Stoneleigh Abbey Reviews Summary

Accessibility

Pros:

• "Disabled parking is just past the car park sign."
• "Clearly signposted - car park close to entrance."
• "Parking is close to entrance."
• "I have a blue badge. There were 3 or 4 disabled spaces in the car park, which turned out to be plenty as we were the only people displaying a blue badge there."

Cons:

• "No tour, no entry to the house."
• "Whilst the grounds and surroundings are kept beautifully, the estate really isn't wheelchair friendly."
• "Not impressed with the entrance as my partner is wheelchair user and it’s not an inviting entrance either."
• "There is a path to the tearoom/orangery, but it is stone gravel, so not easy to self propel or push along."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Staff where very nice, our table was unstable and scruffy with marks."
• "The staff were lovely and understanding and nothing was too much bother."
• "Pleasant staff throughout though."
• "The staff are friendly and helpful."
• "Staff that are extremely welcoming, helpful and friendly."
• "Lovely staff and attentive to our needs."
• "The ladies who served us was lovely, nothing was too much trouble."

Cons:

• "However the staff in the tea room seemed to be uninterested in us and not very attentive."
• "The staff didn't seem bothered by my complaint and the staff suggested the cake was dry because of the heat in the room."
• "They all need customer service training."
• "We felt like we kept being overlooked, the servers would rather attend other people than us."
• "However the staff made us feel completely rushed from then on and very unwelcome."
• "The manager or supervisor of that day with the ponytail was very fake and kept glaring at the majority of the customers, not a good atmosphere at all."
• "Overall the staff service was not attentive had to ask for coffee."

Afternoon Tea Experience

Pros:

• "Lovely place to visit had a Groupon deal for afternoon tea for 2 was very nice."
• "Our afternoon tea was very fresh we also had endless tea and coffee."
• "Had a lovely afternoon tea, ladies were polite, great walk around the ground."
• "Afternoon tea was delightful. 💖"
• "Had afternoon tea there. Good selection of sandwiches, lovely scone with jam and cream, followed by a slice of cake and a glass of Prosecco."
• "The afternoon tea was lovely. Fruit teas available."
• "The tea was tasty, with a variety of sandwiches, deliciously light fruit scones with jam and clotted cream and a slice of cake."

Cons:

• "Afternoon tea on a voucher! Has to be the worst afternoon tea experience and venue was practically empty!"
• "Shame about afternoon tea 2 cakes 2 quarters of cheese 2 quarters of ham and tomato !! This is hardly an afternoon tea crusts still on sandwiches."
• "Afternoon Tea was disappointing, as at 1430 there were only 2 choices of cake left."
• "It wasn't the best afternoon tea. Sandwiches were not freshly made as outer slices of bread were crusty."
• "Unfortunately this was the worse afternoon tea I've ever had, although the sandwiches were nice and fresh the same cannot be said of the cake or scones."
• "Pleasant grounds but very disappointing sparkling afternoon tea. £45 for what was in essence, 2 rounds of bread each with uninspiring fillings."
• "Poor quality sandwiches. Scones, jam cream not home made or prepared."

Tour Experience

Pros:

• "Glorious Baroque mansion. The place bursts into life when you take one of the tours."
• "Lovely peaceful place the tour guide of the house was very knowledgeable about the history and he was entertaining as he talked."
• "We paid an extra £7 each to do the Abbey tour with Paul, he was very inciteful, funny and interacted with the guests brilliantly."
• "The tour was what made this stand out though. Paul was by far the best guide we have ever seen."
• "We visited the Jane Austin tour. The tour guide was Paul and he was fantastic! Lively, informative and humourous."
• "Jamie who did the guided tour was excellent. Very good story teller with excellent facts."
• "The tour guide Paul is the best guide I've ever seen! So animated and full of interesting stories!"

Cons:

• "Unfortunately, I had a different vision on what a constitutes a crafts fair. Bit crowded where it was held."
• "What was disappointing was the fact that the guide spent a third of the time telling us about the people who owned the house stood in a stairway, and then literally dashed through the furnished, nice to look at rooms in the house because he had nothing to say about them."
• "I have never experienced any tour as shambolic and lacking common sense as this."
• "We each paid £14 to go on a tour which was rushed (3/4hr)."
• "The house and tour was wonderful but the afternoon tea was a BIG let down after only being sat for 45 minuets we got ushered out!"
• "Would not recommend the afternoon tea! Upon booking we were advised in the email we would have the table for 2 hours (standard, fine). After just over 1 hour into our booking we were greeted by a stroppy waitress who advised they needed the table back in half an hour."
• "extremely disappointed, I was told by staff we could take pictures Inside the abbey which is why I paid for the tour to then be told that we can't."

Grounds and Setting

Pros:

• "Definitely a place to come if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life."
• "The place was quiet and serene with delightful views of the River."
• "A beautiful estate to visit, and the staff there are very informative and helpful, steeped in plenty of history."
• "Grounds and building impressive."
• "In places I did think the ivy could have done with cutting back (covering rhododendrons) and no flower borders but views of river were wonderful."
• "Overall a lovely day and would recommend!"
• "The grounds fronted by the Abbey were stunning, a peaceful haven with the lake/river."

Cons:

• "The setting was a bit shabby but didn't affect the taste."
• "The let down was the amount of floating bottles around the bridge to your right, it's on the main walk, clean it up please, as it pulls the rest of the walk down."
• "The grounds were quite run down too."
• "Grounds nice not very clear on signage."
• "We were quite disappointed with this as we literally just paid to walk around the building and felt this was extensive."
• "It's expensive for what it is."
• "It is a beautiful place but it is way too overpriced! £7/person to walk through the nature...it's too expensive."