Whitstable Castle & Gardens Reviews Summary

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff are very helpful, especially Tiffany and Megan."
• "The staff were great and friendly and funny."
• "The staff were very friendly and helpful, Covid restrictions were first class tables clean and sprayed after every costumer."
• "Staff were very friendly and we stopped for a coffee and some cake at the Orangery, restaurant staff were so welcoming and friendly."
• "They were both helpful, polite and efficient."
• "Lovely staff member gave us an informative tour."
• "Staff were very friendly and could not do enough to make our daughter's wedding very special."

Cons:

• "Shocking experience at the tea room this afternoon."
• "After 10 minutes of seeing no one we left."
• "The service had been terrible and they were still waiting for dessert."
• "Service is ridiculously slow."
• "The server's attitude when she reluctantly came over was surly, disinterested, and dismissive."
• "We only wanted three coffees and had to wait a good 25 minutes even though it wasn't very busy."
• "All the service members were forgot how to smile I think."

Food and Drinks

Pros:

• "Service was really good and they catered for my dairy, gluten free vegetarian daughter and the food looked just the same as mine."
• "The food was excellent, very well cooked and presented and so much of it."
• "Had a meal in the cafeteria/restaurant really nice food."
• "The food outstanding sandwiches lovely but the scones and cake out of this world cast are tarts were warm Victoria sponge to die for."
• "The tea house is nice, bit overpriced but good portions and fresh food."
• "The food at the tea rooms was nice and reasonably priced."
• "A good lunch time menu and good food."

Cons:

• "We ordered drinks non alcoholic it was a very hot day and unfortunately all were warm and NOT cold, we asked for ice cubes and they said their machine was broken so wasn’t happy at all."
• "The penne carbonara was so swamped with thick cheese sauce."
• "The brownie was nothing like a brownie, it was flavourless stodge."
• "The scampi was overcooked and the so-called chips were running with oil."
• "All the deserts were dry."
• "The food was very standard, disappointingly the red onion chutney was not chutney at all but just cold fried onion."
• "We ordered an avocado sandwich and a fish finger sandwich both of which were served on cheap stale 'sourdough' and covered in a pretty awful salad."

Location and Setting

Pros:

• "Nice peaceful, tranquil place."
• "Set in a superb location and gardens."
• "The castle looks stunning from the beautiful English countryside garden."
• "Fantastic little castle set in beautiful grounds, within close proximity to the beach."
• "The Castle in Whitstable is a must visit if you are at the town."
• "Location and venue are lovely."
• "Very close to the town centre, sea and shops."

Cons:

• "However should have been told there was a venue later that day!!!! As we could have made other arrangements!!!"
• "The seating areas should have cleaned of the copious amounts of bird poo as we couldn't use the benches in all of our wedding finery."
• "Outside seating was not very comfortable for one of the disabled members."
• "Parking can be dodgy in the summer."
• "If you come here expecting a castle you'll be disappointed, as this is a rather small rich man's house from the 19th century."
• "It was ok but not much there and didn't know what the plants all were."
• "Parking on site with a very limited amount of spaces free for up to 3 hours, or park outside in the road."

Gardens and Grounds

Pros:

• "Beautifully kept gardens lovely landscaping."
• "The grounds and gardens are well maintained and there's also a kids play park."
• "Love this place, the gardens are amazing with ample parking for the visit."
• "A large patio area for summer visits is an attraction."
• "Lovely, fragrant labeled rose gardens."
• "The garden spectacular with a variety of roses and most of plants had a wonderful display of flowers and colours."
• "Beautiful gardens - free to visit and lovely to spend some time here to relax with a refreshing cuppa!"

Cons:

• "This garden is shocking, it was once a beautiful oasis filled with delightful treats all year round, now just a drab scene awaits you."
• "Sadly the place has seriously gone downhill since I last visited."
• "The beautiful gardens were looking tired and uncared for when we visited on 8th July with so many weeds and overgrown plants."
• "If you like Euphorbia and Echium species then you'll love this place because that's all you'll see, every where..every bed, nothing exciting nothing new."
• "Beds full of weeds."
• "Since it was the middle of summer, the gardens were a little sad."
• "Gardens looking very neat and tidy!"