Oakwell Hall Reviews Summary

Accessibility

Pros:

• "Free parking. The car park shuts at 4pm in autumn/winter but I noticed the overflow next to it still left open at 5pm."
• "There are also toilets (including disabled facilities)."
• "With two car parks and disabled access plus a few pieces of art to discuss."
• "There is a large free car park, just off the A652 Bradford Road and a smaller free car park, close to the hall, but this is intended for those with accessibility and mobility issues."

Cons:

• "Supposedly wheelchair and mobility scooter friendly, I can only think that the people who said this have no idea what accessible is."
• "The car parks close at 4pm and that means that they actually close and your car will be locked in overnight if you don't move it in time."
• "We drive a disability vehicle. And we got into the carpark, saw that the car park closes at 5pm. Tried to leave at 3:30 to be met by a barrier so couldn't get back out."
• "There is disabled access round the gardens but not very well signposted if you haven't been before and quite uneven surfaces."

Cafe

Pros:

• "There is a lovely cafe in the hall itself which has its entrance at the right side if looking from the front."
• "The cafe is always a welcome spot for a hot chocolate and cake!"
• "The cafe serves a nice lunch at a bargain price."
• "There is a cafe onsite selling coffee, paninis, sandwiches, cakes and the biggest Eccles cakes I've ever seen."
• "The cafe has hot & cold drinks & cakes available, including gluten free."

Cons:

• "Unfortunately there was in parts an awful raw sewerage smell."
• "Cafe was so busy we gave up waiting."
• "Unfortunately the small cafe was unprepared for the sudden influx of people due to the fabulous weather. They were understaffed and had actually run out of everything (except soup) by about 2.00pm."
• "The whole day was spoilt by the attitude of the staff at the Cafe next to the Hall."
• "Come here often, lovely hot chocolate in the cafe .... But the last 2 times we've been to the cafe the staff have been rude and snappy."
• "The biggest let down was the cafe, the staff weren't the most polite I've ever met sadly."

Park and Grounds

Pros:

• "Beautiful historical Hall and beautiful grounds."
• "Great Park that's well looked after, perfect for dog walking and for kids."
• "Visited the country park and the gardens around the Hall. Superb Autumn colours."
• "The Hall itself is truly spectacular and well maintained."
• "The gardens are exquisitely maintained and a delight to walk around."
• "A fantastic place to take a walk with extensive woodland trails, playgrounds, den building, streams, ponds, a stately home and well kept formal gardens."

Cons:

• "The gardens were a bit disappointing but still very good."
• "The only nice part is around the hall ...but they have just had the film crew in the hall and around the hall gardens."
• "Never have I seen Oakwell Hall look so scruffy and neglected."
• "The beautiful willow coves around the benches are all overgrown."
• "What could be a lovely place but there is a lot of litter around and people not picking up dog mess which makes it 3 stars."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff pleasant and engaging."
• "Jackie and the team did everything to accommodate our requests and help us to make our day perfect."
• "The staff is so kind and friendly."
• "Held our wedding here in May 2022, and I can't overstate how helpful the staff are."

Cons:

• "We stopped off to get a drink from the little cafe ..we will not be going in there again ..I don't normally complain about hard working staff but she is just ignorant."
• "Maybe three members of staff in total were good which includes the two in the cafe. The rest were coming across as very racist and favouring to those who weren't of colour."
• "The whole day was spoilt by the attitude of the staff at the Cafe next to the Hall."
• "Come here often, lovely hot chocolate in the cafe .... But the last 2 times we've been to the cafe the staff have been rude and snappy."
• "The biggest let down was the cafe, the staff weren't the most polite I've ever met sadly."