I haven't been to the Ashford Designer Outlet in years but over the Easter weekend, we thought we'd take a trip there for a change. The outlet is just outside of Ashford town centre, which is about an hour's drive from Central London, so not at all difficult to get to for any southerners.

The outlet is huge and you can't miss it as it's covered by what looks like a big circus top around the outside, similar to the Millennium Dome roof. Inside, the car park takes up all the space in the middle and is surrounded by a huge circle of shops. I was pleased to find that the car park only cost £1 for up to 4 hours of parking which I thought was good value for a place like this.

The shops are all designer shops and the majority are fashion but also sports and outdoor, bags and accessories, jewellery, and home and gifts. Some of the brands sold here are Gap, Ben Sherman, Levi's, Next, Ted Baker, Fred Perry, Ralph Lauren, Marks & Spencer, Fat Face, Tommy Hilfigure, Whittard, Adidas, Lacoste, Nike Factory, Ripcurl, plus many others but far too many to list here!

The outlet wasn't quite as good as I remembered it being and there weren't that many shops that really took my fancy. The outlet is supposed to be a place to pick up good quality designer goods at discounted prices but to be honest I didn't really see very much that was either in a sale or at reduced and affordable prices. I'm always very careful with money but my husband often likes to buy things for himself but even he came away without buying anything so it wasn't a very successful shopping trip.

For the children, who may easily get bored with shopping, there's a play area towards the far end of the outlet with swings and slides. Behind the play area there's the food court where either the men can wait while the ladies shop or just to take a break during the shopping. You can choose from McDonalds, Caffe Nero, Harry Ramsden's, Millie's Cookies or Spud U Like. Admittedly, there's not a huge range of food places to choose from, but you get a choice of hot or cold food, savoury or sweet, so there should be something there to tempt you.

Overall, I wasn't impressed with the outlet and unless you can afford to spend your money on lots of designer clothes, then it's probably not for you. I definitely won't be going back there any time soon but will be sticking to Primark, Matalan and New Look instead!