"Great place, full of interesting odds and ends... Some old and obviously antique, others also obviously not so old..."
"Loads of beautiful antiques and well presented."
"Awesome collection of shops. Hoards of treasures to be discovered."
"Amazing diverse selection of antiques from way back up to the sixties."
"All full of high quality antiques."
"A vast array of quality antiques over 4 large buildings."
"Fantastic collection of antiques and curiosities and excellent prices."
Cons:
"Some of the stock is damaged, sometimes incorrectly described."
"There were some stunningly beautiful things and many interesting things BUT also a lot of junk."
"More junk than before, less antiques."
"The only aspect I don't like, which seems commonplace in so many Antique Centres these days, is the presence of what I know as repro tat in some areas which, I feel, spoils it for the genuine antique sellers/buyers."
"Some beautiful items in all of the antique shops however some are very overpriced."
"A lot of period furniture in there was covered in varnish and the patina ruined."
"Seemingly zillions of antiques and collectables."
Staff and Service
Pros:
"Knowledgable staff."
"Friendly, approachable and knowledgeable staff to greet you."
"The staff are mega friendly & helpful."
"Everywhere we went the staff were friendly, upbeat and helpful."
"Knowledgeable helpful staff and sellers on hand to give advice and help."
"Every member of staff was friendly and helpful."
"Staff really helpful and polite."
Cons:
"The staff where abrupt."
"Unfortunately the restaurant was very busy and under staffed, had to queue for sometime to be served and the jacket potato wasn't properly cooked."
"One also has to beware the manager of the site, Mr Robert Miller."
"Staff in building 2 rude and racist. Told to leave a 9 month baby outside whilst it was snowing!"
"The staff where abrupt the card machine wasn't working."
"The cafe owner also sternly told me (for no reason at all) my daughter looked miserable and if she didn't like the food or service she, could go forth and multiply with herself!"
"Visited the guardroom and found a lot of very interesting items purchased a chair, for the most part the staff were excellent but found one particular lady to be shall we say lacking in any warmth at all."
Facilities and Accessibility
Pros:
"Parking is plentiful and free."
"The whole site has a number of shops and antique centres open 7 days a week."
"There's plenty of parking."
"Free parking at present."
"Loads of parking and free entry to every part."
"Parking available."
"Well laid out. Great variety in the different buildings. Good access on the ground floors for wheelchairs."
Cons:
"Some rooms are too cluttered to get into and forget about the upper floors if you can't walk up the stairs."
"No lifts to get upstairs as I am disabled."
"Parking available but limited spaces."
"I found it very hard to navigate around the buildings in my wheelchair as very narrow aisles."
"Hemswell is great as long as you're not in a wheelchair."
"The aisles are too narrow for others to pass you so you have to keep moving so you end up seeing nothing."
"The toilet was set opposite the wash bowl, if you need to lower the grab handle there's no room to maneuver your wheelchair next to the toilet."
Food and Dining
Pros:
"The cafe in building 1 and the coffee shop in the Guardroom are also worth a visit."
"The art deco cafe in Adastra Antiques is well worth a visit, friendly staff and a great steak pie..."
"The cafe in Blog 1 does nice food, reasonably priced."
"Love this place❤ I have never been disappointed. The food at the cafe for the Hemswell antiques centre is so tasty, great service, lovely staff and always tastes delicious."
"The food from the various cafes smelt very good indeed."
"The restaurant will keep your energy levels up with excellent home cooked food served by friendly staff."
"Both coffee shops are very good too with great choices of food."
Cons:
"Over priced on lots of stuff."
"Unfortunately the restaurant was very busy and under staffed, had to queue for sometime to be served and the jacket potato wasn't properly cooked."
"I was soo disappointed with the menu or lack of choice."
"Sadly we found the meal prices expensive for the quality of the meal being presented."
"Jacket potatoes not as good so chose steak pie and although the meat and gravy was nice the pastry was so hard my fork couldn't penetrate so had to leave most of it."
"Sadly some of the menu options are not as good as previously."
"Bit disappointed to be honest. Sprawling place with generally the same merchandise on show (a lot of it was just junk!)."