Ballstom Mall

Ballstom Mall is located in the city of Arlington, Virginia. It is a medium-sized shopping mall, but is extensive enough to spend a decent day or afternoon there shopping.

The shopping mall has one basement floor and three other floors above street level.

On the lower ground level, there are only food outlets, with the vast majority being branches of fast food chains (like McDonalds and Subway). There is also a Kabob & Famous Pizza restaurant: I have eaten here three times already and I highly recommend it, particularly for the combo meal that they offer of 2 slices of pizza and a drink for $6. You may think that this is a relatively normal offer for pizza, but it is currently the cheapest that you will find because it is normal to pay $3 or $4 for just a single slice. There is quite a pretty fountain in the middle of the mall with tables surrounding it, so it's really nice to order your food and then eat it in this area.

On the ground floor (street level), you will find: Starbucks, with an open-plan seating area into the centre; two quite good toy stores (one of them is dedicated more to fancy dress) called Total Party and Curios Kids; an ice-cream parlour, which is just in front of Starbucks; a barber shop; and, mobile phone stores, etc..

In addition to these stores, you will also find a CVS, which is one of my favourite supermarkets in Washington D. C. and has branches located all over the country. It mainly sells pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, as well as other hygiene items, magazines and a small selection of food. Basically, it's like a huge convenience store. I like this particular store more than those in D. C. because, with it being in the state of Virginia, you pay less taxes on the goods that you buy. If you are going to live here for a while, the best thing to do is to get yourselves a loyalty card because it's easy, free, and they give you lots of discounts for almost every time that you shop there.

On the first floor, there are some of the better known stores, like Claire's, FootLocker and Victoria's Secret, as well as some lesser known ones, like Bath & Body Works. The latter is one of my favourite shops of those of its type, and it sells products like soap, moisturising creams and hand gels.

Finally, on the second floor, there is a health and fitness centre, a Regal Cinemas, and a couple of other stores.

In addition to all of this, the shopping mall is also home to a Macy*s, which occupies one end of the three upper levels of the centre. Like all Macy*s department stores, the layout is as follows: on the ground floor, there are perfumes, accessories, shoes, make up and men's clothing; the first floor is home to women's clothing; and, finally, the second floor is dedicated to homeware and lingerie.

The centre also has a public car park, in addition to toilets (however, these are only in the basement and on the second floor). Besides, in the walkways, there are little stalls that sell mobile phone cases and others where you can get your eyebrows threaded. I personally couldn't do the latter knowing that there are people walking past you and looking at what is happening, but it is quite a normal occurrence here.

Generally speaking, my experience here at this mall has been good, and it's for this reason why I have already visited it four times since being in Washington D. C. However, it doesn't really have that many famous stores, so if you need to do a huge shopping spree, I would recommend that you instead go to Tysons Corner (a shopping mall that's also located in Virginia, but is even further out from D. C. than Ballstom).

To get to Ballstom Mall, the best thing to do would be to take the metro, as there is a stop that shares the same name as the shopping centre, meaning that they are very close to one another, and is served by the blue, silver and orange lines. From there, you can access the mall via a pedestrianised subway that links it to the metro station, or you can walk along the street until you reach Ballstom; you will recognise it because you will see Macy*s.