House of MinaLima — Attraction in London

Employees in McDonalds are nicer than these.

Firstly, when the opening hours say 11-7 they mean 11 - 6:40/6:50, because the door was locked shut with people still inside by the time I got there at 6:45. I came from Birmingham for a day out in London and I was so excited to come and see the Minalima shop. I have no money at the moment, as we’re in a cost of living crisis, but I at least wanted to see the shop. I thought to myself I’ll go 15 mins before closing, hopefully it will be a little bit quiet and I can just pop my head in and out to have a look as I really wanted to see what the shop looked like. I peered though a tiny window and the guy who was on door duty saw me and came to open the door, he explained they were closed, I explained that I just wanted to see the shop, he said if it was just me he would let me in. So my friends waited outside while I took him up on his offer. Again I had no ability to purchase anything I simply wanted to see the shop. Upon entry a guy behind the till with greasy blue hair, turned to the guy at the door who had let me in and started berating him saying “you shouldn’t have let her in, I want to go home”. I felt badly for the man at the door who had let me in and I jumped to his defence and just said “I swear I won’t be long, I’ve come from Birmingham and I just wanted to see the shop, I swear I won’t be longer than 5 mins”. He turned to me and said “yes we hear that all the time, and we are open from 11am to 7pm, especially if you’ve come all the way from Birmingham.” The way he stressed 11am was like if it was that important to you darling you should have come when we opened. I reiterated again I’ll only be a couple of minutes and went to check out the shop.

You know when you have those shower moments and you think of all the things you could have said to someone. I wish I had said well it’s not yet 7pm so I guess I have some time then love. This man was so rude and distasteful I was shocked the whole time I was looking around I don’t think I took in a single thing in that shop. Like now I’m looking at pictures online, I wasn’t even aware there was an other levels to the shop. Not to mention the shop was absolutely packed full of people and they did not make a single announcement to start calling people to the tills whilst I was in there.

Considering, the prestige Minalima hold in the Harry Potter world and the world of design I expected so much more from their staff at a minimum. Disappointed is an understatement. I will not be returning as the experience for me has been ruined, and in my opinion I would stick the the Harry Potter shops as the staff in there are just full of magic and really want to make your experience the best, wether you enter the shop when they open or 10 mins...

I love Minalima, they have the most beautiful merch, and real props from the Harry Potter franchise, but today I want to write a review about the excellent service Aitor gave us on Sunday I can express with no hesitation that Aitor's customer service is one of the best ones I have ever received in London. As soon as my friends and I came into the store, they welcomed us with a friendly smile and warm greetings. Later on, when we went downstairs (where they keep the props), Aitor offered himself to give us a free tour in Spanish (one of my friends does not speak great English, so that was great), so we obviously accepted. After many Harry Potter tours I've been to both here and in Scotland, I can certify that Aitor's was excellent, really informative and outstandingly interesting - and personally, my favourite so far. On top of that, he made us laugh throughout the lovely experience, and shared some pieces of advice about the Warner studio we were visiting on the following day, and let us know there was another Minalima store in there too My friend wanted to give him a tip like he has done on some free tours, as he found it absolutely lovely and fun, but Aitor did not accept it - they said they were happy to do it, and we were even happier after that - so I thought I might as well write my honest review about them. I am sure Minalima treasures their amazing employee, as I can assure Aitor makes customers leave with a huge smile and a great experience for potterheads to remember P.D. I'm terrible with names, I think their name was Aitor, otherwise, it is the Spanish person with...

I've now visited the House of MinaLima 4-5 times and every single visit has been wonderful!

This place is absolutely brilliant. It helps if you love Harry Potter, but even from a pure artistic perspective, the work done by Eduardo and Miraphora is incredible. They put so much thought and detail into every single prop and art piece - make sure you chat with the sales team to learn more about all of this! They are brilliant and will explain how the art ties into the wizarding world, as well as our own historical and cultural references. Each piece is pure magic in itself.

Speaking of the staff - I could spend hours in this shop just chatting with them. They are extremely passionate about what they do and very knowledgeable. The first time I came to the House of MinaLima, one of the staff on the floor spent over 40 minutes walking me through the different details in all the prints. Another time, one of the staff members helped me purchase a limited edition print which was going on sale just for one afternoon. And when I came by just last weekend, I spent a while speaking with a girl named Kate, who was incredibly passionate about Harry Potter and MinaLima. She was both sweet and knowledgeable; chatting with her truly made my day. I ended up purchasing a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that day, which is beautifully illustrated and now has a spot of honor on my bookshelf.

I am so grateful that a place like...