Rheged Reviews 

Usually love Rheged for the shops, cafe and soft play. Having recently had my second child, I was shocked that they now charge for under 1s to use the soft play area, mainly because there is nothing for under 1s to do at there! There is no safe dedicated area for them to play unlike other local soft plays and to charge £3.20 seems a little steep. Perhaps a £1/£1.50 would still give an income that fits with what’s available? Would absolutely not mind paying if there were activities/ toys for this age group but paying the money to sit in a ball pit, avoiding toddlers dive bombing in beside you seems excessive. Such a shame as this was the perfect place to spend an hour to burn off some energy.

Went there yesterday for a change for a stop on way home and I have to say we weren't that impressed. Used the cafe and we both got scones..one cheese and one fruit and both served cold with rock hard butter..no chance of spreading it and when we tried it just pulled the scones to bits. Also the scones being so cold made them very hard so were hard to eat. It's basic stuff in cafes that you serve scones room temperature or warm with spreadable butter or its pointless and with Rheged claiming to be a more up market services with prices they charge then they should know how to serve scones at least. We'll probably just use Burton in Kendal services as per usual next time..what a shame.

Yesterday my daughter was at Rheged for a performance and ordered some food at the restaurant. Unfortunately, there was an issue with her card and it wasn’t accepted despite several attempts, and she didn’t have any cash with her. One of your staff members was incredibly kind and paid for her meal herself. I just wanted to say thank you for such amazing customer service — it really meant a lot to us.

I attended a 6 hour craft workshop at Rheged. I was very disappointed to receive a £60 parking fine a few days later - because I was parked for over 5 hours!! They knew that the workshop was for 6 hours and there is no other way for me to get to Rheged than driving. How can people attend workshops if they are not allowed to park there??!
I wrote to them to ask them to cancel the charge but they did not bother to respond. Really appalling - actually non-existent - customer service. I recommend that you do not attend a workshop there unless you want to be fined.

Used to go a lot many years ago and was a top place for breakfast, food and drink..went for 1st time in while yesterday as passing through and told my friends and Mother who were with me how good this place was! Little did I know how downhill it had gone..no 'normal' full English breakfast, toast and jam, egg on toast etc etc...they now call it 'brunch' from 9am and have just a token few silly ideas that cost a fortune! My 78 yo mother who was with me wanted just an egg sandwich for breakfast(one that I might say had been given at every other cafe we had visited in the last couple of years around the lakes) Was told abruptly by the assistant she couldnt do that. When I said I couldnt believe it and asked again was then told she could do it but would be also charged for bacon, dressing and side too..I said to leave it as that was just ridiculous. What is happening to society these days? These companies dont want to even try and give good customer service and whoever trains the staff want sacking with the appauling no can do attitude to basic things. They were not even rushed off their feet.. only 4 of about 20 tables at customers..it was a like ghost town in there! As a society we need to go back to basics and deliver what we had 20/30 years ago..which was a local business giving good and acceptable customer service..

Went to see Lee in the cinema, screen 2,it was freezing cold, the sound was awful, but the worst was the seats, super uncomfortable and itchy, little leg room so consequently left with an achy back and cramped up legs ! Very disappointed as I paid £7 when the big multiplex charges £4.99 with all mod cons

The Rheged centre just outside Penrith is the sister company of Tebay Motorway services, a business which, buoyed by hours of free advertising (fly on the wall tv documentary) has become an enormous success - hats off to the owners! The Rheged Centre itself is very successful, a great draw for tourists and locals alike. It has an excellent cinema, its restaurant, if not great, is certainly very good and it’s shops and pop up art events all worth visiting. Given that the family owners are clearly very good at business and understand the importance of quality control one deficiency is extraordinary - sandwiches! I pass Rheged (petrol station section) often and Tebay occasionally and for the sake of convenience have bought their sandwiches on a number of occasions - I am finally giving up. They are consistently made of tasteless (often chewy) bread, the fillings are all rubbish- I initially assumed maybe it was just one or two - and often they are also stale. May I suggest that the management get a grip of this issue, it reflects very badly on what is otherwise a well run business.

We went to see the latest Hercule Poirot film on Saturday and the whole experience was rubbish frankly.

We bought our tickets at reception, but there was no-one at the entrance to the cinema to either direct us or check our tickets.

The cinema was freezing cold, the show was supposed to start at 6.45, but there were no trailers or intro at all, and we started to wonder if we were in the correct screening room.. A staff member wandered in at approx 7pm to start the show, and made no apology at all.

The audio from the film was terrible, and the background noise from what sounded like the kitchen was interfering with the enjoyment of the film. When the film finished, there were no staff in sight, they didn't put the house lights up, and it very much felt like we were an inconvenience.

Very poor customer service. We could have gone to the cinema in Carlisle which would have been closer, but want to support smaller local business instead of a large national chain, but next time I think it will be VUE that get our business.

Cinema is great, shops excellent.

We found Rheged during a trip to the Lake District and were really pleased to know it was open for food, shops & entertainment late into the evening, ideal for our return from a day out.

It is a high quality services in the same group as the Tebay and Gloucester ‘Westmorland’ family, so it is recognisable for the similar shopping & eating experience, but this location is uniquely set ‘underground’ and has a large cinema (!) and playground for entertainment and excellent local produce to buy or eat-in at the two restaurant-style cafes - table service was quick and attentive and, food of great quality, well presented and tasty, for a reasonable price considering the premium local ingredients.

There is also a large car park - the key part of discovering Rheged is that it is located around the corner from the service station, but well worth taking a left after filling-up.

Highly recommended - we will be returning as soon as we can!