h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What can I say?

- well located, within walking distance of the town centre but not hard to get to
- lots of places to eat, and all of them good
- modern architecture but done very stylishly
- well laid out with plenty of signposts, a easy-to-find info desk,
- multi-screen cinema - I haven't been to the see a film there, but apparently it's good
- it's kept pretty clean (unlike some malls I've been to)

But...

- unfortunately mostly "label" shops, though there is an HMV, Waterstones and Debenhams there
- hard to find parking if you've got a big car, even though there are a lot of parking spaces

I'd give it 8/10

The multiplex is Warner Village and isn't too bad though the toilets are a bit on the small side for such a large cinema.

The toilets of the Oracle are apparently award-winning. (Do you spot a certain toilet theme in this posting?)

Though the Oracle is one of the best shopping centres in the country it is worth looking at the Broadmarch and Victoria centres in Nottingham as well as a number in Glasgow (Princes Street/Square?).

Dubai - allegedly the shopping capital of the world - has a number of malls as does Abu Dhabi. The shops include jewelery, textiles, arts and crafts as well as clothes shops, music/video, audio-visual electronics shops.

The Oracle? Stylish? With a pattern on the riverside which looks like a small child's scribble I would say it was far from it. Neither would i say it was great. If you loose your parking ticket you have to pay £17.50, despite the fact that they would know what time you came into the car park from the security cameras.
The map is far from user-friendly with all its numbers instead of putting shop names staight onto the map.
As for the shops? Well where can I begin... I hate shopping for clothes in the oracle, for one, because they are grossly over-priced and for another, I always get a static shock when coming downstars from burtons! I would say that for a small walk you can get to broad street and friar street and the mall, where you can shop oin places like woolies and boots (non-fishbowl version) as well as all the great gaming shops along the oxford road. I say DOWN with big name high street traders and UP with the small shops on the broad street.