ascot racecourse

First race meeting of the year and turned out to be excellent. Probably a better time to go as it was not packed as it's in the summer. Great day out with a great atmosphere. I'm not all that into horse racing but totally enjoyed the whole experience and would definitely go again.

Ascot racecourse is excellent and always someone there to help: biggest letdown, 45 mins to get a coffee beacuse of crowds.

Decided to go to the races on 14th February thinking it might be quieter than other times of the year. How wrong we were! To begin with the car parking stewards seemed surprised by the volume of traffic. Queues to place bets were very long and slow. Only seems to be one place to buy tea/coffee on Level 4 therefore took ages to get a coffee and missed watching 3rd race. Staff although friendly considering they were so busy are quite slow at turning out the orders. The bar we were near closed at 4pm! The whole area was littered with dirty glasses and most of the bar staff seemed to have left by this time. Far too crowded especially with people bringing babies in buggies. I have nothing against children but buggies clearly take up too much space and were clogging walkways. Toilets generally OK but massive queues on Level 4 while there was an empty ladies on the next level. Toilet attendants were not directing women to the next level. Overall a disappointing and tiresome experience. On the plus side, enjoyed the racing.

Valentine's day this year coincided with the Ascot Chase meeting and a celebration of 50 years of jump racing at Ascot. We decided to treat ourselves to a meal in this excellent restaurant. As its name suggests it is on the fifth floor of the grandstand at Ascot and has amazing views of the course and surrounding countryside. The food was as good as we have had anywhere. Beautifully presented and tasted wonderful. Goats cheese starter was light and tasty. The fillet steak just melted in the mouth and as for the strawberry dessert? My mouth is watering at the memory! I could run out of superlatives but I shall just say it matched the surroundings. The staff were very good as well. There was always someone there to take your plate, or bring you some more wine. It is really good as they ask you when you would like each course served so you need never miss a race. We got a welcome cocktail and then a glass of champagne which was very well received. Staff from the Tote (betFred) are walking around the room to take your bets and the large balcony outside gives a fantastic view of the racing. A pretty perfect day. It would have been perfect if the bookies paid out to me for once.

Family days at the racecourse are great for all the family as the kids are entertained all day and would recommend joining them to the colts and fillies (which is free to join) and gets them little extras. There are always plenty of places to eat and drink personally we always take our own with 3 boys it can work out expensive. We have never had a bad day out at the racecourse yet.

Great day out if you are coming as a couple, with family or friends. Even when the weather isnt good there is enough indoor facilities for everyone.Good choice of food and drink on offer, but the queues are a pain! Car parking facilities are good with them being just a short walk away from the Grandstand...

We also visited Ascot on February 15th. Before I start my highly critical review I would point out out that we had visited Ascot on three occasions in 2014 and thought it was fantastic and the best racecourse we had ever been to. However, like some of the previous reviewers, the visit on 14th. February was awfull. 1) Car park one not open at 11.45am and no signs stating it was closed.2)Car park 5 not very suitable ( lots of potholes) and car parking staff totally Uninterested.3) We were in the Premier admission and there were not enough bars open or bar staff at the ones That were open - totally did organised4) The biggest grouch ! To our surprise , smoking is allowed on the seating areas of the viewing balconies - this day and age? When your not even a llowrd to smoke at a football match -is Ascot afraid of losing drinking trade if they banned smoking here?As I have previously stated - Asco can be a great place but on this day they got it seriously wrong, I just hope it doesn't happen again.

Went to the Feb 14th day celebrating 50 years of Jumps at Ascot. We got there for when the gates opened and had no trouble parking, we did notice people queuing down the High St. and ignoring the signs for car park 5 turn off! Found a table with view over the course and grabbed a couple of drinks. I had pie and mash and waited maybe ten minutes in the queue, it took longer for people to decide what they were having than to be served! Would have been good if some of the many stewards had kept stairways on the grandstand clear. All in all a great day, but it does look a little too much like an airport terminal!

We visited Ascot Races on Valentine's Day as they had an offer on for free admission to celbrate 50 years of jumps at the course.Car parking was easy enough and free today which was a bonus. Due to a fatal accident on the motorway we were late and missed the first race but due to the large crowds were were not alone! I gather lots of people had taken advantage of the free offer!! The free tickets had to be booked in advance so the organisers must have known how many people would attend but they were woefully under prepared in terms of catering and refreshemnts for the masses. There were internal bars and eateries that were not open which was madness as it was heaving!The general admission areas were packed and queing times at the bar were at least 30 minutes so we gave up and got soft drinks and snacks from the one kiosk outside.......the prices were expensive but you expect that at venues like this.The opportunities for proper food were limited again as the wait was so long and the choice so limited. I appreciate that it is Ascot and they perhaps do not want burger vans and chip vans as you find at other race courses but I have been to other higher end venues and they have no problem having a 'select' few catering trailers onsite offering jacket potatoes or 'posh' fish n chips etc.The setting however is lovely and the racing was good. The only gripe is as mentioned above.

Visited ascot today for the free jump meeting and was the worst visit to a racecourse I have ever experienced. Okay it was free entry but I would expect better from a racecourse as prestigious as Ascot. On the website it said car park one would be open - it was closed when we arrived there (although when we left we noticed it was full so they obviously decided they needed to use it after all) so we had to queue down the high street to the other carparks. Once inside the facilities were extremely undercatered and staffed, everyone was complaining at the queues and when finally served things had run out. A very disappointing day out. Ascot survives on its name and snobbery, it is not the place it used to be and there are much better racecourses around.

An annual trip to a horse race has become a bit of a tourist feature for us when visiting England. This was our first trip to Ascot and we were not disappointed. This race day was on Valentine's day and was the 50th anniversary celebration of hurdles at Ascot.The main grandstand is aesthetically impressive and investing in Premier enclosure tickets was a good move as the place was packed. We opted for a light lunch in a coffee shop but this was utterly chaotic. I cannot believe that Ascot runs like this normally, the whole queuing and paying process was utter amateur hour. In addition the staff got upset with us for sitting too long at a table, although there were no signs anywhere to say that one cannot spend all afternoon sitting there should one wish. This particularly upset us as we had taken my 80 year old mother with us and expecting her to stand all afternoon would have been unreasonable. That said the setting is evocative, the people watching opportunities are fabulous and the racing great fun. I think this is a real must do day out and I only hope that one day we have an opportunity to visit in Royal Ascot week at some point in the future.

Went to Ascot on 15th February. Great venue and tickets were free to attract new race goers. What a pity that they couldn't cater for all the visitors. The queues for the bars and food were disgraceful and the staff really had no concern or customer service ethic. They did their best but were just not geared up to cope with demand. What a shame. If you want to attract more race goers you really need to sort out the support that customers expect. Why were more bars not open? Why can't you organise it so someone is charged with pulling pints of Guinness or bitter continuosly to help speed of service. Average wait to get a drink was at least 30 minutes - unacceptable and just think about the opportunity you have missed.

For a fun day this is the place. Excitement from the racing with friends for company. The grand stand offers the best views of the course and you can look down on the wing post or stand next to it for a real buz and sound of galloping.

I've been to Ascot many times in the past both summer flat (including Royal Ascot) and the winter jumps racing!I don't think there's a better course within the UK. The facilities and viewing are second to none. I will be back there again this weekend and taking a couple of teenagers who will love the experience. If you haven't been then you should.It's not all about the betting but the day out which is just so thoroughly enjoyable!Wholeheartedly recommended!!!

My wife, daughter and daughters friend and of cause myself went racing at ascot for ladies day and the day after and thought it was absolutely great. We booked the grandstand for ladies day and the silver ring for the Friday. Preferred the grandstand, but both days were very enjoyable and the atmosphere was second to none, you just can't beat the buzz, it was packed to the rafters. Definitely recommend a day at royal ascot, even if you don't gamble, it's great!!