Costa Coffee — Restaurant in England

We have been going to many Costa Coffee,s and have visited Costa Coffee Verwood since it first opened. The 'slight' problems are customers sitting long after they have finished their drinks which causes a seating problem and small children running about which cause drink spillages. We are both in our 70's so we pick our times and mostly have been very lucky. Over the last few months on three occasions we have been offered our coffee in paper cups because the dishwasher is out of order. When this has happened the vacant tables are full of used crockery. One such time was today. 12th November 2015 about 2.30pm. There were many vacant tables but all were covered in used crockery. I mentioned this to the assistant who was about to serve us and he said he would clear a table when we were ready. We were ready. Then we were told the dishwasher was broken and we would have to have our drinks in outside cups. We don't like paper cups and as there were six of us and not a table to sit at we left. If the dishwasher was out of order then I'm sorry, but I suspect otherwise. Your advertisement about always finding a seat and a clean table is not quite true. I only write this review because other people have also mentioned similar experience. But the coffees and snacks are good so let's get the other bits...

I like Costa. I particularly like the rural location of the Verwood one. We all know what to expect of a Costa by now. So here are the bad points of this one. The ventilation is bad there, so generally you will always leave with your clothes smelling of stale coffee. The staff are polite, but not engaged, and very slack at clearing tables and cleaning the floor. So often looks scruffy there (unless the area manager is visiting). Finally, mums are allowed to bring enormous pushchairs into the coffee shop, and so generally, most days is like a mother and babies group. Lots of small children running around. We love kids, but four or five pushchairs parked together feels a little overwhelming. Despite that, it still deserves 5 stars. Engaging happier staff and particularly visiting managers would make such a difference to the atmosphere at the Verwood...

Visited Costa in Verwood today. A nice comfortable venue with free parking right next to (behind) the cafe. There was a long queue which started outside which wasn’t fantastic on a cold day in January- however, as with many places at the moment this seemed to be due to some staff shortages. That aside, the coffee was well made and the environment/atmosphere were nice, the cafe was lovely and warm, the staff were helpful and friendly and we had an enjoyable time. I would definitely revisit - it seems we were unlucky to hit a busy spot. The sign on the door made...