National Trust - Montacute House Reviews Summary

House and Interior

Pros:

• "The house is very interesting. Long portrait gallery great for when children are 'doing' the Tudors at school."
• "House was impressive from the outside. And nice on the inside."
• "Beautiful house and gardens."
• "The house was amazing and well worth going in to view all the rooms and the long gallery on the top floor was great."
• "Beautiful Elizabethan house in such good condition that you can easily imagine living there."
• "The house is full of wonderful unique furniture and lovely artwork on loan some being from the National Portrait Gallery London."
• "A huge late Elizabethan mansion with large gardens."

Cons:

• "One of the least interesting NT places when taking young children."
• "It's a shame only the downstairs of the property are open at the minute."
• "Lack of volunteers meant we were unable to visit the house."
• "Sadly, due to a shortage of volunteers, only some of the ground floor rooms were open."
• "Disappointing. Only the ground floor in the house was open and there wasn't much to see."
• "The upstairs wasn't open because 'the stairs need renovating' and there was no indication of when or whether it would ever be open."
• "Only the ground floor is open to the public with no explanation as to why the rest of house was closed off."

Gardens and Grounds

Pros:

• "Great gardens and lovely views."
• "Stunning grounds and parkland worth a visit and just enjoy the beautiful floral displays."
• "The gardens are stunning and well maintained."
• "The gardens are well kept with lots of different areas to explore."
• "The gardens were beautifully landscaped and full of flowers."
• "The meticulously maintained gardens are a serene escape."
• "Beautiful gardens lovely park walk."

Cons:

• "Not a very fleshed out day when it's raining unless you waterproof-up and walk the lovely area around the gardens as well."
• "Gardens have been run down due to approaching winter, slightly disappointing."
• "Grounds overall are much smaller than your typical NT site, so worth taking that into account when planning a day."
• "Not much in the way of formal gardens."
• "The gardens were quite small too."
• "Pleasant enough grounds, cloud cut hedges brilliant, but insufficient dog waste bins, hence lots of poo around."
• "I felt the lawns needed a trim."

Cafe and Food

Pros:

• "There is the normal NT cafe selling scones, pasties, teas and coffees etc."
• "The Victoria sponge from the cafe was undoubtedly the best I have tasted in 54 years."
• "We then had delicious lunch in the cafe, the beetroot & goats cheese quiche was lovely."
• "The cafe has lots of delicious treats and lots of seating inside and out."
• "Cafe staff lovely, sausage casserole, soup, cheese scones and cakes all yummy."
• "National Trust cafe serves good food. We had hot pasty and cheese wedges. It was delicious."
• "Cafe served delicious scones."

Cons:

• "Hey this place is ok, I'd like to give it more than 3 stars but the canteen was slow, and not that busy."
• "Left without enjoying my cream tea for fear of me or my dogs being stung."
• "Be aware that some food items may not be on offer all of the time due to volunteer staff availability."
• "The cafe was quaint with a realistic menu and excellent coffee."
• "Taste was good but found bit expensive."
• "The queue for the cafe was long when we visited in December."
• "Only bad point was the cafe was very poorly managed and people were left waiting for ages for drinks."

Staff and Volunteers

Pros:

• "Staff are mainly volunteers and very informative and happy to help."
• "Staff super welcoming and worth the visit."
• "All the staff were knowledgeable and interested in sharing information."
• "The staff is knowledgeable and kind."
• "All the staff are super friendly here & the groundsworkers work their butt's off to keep the place preserved & beautiful."
• "Staff very helpful and knowledgeable."
• "The staff were very helpful and knowledgeable but did not interfere unless asked for information."

Cons:

• "We were not warned at the entrance nor were there any signs, so a very disappointing visit and we left before midday."
• "The staff were somewhat disorganised."
• "The staff however, in particular the member of staff on the reception desk a bleached platinum blonde older woman working 06/10/22... was a member of staff responsible for using the till and should not behave like she is such royalty."
• "Dropped a star as the cafe had exceptionally long queues and we went elsewhere for lunch because of this."
• "I dropped a star as I was incredibly disappointed with the cafe/restaurant: running out of all food before lunchtime, lack of information sharing... Waited in a queue for 20mins, to feed my children, only to be told that there was no food when I got to the till."
• "There was a member of staff watching them. Surely this is unacceptable."
• "I pity parents who came to find the reindeer, boring and not worth the petrol getting there."