The Trafford Centre’s first pay-for car park opened for business this week, and yes, I was among the first through the barriers to give it a try. The new Premium Parking service launched on Wednesday, ahead of what is expected to be a busy first weekend as shoppers throng to the mall in the run-up to Christmas.
The newly resurfaced car park now has bigger spaces set to appeal to “premium shoppers” with larger luxury vehicles. It will also offer a host of “luxe” car valet services as well to suit those with larger luxury wallets.
If you’re just parking your car there, you’ll be shelling out from £4 an hour to park here on weekdays, and from £7 an hour on weekends. However the longer you stay the cheaper the hourly rate becomes – with a maximum stay of 12 hours costing £14 on weekdays and £21 on weekends.
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But if you fancy the full “Premium” experience you can also get your car cleaned as well while you park there. Although you’re looking at (gulp) £96 for a “luxe valet” clean, or a truly eye-watering £217 for the “ultra valet” clean which gives you the full works. Oh, but that price does include your parking fee though you’ll be pleased to hear.
Now, as I breezed into the new barriered section of the Upper Peel 5 car park at the Trafford Centre on Wednesday morning I could certainly see why this new service might persuade you to part with your cash.
Yes, I know we’ve all been used to parking for free at the Trafford Centre for the past 20-odd years across some 11,000 spaces. But the new scheme dangles the carrott of a spot right next to one of the main (and most central) entrances into the shopping mall, by posh department store Selfridges.
And, crucially, it means you’re not spending ages circling around trying to find a space. So it’s weighing up whether your precious time is worth more than the cash in your wallet as far as I can see.
There are 200 parking spaces here now up for grabs, that you can either reserve in advance online, or you can take your chances and turn up on the day, take a ticket at the barrier, and then pay up at the machines inside before you leave.
I was invited down on Wednesday on its opening day, and it was pretty quiet, so I had my pick of the all-new rather large red spaces. Naturally I parked as close as I possibly could to the entrance because that is literally what being a human tells you to do, doesn’t it?
Once I got out I was greeted by the team from H20, the car valeting team, who are now operating this Premium Parking zone. Unbeknownst to me, they’d booked me in to test out one of the car valet services.
If I had known, I might have made some kind of attempt to tidy up my mum’s battered old Honda Jazz that I’ve been borrowing of late.
As I’ve got two young kids, I’m afraid the back seats of the car are essentially a dumping ground for school homework, Bear Yo Yo cards and the accumulated crumbs of multivarious Mr Kipling cakes.
But the boss of H20 insisted I must hand over my keys so I could get the full Premium experience on the car park’s opening day. When I enquired exactly what they’d be doing to my car, he said it would be getting the “Ultra Luxe” car valet – which will set you back £217.
At this point my jaw did drop as I struggled to comprehend exactly what they would be doing to the vehicle for that amount of money. As one friend later pointed out: “I’d expect an entirely new car for that”.
Well, they did their very best to do just that – as the grimy, dust-clad Honda that I left behind for a few hours of shopping inside the mall was replaced by a barely-recognisable, gleaming slick of black shiny metal when I arrived back.
They’d not merely jetwashed the exterior. Oh no, they’d given it an ultra high definition wax so shiny I could see my face in it.
While inside the car they’d shampooed every fabric surface within an inch of its life. They’d even cleaned the engine – a feat quite impressive given I don’t even know how to open the bonnet to said engine.
The interiors were like brand new. the cleanest I think I’ve ever seen this car. It was like the sort of transformation you only ever see on a Stacey Solomon TV makeoever show.
Don’t get me wrong, the whole experience was fantastic, and I could not be more grateful for the service I received. But I could not personally justify paying £217 for a car wash, even one as thorough as this, on a regular basis.
Although I don’t suppose the premium valets here are really targeted towards the Honda Jazz drivers of the world.
This was brought into sharp focus when I got home, with the still damp seats (they provided plastic covers for the front seats so I didn’t get a soggy bum on the drive home), and realised that condensation was now gripping the windows inside.
For those with “premium vehicles” who have a nice warm garage to park in (and heated seats) I’m sure this won’t be a problem. But for me parking my car in a freezing cold road overnight, this meant waking up with the rather unique situation of having to scrape ice off the INSIDE of my windows as well as the outside. Very, very strange experience I have to say.
My conclusion is that “ultra valet” life is probably not for me. Or at least not until I can trade in the Honda for my own Rolls Royce like the one parked up alongside me when I arrived.
However the flat rate Premium Parking itself might just tempt me back. Particularly if I need to head to the Trafford Centre on the busy days ahead in the run up to Christmas.
Even at the price of £7 for an hour at weekends, it might just be worth it for me, if it means circumventing the hair-raising race for a space at peak times.
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