Shopper

Fred, N and AR are both perfectly right. Mohammed Fayed is a barmy old man, Harrod's is interesting to walk round and see the &quot;Egyptian&quot; staircase -grotty, but impressive.<BR><BR>Don't bother trying to locate Mr F's memorial to the Princess of Wales. It's unworthy of her memory and totally kitschy. There's a collection box there where gullible people can get rid of their loose change, as well.<BR><BR>The selection of wares at Selfridges is every bit as good, or if your wife is ultra fashionable and if you are American millionnaires - go to Harvey Nichols for clothes.

butch

Only a woman can answer this question.

hate

My wife &amp; I stopped in during our last trip to London. Worst moment of the week. Lots &amp; lots of stuff, but lots &amp; lots of people. Could have been bad timing, probably would have been fun, but it was a frenzy inside.

elaine

As a several-times visitor to London, I think of Harrods as a tourist stop rather than as a shopping destination.<BR><BR>I find Harrod's clothing and such unremarkable except in price. Here in New York I think of Macy's as a very dull store in looks as well as merchandise, and yet visitors walk in and start snapping photos of the interior.<BR><BR>However, H is a good stop if you want to browse the food halls for 15 minutes and buy some souvenirs such as house-label teas or jams, or tea towels or pot holders with the Harrod's name.

Laurie

Even though I'm a shop til-you-drop kinda gal, Harrods leaves me cold. It's too big &amp; too difficult to find anything. (The one exception I 've found is accessories. They have a great selection of ladies hats &amp; handbags) Yeah the food halls are amazing but so what? I don't enjoy window shopping food! If you want to go just to say you've been &amp; see what all the fuss is about, have a walk around the main floor &amp; thru the food halls &amp; leave. 15-20 minutes. Keep in mind that Harrods has a duty free shop at the airport so if you want souvenirs or gifts with a Harrods logo you can always pick them up there.<BR>I agree with previous posters-Selfridges and/or Harvey Nichols are better. Liberty of London is worth a trip also.

gotta

Does Harrod's still charge people to use the rest rooms?

AMY

they just did away with the charge.

Grasshopper

Two words: Food Halls. Worth the visit.<BR><BR>Ooops, One more word: Waterstones. Fun to get paperbacks by favorite British novelists, autographed by the author. They make fantastic gifts.

Mel

If you want to hit a shop that has cache and local clientele, try Fortnum &amp; Mason's instead. Choice of rooms for afternoon tea, great food, salesmen in morning coats, royal warrents to spare.

Bookworm

If you go to Fortnum &amp; Mason's instead then you can call into Hatchard's Bookstore (the best in Britain if not the World). That way you can avoid needing to go to Harrods at all.

NYGirl

If you are interested in shopping for fine &amp; expensive goodies, go across the street to Harvey Nichols. Have lunch, shop, go home broke

kate

AR is bang on with his description of Harrods. It is a famous old institution, perhaps the most famous department store in the world? It was always the shop of choice of the Royal Family, and the old marketing talk was that you could get anything you wanted at Harrods - if you wanted to buiy an elephant, they'd find a way to order you one.<BR><BR>These days it is a massive tourist site - I defy you to find any Londoners in there, they're all in Selfridges, which is now easily the most glamorous, hip department store in London.<BR><BR>However, it is one of those places that you have to see just once - so go, oggle at the amazing food halls and the completely mad egyptian escalators (imagine if they put escalators inside the Great Pyramid - you get the picture), buy a pot of own label jam and then head to Selfridges where the real shopping begins.

janis

The opinions of Harrods are all over the place - loathe it or love it you must see it once. For most tourists mainly the Food halls and the lower level &quot;Harrods&quot; shop. That is where you get all the souveniers/teddybears/totebags/Christmas ornaments with the Harrods logo and other images.<BR><BR>But I don't know what people mean about snobby service. I have NEVER had a bad experience with any sales staff there. I have bought things from &pound;1.95 tissues to &pound;150 enamel boxes in several departments and have always been treated very well. In fact, considering the masses of humanity there, the customer service is amazing.<BR><BR>I do not do a lot of shopping there but always find something from the food halls (sometimes a LOT of things) to take back to my flat.<BR><BR>The main problem w/ Harrods is it is simply too crowded. They frequently have to close off the Harrods exit from the Knightsbridge tube station due to overcrowding.<BR><BR>I agree, Harvey Nic's is a great place and I try to get to F&amp;M every trip. For &quot;real&quot; shopping I go to Selfridges, M&amp;S, and lots of small shops in Chelsea, S Kens etc.

Linda Allen

Re: Harrod's Dress Code--what is &quot;acceptable&quot;? It would be totally mortifying to be refused entry into a department store. I will be on vacation in London in April and would like to take a look-see, just to say I have been there, but what should I wear? I heard Jennifer Love-Hewitt say once that they would not let her in in cut-off shorts, but would khaki slacks and a blazer pass muster?<BR>I would hate to have to buy something new in order to get into a place to buy something else!

Sara

Can't believe nobody has mentioned the Xmas Puddings!

Alicia

I've been to Harrod's a few times although it may be too large for some it does have its conveniences. <BR><BR>If you like Barbour brand coats, great selections and prices.<BR><BR>If you like to buy soap, its one stop shopping for all the European brands.<BR><BR>If you like to buy consumable items such as tins of shortbread and tea for family members but dont like to pack the bulky items in your luggage, have Harrods ship it home.<BR><BR>If you have to buy lots of travel gifts for friends and realtives, do it at Harrods, they have everything.<BR><BR>In May my mother and I went went to customer service on the lower level and got a shopping card. With the card you can: Pick at your items, take it to the register in whatever dept you are shopping in, the clerk does a quick transaction on your card. Then the clerk takes the items to the lower level customer service area for final check out when you are done shopping.<BR><BR>You can shop for several days until you are ready for final check out. When you are done shoppping, go back to customer service, they ring up your purchases less taxes, apply a shipping fee and ship the purchases directly to your house. Ours arrived safe and sound in 10 days. No waiting online or filling out forms to get your taxes back. <BR><BR>And for those who do not bother to fill out the tax form, like me, the shipping charge was still less then the tax rebate, so the taxes came off without a hassele and it was shipped home for us.<BR>

jane

Harrod's will allow people in when they are wearing jeans. I've been in there in jeans a time or two and never scoffed at or refused entry. Actually, Harrod's is fun to visit. I don't spend the day but it is someplace to see if you are not from London. It is a major tourist attraction.

N

Jeans per se are fine for Harrods- the rejection I referred to which got a lot of publicity in the Evening Standard was I suspect driven by the women's overweight status combined with their clothing (I cannot be sure of the jeans, but it was not slovenly). Unfortunately, some of the stores security guards , and I am sure not all, are complete morons - like lots of night club bouncers they love the power trip they can occassionally have.