The Birmingham Botanical Gardens Reviews Summary

Plant Collection

Pros:

• "Amazing selection of plants."
• "They have collected varieties of plants from different parts of the world."
• "There's plenty of plants and flowers to see, also lots of birds."
• "Amazing collection of plants from around the world."
• "Beautiful place with nice ambience. They have huge variety of plants including indoor and outdoor."
• "Such a lovely place to walk around with the family and an amazing variety of plants, trees and flowers to look at; especially loved the cacti and succulents near the exit."
• "A hidden gem with a wide variety of plants and trees."

Cons:

• "Maybe quality was not a priority with just 2 vendors."
• "A lot of the beds are not maintained, this is probably due to COVID but as a plant lover it made me sad to see pests on many plants with and broken, rotting beds."
• "The greenhouse and historical gardens could use a bit of revival."
• "There is not a lot to see in the winter."
• "Well I visited the Botanical Garden in April and it could be a lot better in the summer but it definitely needs improvement both inside and out anyway."
• "The inverter area is quite small. Outdoor is big, but there are few flowers."
• "Most exhibits need repainting and plenty of TLC."

Accessibility & Facilities

Pros:

• "Really lovely, disabled-friendly place. You can even hire an electric scooter for a refundable deposit of £50, or your car keys! Brilliant idea."
• "Parking is free as long as you enter your reg inside the reception area."
• "Parking is free (up to 12 hours once you register in reception), and there is a lovely tea room and huge playground for the kids."
• "There is a nicely designed play ground for kids too."
• "There is a playing area for adults like tennis courts etc and kids play area."
• "There were plenty of mobility chairs at reception if you needed to wheel anyone around."
• "Various mobility aids for hire and convenient parking."

Cons:

• "The butterfly house was closed. Now I know this is due to Covid-19, BUT, there was no mention of it anywhere on their website."
• "Some of the areas were closed off, we had members of our group needing to use the toilet which was also closed, that was inconvenient."
• "Parking was an issue very few spots."
• "Parking is very limited and if there is a wedding on you don't stand a chance."
• "Tickets at full price are little on the expensive side however."
• "Although we had timed tickets we still had to queue up for quite a bit as they were only letting so many people in at a time."
• "Parking is £3 - it’s not a big car park so I imagine at busier times it gets full."

Staff & Service

Pros:

• "The waiting team were efficient and professional at all times and nothing was too much trouble when asked."
• "I was pleasantly greeted by a ginger haired girl, who I believe was called Jess."
• "Staff were really friendly."
• "The staff are warm and welcoming and they are all around the park planting weeding and making it look great."
• "The staff were extremely pleasant to a (wo)man, from the reception, to the Pavilion, to the shop."
• "Staff very friendly and helpful."
• "Lovely friendly staff."

Cons:

• "They told us no information even though we were asking questions and it was our first time visiting."
• "Customer service in the cafe was not great, there was very little choice available and staff relating to customers could do with some work."
• "I was a little bemused by the ladies on reception. They were quite detached and unwelcoming."
• "The café is ok but not very welcoming."
• "We have also recently experienced an increase in rude encounters with the staff at the Botanical Gardens."
• "The actual park itself was okay but what shocked me was how rude the receptionist staff were."
• "My only complaint is that the toilets were clearly unchecked and were quite atrocious. The loo roll was totally out, the floor was soaking wet but hadn’t been cleaned and the flusher didn’t work so the loo was full of used tissues and waste."