As Europe's biggest shopping mall is opened by the Mayor in west London, we send five of our specialist writers to join the masses to discover what kind of retail experience it has to offer

After 13 years of planning and construction, the mega shopping mall Westfield London finally threw open its doors to shoppers yesterday. Londoners were faced with the prospect of 265 retailers, almost 50 places to eat and the promise of a 14-screen cinema, luxury spa and gym all due to open next year. Thousands poured into the 43-acre site which was opened by Mayor Boris Johnson in the Atrium, the marble-floored central space that is almost the size of a football pitch and above which hangs a rippling glass roof.

It is a vast £1.6 billion shopping experience with much in the design detail to admire the light and space, the high-quality marble flooring, the leatherette sofas and armchairs for weary shoppers in the luxury Village zone and huge swivel chairs that children will love.

It is just a pity so much was unfinished and so many shops were not yet open. The evidence of a rushed job to get the centre open on time was everywhere. Many lifts didn't work, lavatories were closed and the touch-screen information system had gone haywire. Those loos that were open were pleasingly designed but the family room was small and, perhaps inevitably, the TV screens there were not working.

Although there is much cutting-edge technology on show, less thought has been given to practical aspects. The odd white direction boards were singularly lacking in detailed information.

But my biggest moan is that although it had been billed as London's first major "downtown" shopping centre, where visitors are encouraged to take advantage of public transport, the Australian developers have missed the needs of the capital's cyclists.

I visited by bike and the approach to the main entrance on Wood Lane has the most primitive cycle lane a dotted line by the side of the road and even then only on the southbound lane. There are admittedly 570 spaces for bikes but exposed to the elements, unlike the cavernous underground car park. Signage is poor and it took me five requests for directions before finding the rack.

This is not an out-of-town Bluewater, it is an inner-city mall designed to serve the community in which it stands, for everyday shopping as well as major splurges. The lack of investment in facilities for bikes means locals will get in their cars, adding to the inevitable congestion that will add blight to an area already crushed by extraordinary levels of traffic.

Many of the teething problems will be ironed out in the days and weeks to come and Westfield may yet prove a huge success. In the meantime, can I make a plea for improved facilities for us cyclists at the top of the developers' list?

FASHION

Dior, Gucci - you won't get them down Bluewater, darling
Laura Craik, Fashion Editor

I need to lie down in a darkened room. Westfield was all too much for me: the balloons, the macaroons, the coffee queues, the loitering hoodies, the befuddled grannies, assistants in "Happy to help you" sashes, and Leona Lewis belting out Bleeding Love.

What interested me most about Westfield was that it purported to house brands you don't commonly see in British shopping centres. In America, mall culture is vast and all-inclusive but in class-ridden Britain, shopping centres are still thought of as downmarket. Westfield, however, is chasing the top dollar: its Prada store, for example, is the first in Europe to be housed inside a shopping centre, and it has also attracted Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Gucci, Versace, Valentino and Miu Miu. You wouldn't get them down Bluewater, darling.

Curious to see how such exacting brands had translated to a shopping centre, I sped to the Village, the upmarket bit identifiable by its crystal chandeliers. Oh. Nary a £1,000 bag in sight: just an army of builders' bums. Not a single one of the stores listed above was finished.

That was the bad news. The good news is that all the high-street chains are up and running merrily. I wasn't expecting to feel excited by yet another branch of Zara, Gap, Oasis, H&M, Next, Karen Millen and Topshop but if you like the convenience of shopping under a big glass roof, then here is a chance to leave your coat in the car and do so. Topshop deserves special mention for making extra effort with its stock: front of house were capsule collections by Peter Jensen, Alice McCall and Emma Cook, so I felt I was getting a different edit of clothes than in your average London branch.

Thanks to its excellent PR machine, I was expecting more from Westfield than it delivered on opening day. The architecture is slick and airy, the choice is vast, but really, it's just another shopping centre. If you like shopping centres, you'll love Westfield; if you don't, I doubt there will be much to sway you.

HEALTH AND BEAUTY

Truly the best manicure I've ever had and it cost only £20
Charlotte Ross, Columnist

There's no longer an excuse for poor grooming. At Westfield it's a challenge to walk 10 yards without bumping into a brow technician. But could I really go from scrub-faced scruff to urban sophisticate in a few hours?

I hit the lower ground floor running with a visit to Destination Skin, a futuristic medi-spa in the basement of House of Fraser where you can deal with any imperfection so long as it's a non-surgical procedure from varicose veins to skin resurfacing.

Inside, a host of fresh-faced, crisp uniformed beauties placed me in front of a special camera where branch manager Sam took pictures of my skin for computerised analysis. Champagne was flowing freely in Westfield yesterday but I sobered up when Sam showed me images of sun damage, capillary dilation and wrinkles. She recommended a course of skin peels to reverse the freckly sunspots, a dose of IPL, an intense light-based therapy to even out skin tone on my rosy cheeks, possibly a little muscle relaxant (that's Botox) to deal with wrinkles caused by my "expressive" face.

Blimey. But that's not a lot, apparently, for someone of my age (late thirties). Should I choose to go down this route, I can have most of it done in my lunch hour in the high-tech treatment rooms. At a price, of course - Botox starts at £250. How long before this salon becomes west London's Destination Botox?

Next I dropped in at Malika to get my unruly eyebrows reshaped by Ritu, who's been threading brows for more than 32 years. She expertly whipped out any rogue hairs, actually retrained some to grow in a more flattering direction, explained the aesthetics of well-balanced brows, then threw in an Indian pressure-point head massage for good measure. Quite a bargain at £15.

Nails next, so I sat down at the Cuticles bar on level one where Anna transformed my free-range fingertips into gleaming garnet talons. Truly the best manicure I've ever had and for only £20.

My final stop was id backstage hair and beauty at Debenhams where, despite a temporary lack of running water, stylist Simon created a tumbling head of curls in moments before handing me over to make-up artist Maria, who deftly painted on a high-gloss party face. Pity I had to go back to the office.

But before I left, there was time for a recce of the beauty halls. Debenhams is vast and various, House of Fraser and Boots ditto. All have in-house add-ons, from lash bars to hairdressers to opticians. And with all the high street stores represented, from Lush and Body Shop to Jo Malone, product junkies never need stray into nasty UV rays again.

FOOD

As a mall virgin, I'm surprised and impressed by 'eat street'
Fay Maschler, Restaurant Critic

Lost in a giant mall that could be anywhere in the world, you might look to the food offerings to give you a clue as to where in the world you were. Retail shops are mostly international brands so they are no help. The 47 eating outlets in Westfield, many familiar but quite a few brand new, make you think this airless behemoth could well be in London.

The quality of mid-price dining in London has improved dramatically in the past decade and Westfield has been canny in the selection of operators in a way that makes it apparent. As a bit of a mall virgin I was rather surprised and impressed by "eat street", more formally called Southern Terrace, with its undulating grass wall. On this avenue, which runs between Wood Lane and Shepherd's Bush Underground station, there is a parade of restaurants that can be accessed from outside from 8am to midnight. You need never set foot in the Mall.

Not all venues are open yet and some were suffering teething problems (restaurateurs are accustomed to opening months later than any promised date). At Ito, where Tom Etridge is offering healthy small bites of modern European food, the carousel on which they will trundle stood empty and the staff idle because the gas supply had conked out. No hot food yet, but enterprising salads and other vegetarian assemblies were offered at the Swiss/German Tibits where I started my protracted lunch. I would have moved on to The Meat & Wine Co, the first UK branch of a South African company dedicated to the title ingredients, but they weren't yet trading.

Inside, The Balcony on the first floor overlooking the Atrium holds 13 food outlets where you look, queue, buy and sit wherever you find space. Michelin-starred Pascal Aussignac says Croque Gascon is the only French outlet in the building and claims to have inaugurated fast food cooked by a French person. Comptoir Libanais sounds French but is Lebanese with the sort of intriguing healthy dishes and excellent breads associated with that cuisine. Bamboo Basket, from the people behind Shanghai Blues, served creditable dim sum. Roast chicken, as served at Birley's, cut from a spit-roast bird and slapped between bread, and chicken doused with peri-peri sauce at Nando's upstairs in The Loft near the cinema, was attracting some of the longest of the long first-day queues.

HOME

I'm bowled over by blue silk bedlinen
Katie Law, Homes & Property

I was dying to check out the home stores since so many claim to have moved their main flagship stores here. Two anchor stores, M&S and House of Fraser, had surprisingly small home departments but look resplendent, all glittering surfaces, no expense spared, just not that much to buy.

Next Home and Debenhams have far more but I couldn't cope with the crowds. I'll definitely go back to investigate Dwell and Zara Home, both in my view underrated home stores.

I was bowled over by the opulence of the fixtures and fittings in some of the shops. Could this really be House of Fraser? Thick glass surfaces, highly polished wooden hand rails, mirrored surfaces, glittering chandeliers and a huge bed made up in indigo blue silk bedlinen, scattered with starspangled cushions and silver bolsters.

It looked more like a luxurious hip hotel.

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