Hopefield Animal Sanctuary Reviews Summary

Animal Encounters

Pros:

• "The animals are lovely and having a walk around is relaxing."
• "Plenty of animals to look at and tons of cats to stroke."
• "The animals look well cared for and healthy."
• "These beautiful animals are very well cared for and a delight to see."
• "The animals all appeared so happy and content and their enclosures were lovely, clean and spacious."
• "The variety of animals are slowly growing and they keep my daughter engaged and entertained."
• "Loads of animals ranging from the normal (donkeys, pigs, horses, deer, geese and goats) to the unusual (parrots, marmosets, racoons, tortoises, lizards and owls)."

Cons:

• "Specifically zero enrichment for the donkeys, especially the foal."
• "The poor rabbits were scared as children weren't being supervised and had pulled all their water bottles off."
• "Some of the animals were kept in very poor conditions. With cramped over populated cages and a thick smell in the air of caked feces and urine in the air of cages."
• "The iguanas/lizards were also in very small cages."
• "The reptile tanks are also all far too small and contain only plastic plants, which are toxic."
• "The rabbits were running over each other for space."
• "Highly disappointed on how the most of the animals were kept especially the cats, lacking space and hygiene and undesirable conditions for cats."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "The staff are friendly and the cafe is brilliant."
• "The staff are very welcoming and we love the roaming cats."
• "All staff were so helpful and clearly proud of the work you all do there."
• "The staff are so friendly and helpful and actually stop to chat with you for a while about their job and about the animals they care for."
• "Without exception, ALL the staff, (whether paid or volunteers) were incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful."
• "Staff and volunteers very helpful and friendly."
• "The staff were helpful in organising the trip from the beginning, and were friendly and very accommodating when we arrived."

Cons:

• "Lovely animals and good fun but the managers and some of the staff are rude."
• "I was also treated rudely by staff after accidentally walking into that area."
• "I even know of 2-3 people who have worked there and were treated appallingly by the managers."
• "People aren’t friendly."
• "We love Hopefield Animal Sanctuary... one rather massive letdown the cafe was closed on a Saturday."
• "We enjoyed the day but one rather massive letdown the cafe was closed on a Saturday."
• "I am overall very disappointed with our most recent experience here."

Facilities and Accessibility

Pros:

• "There is free parking, but at the time of our visit the car park was full to bursting."
• "There are plenty of toilets (cleanest I've ever seen)."
• "There’s a very nice little cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, plus an enclosed picnic area if you bring your own food."
• "Site is wheel chair accessible and has good parking."
• "Most of the paths are paved though."
• "Plenty of Parking space."
• "Lots of parking on site, and whilst bumpy, definitely wheelchair accessible."

Cons:

• "Then the car park was a nightmare."
• "Some of the pathways get quite muddy in the heavy rain, and not every enclosure has a sign."
• "Found the footpaths difficult to use with my wheeled walker as very uneven, lots of people struggling with buggies too."
• "We had 2 disabled with us who were knocked into and blocked due to such small walkways."
• "Some areas were run down, toilets sparse and the small animal enclosures definitely needed updating."
• "I brought my elderly disabled mother and she struggled with a lot of the pathways."
• "How few toilets there are, and the fact it was a really hot day and the enclosed picnic area was closed."

Value and Pricing

Pros:

• "£5 entry which is very reasonable."
• "A lovely day and very good value for money."
• "Not expensive, which is a Godsend when you have little ones."
• "For the entrance price it was an absolute bargain for a full day out with the family."
• "Was very surprised with the low prices (£5 per person)."
• "You won’t beat this price for a day out."
• "Good prices £6.50 per adult £5.50 for kids and free under 2 years."

Cons:

• "Found the food a bit pricey! £15 for 3 sandwiches 2 of which were kids so only 1 slice of bread and 2 teas and a water."
• "Who wants to pay £35 to see some sheep and cows for 20 minutes."
• "Max cafe, ouch. £2.70 for a bag of crisps and a bottle of water!"
• "The cost of some of the items in the gift shop is beyond extortionate."
• "I paid £6.50 for a cheese sandwich that didn’t even come with any of the sides advertised."
• "Food is expensive."
• "The only place to buy a drink was the cafe and the queue was ridiculously long waited 10 minutes and didn't move."