m_kingdom2

Selfridges is awful, it's small, the staff really aren't dedicated at all, it's distressing.

Most of the staff in Harrods have a passion for their job, something more than just serving for a pay packet. The tobacconist in Harrods is a stellar example of this, and in fact virtually every other department too.

One of the few involved member's of staff in Selfridges is Stephen, the manager of DIor Homme concession. Otherwise, they're utterly indifferent, and the store itself is a mess.

Scarlett

I love Harrods.
My first trip I bought coffee in a nice cream colored porcelain container and that still sits on my counter today. I bought cookies and cocoa in beautiful tins that were gifts and souvenirs. I bought some small children teddy bears that had something about Harrods on them..or maybe it was Paddington
Tea is always nice in a pretty tin.
Keep the shopping bags, I use mine sometimes for library books.
You will enjoy the store, it is pretty and full of pretty things.
I agree, Fortnum and Mason has an amazing amount of things to buy and bring home, jams and jellies and lemon curd
Actually, I am a bad person to answer, I like to shop, so ...

m_kingdom2

Fortnum's has a better selection of teas in my opinion.

Some of Harrods foods are a little showy and overpriced as a result. Their prepared vegetables are fabulous for a dinner party, as are their patés and terrines. They also do very good pies/pasties, a leek and gruyere pastie is nice for a late night snack, gently warmed through in an oven.

crefloors

I bought tea and a little...oh geeze I am SO ignorant but I come from the land of tea bags...it's an infuser? the thing you put the loose tea in. Anyway, I have a beautiful tea pot and got the "tea soaker thing"...it's a little silver tea pot, too cute..and some loose tea. I like tea on winter afternoons. I didn't buy any of the "junk" like the bears etc. The food court was overwhelming so I went to Fortnum and Mason. Just easier to see what they have. Got some fabulous blood orange marmalade. Yum!!!!

m_kingdom2

You're best to just put the tea straight into the teapot, then strain it into the cups. The infuser tends to cramp the tea leaves, and is only really suitable for one cup.

Eloise

There is nothing tackier than a Harrods bag that has obviously been reused dozens of times. If you must, use it once after you return from London, but after that it just becomes an oh-so-obvious status symbol that has lost all status.

m_kingdom2

....and I use Harrods bag as bathroom binliners to be disposed of when full.

allanc

Someone asked us to bring back a small package of tea, otherwise we would not have purchased anything. Avoid their duty free at Heathrow...the prices stateside are much lower. We do buy their Scottish smoked salmon sandwiches at the food court take out. They are wonderful (if you like salmon) and very well priced. Completely agree about Selfridges. Used to be our favourite. We were there last year and probably won't bother going again. Service terrible, and store poorly organized (for our taste).

crefloors

MK2..thanks for the hint. Like I say, tea bags are it for most of the US. I'll try to loose leaves with the strainer. Like I say, I LOVE hot tea on a snowy afternoon.

babylene

We'll be in London this summer. I didn't know Selfridge was "a mess"! What other stores do you recommend? Thanks.

m_kingdom2

Harvey Nichols isn't bad, but it's also a mess. The menswear is like a maze, womenswear is excellent, but the store itself feels dated.

Harrods really is the finest store in London from every angle.

Scarlett

<i>&quot;Harrods really is the finest store in London from every angle.&quot;</i>
I thought so too but now I hear I am tacky for re-using the shopping bags LOL and I have so many!
Oh well, they can all lie in state with the Gucci bag and the Longchamp bag and ......

My grandmother taught me the way to do tea in her/my little Brown tea pot, hot water, toss, tea leaves, add boiling hot water, sit. Pour through strainer. Do I remember correctly or is that the tacky way to tea making LOL

m_kingdom2

That's pretty much the right way to make it, whether you can be bothered warming the pot or not is up to you.

Scarlett

If I use a scented tea like Earl Grey, I love the smell of the tea when it goes into the warm pot.
I look forward to a winter where hot tea is a daily ritual.

Fodorite018

My daughter and I loved Harrod's, but the men, well, they don't care for shopping. I did buy my DH a pair of cufflinks there though, and he did admit to really liking them. I also bought some teas and candies, and DD bought an outfit. I would bet I still have my shopping bags from there too...I should look in the closet. DH teases me because I save many shopping batgs to use again, so Scarlett you are not alone Why get rid of them when they are still functional? BTW, I do the same with Nordstrom and other stores, so it has nothing to do with the names, they are just practical.

Marilyn

It's been years since I visited Harrods, but for Americans, I think the food court is fascinating. Department stores here simply do not have anything comparable.

When we start telling strangers on the internet the proper number of times to reuse their shopping bags, I do think things have gone too far. Of all the things to be snobby about, surely that is the most ridiculous!

tuckerdc

OK - maybe it's time to start a new thread here, but let's just back off on the &quot;used shopping bag&quot; thing, OK?

I still have a quite-reputable-looking tote from somewhere in Wales (with the national emblem on it) - from our first trip there...in 1984! I don't use it a lot...don't use it as 'status,' but every time I look at it....my heart does a tiny lurch and I remember what a fabulous, fabulous trip it was...and how much we loved Wales!

So....let's hear it for shopping bags as souvenirs!

crefloors

Well, I always warm the pot...but regarding tea..is iced tea an American thing? I don't know if I ever saw it in London, I was into beer at that point. Sorry if it's a dumb question..the tea discussion made me think of it. If you answer it's ok to say &quot;duh&quot;.

Sarah_G

I thought I really wanted something to bring back from Harrods when I visited England in March, until I saw the prices of even the smallest of nothings! Instead, I took a picture of one of the doormen under the Harrods doorway. It is definitely the least expensive souvenir, but a very important rememberance of my trip!

Kamartha

Having just been visiting my daughter in NY city, (the most capitalist city in the world) and then onto visiting friends in London, I must tell all Americans, you have not seen a Store until you go to Harrods in Knightsbridge, London. It is an amazing architectuaral, interior design, experience, mecca of all goods both expensive and more so, to look at. It is worth a visit and I put it on the list of Retail Museums of the world. No Food Hall, like it anywhere in Australia or the US......don't shop if you don't want to...just go and look and savour. And by the way you get a good Tea and a better Coffee than I have evr got in the States.