After Inorbit mall and Oberoi mall, Infinity mall at Andheri (should I say Versova or Lokhandwala?) is my next favorite place to shop. I know lots of people hate malls, but for a shopaholic like me, a mall is a convenient place to get all my shopping done quickly (or leisurely) and efficiently. While this mall isn’t as huge as some other malls, it scores high with me because it has Landmark and Westside and even Cinemax and its lovely "Red Lounge" with recliner seats that make even the a bad movie (like Hot Tub Time Machine) seem fun and makes a fun movie (like Zombieland) even better.
I’ll go over each floor and focus on my favorite stores. The ground floor has Westside, which has some really cute t-shirts, silver jewelry, and home accessories. You get some really good deals at this store during their sales. There are also other stores like Remanika, Provogue, Wills Lifestyle and many others, I just can’t remember all their names. The ground floor also has stores like Watches and More (amazing deals on watches and jewelry), Hoop (beautiful silver jewelry), then there’s Biba and other Indian-wear outlets. There’s also usually some event happening in the ground floor foyer, which tends to get really loud with loudspeakers blaring.
The first floor has Adidas, Levis, Reebok, Mochi, and Catwalk and the other floor of Westside, where you’ll find menswear, kidswear, toys, home accessories, and even some furniture. There’s also a small spa here, where they give foot massages. It’s new and it’s called Sabai Foot Spa, I think. I haven’t tried it out (I’m really ticklish, I’ll end up kicking the massage therapist and be banned from the entire mall for life) but my friend swears by it. The first floor also has a Food Bazaar, where you can stock up on your week’s groceries and veggies and bread and fruit and what not.
The second floor has the food court with kiosks like Subway, Santiagos (amazing pizza, get a slice and make sure it’s hot), Malgudi, Amore (my favorite place for gelato, you have to try their blueberry yogurt), Cafe Coffee Day, Kailash Parbat, American Donuts (as good as Mad Over Donuts, just not as many options), and many more, and also a few restaurants, like TGIF (yummy macaroni and cheese, fajitas, and amazing deals at happy hours) and some thali place, called Panchvati Gaurav or something. The second floor also boasts of Landmark, the best bookstore ever (although the one at Phoenix Mills is bigger and better). There’s also a play area with rides for kids. Parents can choose to rent out the entire area and throw birthday parties there. And apparently, some of the food kiosks provide meal deals for kiddie parties. The only problem is that these parties get obnoxiously loud and other people at the food court suffer. Besides the food and the play area, you can also access Cinemax from this floor, or else there’s a separate entrance to the theater from outside the mall. Both the ground floor entrance and the second floor have the box office, so you can buy your tickets at either place.
The third floor is where you’ll be let out when you leave a movie. This floor also has a huge area with games like air hockey, foosball, bumper cars and what not - another place that kids love (and is as loud as the area on the second floor). The home decor and stationary store Tresorie also has a huge outlet on this floor. I’ve picked up several beautiful photo frames, handmade paper, coasters, candles, and other knick-knacks here - usually when the sale is on :)
Infinity mall has two levels of basement parking and some parking space at the ground level, outside the mall. Parking costs 30 bucks and can be redeemed at Food Bazaar. They do a security check, where they check the car’s trunk and even the glove compartment. At the elevators in the basement, they even go through your bag. If you enter from the main entrance, and not the car park, the bags go through a scanner. And I have to say the parking attendants in the basement are really helpful, they’ll direct you to the spots closest to the elevator and even help you park... like they always tell me to stop, just before I ram into the car behind while reversing :)
Accessibility in the mall is pretty good. And even though it’s not too large, you won’t feel claustrophobic. There are two elevators in the main mall (where you can’t take a trolley) and there are two service elevators tucked away behind (in case you want to take your trolley laden with groceries from Food Bazaar down to the parking lot). There are also escalators and I’m still to find the stairs. There are relatively clean bathrooms on every floor. The washbasins have sensors, so there’s no water wastage.
After all the good, here are some things I don’t like about Infinity: the parking just isn’t enough. If you go in the morning, you’ll get parking easily. But evenings mean waiting in line in the car, sometimes for over fifteen minutes (especially when there are sales going on everywhere). They don’t even have the option of paying extra for valet parking like other malls do. And I don’t particularly love their food court, but with so many other restaurants right next to and across the street from the mall this isn’t a huge concern. It would be nice if they added a better coffee shop than CCD though, maybe a Costa or Barista. But other than this, Infinity is a lovely place to shop and grab a bite. While I tried to remember everything, I’m sure I’ve forgotten to mention many of its outlets - specially the ones that don’t interest me like the electronics and card shops (now that I think of it, there’s a Vijay Sales and Archies Gallery on the first floor). So really this review isn’t doing justice to the mall, you have to go there to experience its awesomeness yourself!