"The gardens were lovely with lots of colour and an interesting layout that I could see kept children interested."
"The gardens are stunningly beautiful and you can wander for hours."
"Gardens are small but beautifully formed and clearly a labour of love."
"The gardens were magnificent and date back nearly 300 years with extraordinary topiary gardens renowned during the Victorian era."
"The gardens are wonderful, full of colour, perfume and a great variety of plants."
"The gardens are big with lots of amazing topiary."
"The gardens are well kept and very tidy."
Cons:
"I was quite disappointed at the front as we drove in as it looks very untidy and uncared for."
"Some parts are not well thought out, like the children's play area is behind some tall hedges miles from the rest of the buildings & especially loos."
"Beautiful gardens, but not great for young families. Loose gravel paths are not very pram-friendly."
"Noticed while I was there that the gravel is hard work for wheelchair users."
"Topiary garden is nice but had to smile at most of it as it is not uniform & lopsided."
House
Pros:
"The house has a self-guided tour with stewards in each room to provide more information."
"The house is equally as interesting with a very informative guided tour."
"Privately owned house is crammed with historical interest, and the guides are very knowledgeable."
"Hall was a great experience of an ancient house with a thousand years of history."
"The Hall is a stunning building and beautiful inside with some very rare leather panels."
"An interesting large house with plenty of historical background."
"Great house with a fascinating history and really informative guides."
Cons:
"House: Quite disappointing, especially in light of the admission charge."
"The house tour is currently slightly reduced due to COVID restrictions but there is still a lot to see inside."
"The house was closed due to covid-19 but the gardens and cafe was opened for public."
"House was interesting but pretty small."
"Lovely old hall, but information about the hall was limited, a bit dated and could do with updating."
"Only three rooms of the Hall open & I just felt more effort could have been made to make it more Christmas like."
Food & Catering
Pros:
"Good catering service although with long waiting times when we visited."
"The cake and scone were nice - not sure where 'the passion for cake' mentioned on the leaflet comes in."
"Outstanding food. Sandwiches are fresh and full of flavour."
"The lunch was fantastic. The chips especially were the best I have had."
"The on-site cafe has delicious food at a sensible price."
"The cafe serves delicious salads using the produce grown in the vegetable garden."
"Great sandwiches and cakes all prepared on site by lovely staff."
Cons:
"Wait to be seated in the kitchen restaurant and then queue to give order."
"The restaurant was a little slow due to limitations of social distance queueing but the staff were brilliant."
"Not 5 stars due to cake quality/cost.. my personal expectations of the cake were higher because of the cost, smaller and tastier would be better."
"I am sorry but we could not find anything off the old menu we were looking forward to eat."
"However there is no consideration for people with nut allergies with the cakes and deserts like my fiance."
"Service was slow and some staff not very organised."
"Service was inattentive, particularly from the waitress who walks away when she's decided after two seconds she knows what you're going to say."
Staff & Service
Pros:
"The on-site gardeners and volunteers are friendly and knowledgeable and will share all sorts of interesting facts."
"Friendly and helpful staff."
"All of the staff were friendly, welcoming and helpful."
"The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable."
"Every volunteer working there was so lovely and took the time to chat to you armed with interesting facts and tips."
"Great service from all staff a delight to be there."
"Lovely cafe, well appointed and with excellent extremely courteous staff."
Cons:
"Staff rude - I have been to Levens Hall several times but this was my first visit since the new kitchen."
"Chap at reception desk where you purchase tickets for house and garden was unwelcoming and incredibly hostile."
"The staff were completely unhelpful when a family member had an emergency accident in the park area."
"One member of staff was quite rude when she thought I'd taken a photograph in the house (which I hadn't)."
"Staff don't seem to be interacting with visitors unless asked to. There were no hellos or pointing out facts without prompting."
Accessibility & Facilities
Pros:
"Toilets have easy access and are clean."
"Well sign posted, easy to find and straight forward parking."
"Parking is free and on the other side of the road is a brilliant walk through the deer park alongside a river."
"The cafe is light, airy and spacious with the addition of an outside area."
"They also have a play area for children."
Cons:
"H&S doesn't seem paramount when a jcb is reversing into a pedestrian area with no banksman or pedestrian marshall to keep the area safe & hosepipes are strung across a visitor walkway at neck height!"
"Sadly, the children's play area in the garden is looking a little tired."
"Some building work going on when we visited which detracted from the experience a little."
Value for Money
Pros:
"The place is defo worth paying £10 for and will not disappoint."
"The entry fee of £10.50 is a bit pricey though worth it."
"For £10 entry fee is totally worth it! One advice, never take food or drink to the garden unless you would like bees in your food."
"Reasonably priced. Great interior with guides on hand to answer questions."
"A bit pricey but good food and portions so worth it."
Cons:
"Topiary gardens are stunning (if perhaps a little expensive to visit!)"
"The man at the ticket office seemed confused, charged us for a family of four even though I saw afterwards that they say under 5s go free."
"Price of admission is a bit high for the size of the area to be honest."
"We only went round the gardens, not the house and though they were lovely, think the £10.00 entrance fee is a little high."
"Good coffee but some items on menu are expensive."