Overview

My visit to this branch of Waterstones was horrible. All sorts of unpleasant difficulties right from the front doors. Impossible to reach some areas within the shop because the display tables are so huge and the gaps around them so narrow. A boarded-up lift, so I was confined to the ground floor. Indolent staff. Not recommended for wheelchair users.

Transport & Parking

The nearest step-free station is Tottenham Court Road, which is half a mile away. Several bus routes will drop you very near by in Gower St. Several bus routes pass down Tottenham Court Road, which is one block away (about three minutes walk/roll).

Access

There is step-free access at most entrances but no automatic doors, and the double doors are heavy and stiff and very hard for a wheelchair user to open and pass through because you have to open both doors at the same time. The lift was boarded up behind a builders' hoarding, so I was confined to browsing and shopping on the ground floor. There is too little room throughout the shop for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre, the display tables are huge and the gaps around them are too small for most wheelchair to pass through. Whole areas, entire sections, entire ranges of bookshelves, are therefore inaccessible to wheelchair users.

Toilets

I was confined to the ground floor and did not find any toilets of any kind.

Staff

Staff saw me struggling with doors and trying - without success - to manoeuvre around the huge display tables but did not offer help. Not impressive.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

This was a really miserable shopping experience. The entrance doors alone, heavy double doors, not automatic, are enough to deter me from ever visiting this branch again. Does Waterstones not realise that disabled people spend money too, and that they are losing business by making their shop so dismally inaccessible? I might have bought some books if I had been able to access any floors other than the ground floor.