Costa Coffee — Restaurant in England

I used to love this Costa, but it's gone downhill a lot recently. I go in a couple of days after work - normally around 6pm.

They don't close until 7.30pm, but they are often cleaning the floor, putting chairs on tables so it doesn't feel that great to sit in and have a relaxing coffee. as Mark Stewart said in his review, there are often loads of tables dirty too with trays and cups all over them, but they don't seem to be clearing those up.

There is often a queue at 6pm, even though it's a very quiet time, I've had to wait 25 mins to be served before as there is often only 1 person serving. All the others seem to be stocking shelves, wrapping food up etc.

The place is getting pretty dirty - I remember the cushioned benches were always clean, but now the same debris is on them several days in a row and they are pretty grim. The toilets are a mess too with tons of toilet paper all over them, and no soap the last few times I've been in. Sometimes they close the toilets off before closing time so if you need to nip to the loo make sure you do it well before they close!!

On the plus side, the staff are friendly.

I think I'll be finding somewhere else to go though, as I want to have a nice coffee and relax, it's just not a great atmosphere with someone cleaning round your feet and putting chairs on tables next to you. Their food and drink is expensive, so I do kinda expect it to be fairly...

I visit here alot. It was nice at first then started to go downhill fast. Only a few staff know what they're doing so queues are long. When you finally order a coffee the staff tend to get it wrong. Due to this there's alot of product wastage which is disgraceful. It's hard to find somewhere to sit as the tables are dirty & full of used trays etc. A number of times l've had to ask for a wet cloth to clean a table so l can use it! The toilets are dirty & smelly also. I spoke to the manager one day who was grumpy, rude & defensive to the point l had to remind her that she is a manager.. To be honest, l only go there because it's practical & at least one member of staff, Paige, knows exactly what she's doing. She friendly to customers & extremely efficient & is always there to help. Maybe it's worth considering promoting...

If you are hoping to have a civilised cup of coffee after an afternoon’s shopping at Castlepoint, steer clear of this one. I came here today 20 minutes before they close and was told by the barista that it would have to be in a paper cup now, as they were closing soon. I assured the young man that I drink my coffee hot and fast and would likely only be here for 5 minutes but he was firm, no ceramic cup for me as they didn’t want the washing up. What made the experience all the worse was the lack of any apology for any inconvenience that this caused me, (I hate drinking from paper cups) and the fact that I was served grudgingly as they were ‘closing soon’. No interest in customer service, just thinking about getting me out the door as quickly as possible. A sad reflection...