticket you ought to be able to park free as they say. You can but only in one poorly signed place. For a space on a grass or potholed bit of dirt with no prices displayed at all you are hit with a £5 charge. A long walk to the busy entrance (you need to avoid a bossy lollypop man telling you which side of his lollypop you can cross. Yes really!). An army of security types tell you to queue but they don't know where to point you to where you can collect your tickets from a few badly signed windows. Those who've paid top prices for the very expensive Richmond stand still have to push and shove with the others. After that you are then told you have to wear a tie for that enclosure. A tie? In 2024? When some with ties are wearing flip flops and no socks? How pompous can these people be? They say you could buy ties there for £5. I didn't and winged it. The ties are £85. The Richmond stand is a draughty tunnel. If you get an expensive drink you can stand with it on the terrace in front of the track, but another bossy security man won't let you sit on the seats behind. What's the point of that? Queuing for a drink by the paddock takes ages as they only have 2 inexperienced bar staff working. A quick glance and you can see the legion of black suited security staff standing around doing nothing. Perhaps worst of all (apart from the exorbitant prices) is the canteen food on offer in the stand by the-guess what very pricey merchandising shop. I saw a couple of people getting an unspeakable looking version of a croque monsieur (cost £17) which was served on a piece of card with a nasty wooden knife and fork to be eaten at a dirty plastic table. My late mother, who was an owner, called this place "Greedy Goodwood" far from glorious and...

The horse racing was exciting, fun and well organised. The grounds were beautiful and very well kept. However...we didn't particularly enjoy the day. The Wessex roof garden was freezing cold which spoiled our experience. We asked for blankets but there weren't any. The only heating came from two small fan heaters which were sat on the bar and did nothing to heat the room. The food was disappointing (dry bread roll, overcooked chicken, all too cold to be tasty) and it was poorly presented... in a plastic box! It reminded us of school dinners...on a bad day!! The drinks were very overpriced and there was a limited choice. There weren't any tablecloths and this didn't match the images portrayed on the website and therefore didn't meet our expectations. It looked grubby! The young hospitality staff were well dressed and very pleasant. Security was poor and several times there were people without tickets/swing badges in the roof garden - it was obvious, they stood out like a sore thumb! For the £115 ticket price, sadly we felt it was poor value and will not be returning. We prefer Ascot and York racecourses for a much better...