Hylands House Reviews Summary

Grounds and Gardens

Pros:

• "Beautiful Grounds to walk round..family friendly."
• "Lovely space, beautiful open parkland with plenty of room to walk and for children to run around."
• "Beautiful gardens, vibrant and multi sensory, great for ASD, with a duck pond in the middle."
• "The grounds are large and spread out."
• "The grounds around the house are beautiful and extensive."
• "The Park is a dream to take Children, its enormous. Great for picnics."
• "A stunning country house set in acres of grounds that is brilliant to explore."

Cons:

• "In the wet season (now) hundreds of boggy areas both on the grass and some of the paths."
• "But oh my god the back Widford end hasn't seen a lawnmower in a long time."
• "Far too many law breaking groups wandering around together, blocking paths so others had to go wide on sodden ground just to avoid them."

Playground and Family Facilities

Pros:

• "Incredible play area suitable for all but the very very young-accessible & safe."
• "Great kids playground with wheelchair friendly area."
• "Great place to take the grandchildren, lots of open spaces for them to run about, great play area, beautiful gardens, lake with ducks, cafe and a few shops and a big house to look around, highly recommend."
• "There is a big adventure playground for the little ones."
• "Great inventive adventure playgrounds for kids with space to thrive."
• "The youngsters enjoyed the playground facilities."
• "Great wooden playground for children."

Cons:

• "No official supervision and no dogs allowed inside the play area."
• "Could of done with a little something to entertain children as not very entertaining for them disability friendly can get muddy if its rained something to think about if you have a buggy or wheelchair, good footwear is a must too."

Events and Venue

Pros:

• "Attended the Enlightened evening light show on Monday 4th Jan and OMG what a great 40 minute walk."
• "Hylands House is available for wedding and functions."
• "Amazing venue for events or weddings."
• "Stunning venue with lots to offer whether you have the marquee or the main house."
• "Well organised venue for events with good facilities."
• "Visited the National Flower Show at Hylands. The event would have been perfect... Poor effort in my opinion but other than that would highly recommend on a dry day."
• "Fantastic place to visit this occasion was the Essex Guild Crafts fair with loads of stalls selling hand made crafts."

Cons:

• "Went to the country show which was held within the grounds,why they feel the need to put the word 'live' after the title is beyond me as it was anything but."
• "The Christmas and farmers market was disappointing, not many stalls selling food."
• "Visited a craft fair inside the house which made it a mixed visit."
• "The Christmas fayre, which was a little disappointing as they didn't have very many stalls."
• "FARMERS MARKET???? There wasn't one single farmers stall there!!!"

Cafes and Food Services

Pros:

• "It was also nice to end our walk with a cuppa and ice-creams for the kids."
• "2 cafes(one in the stables and one near the park car-park) serve well-priced food."
• "Just had coffee and sandwich - staff very helpful - servings very generous - food mostly very fresh and flavourful."
• "Reasonable priced snacks/drinks/ice-cream at the kiosk with fast & friendly service."
• "Good coffee, NOT too expensive BUT NOT cheap either at The Stables Cafe!!"
• "The staff were absolutely brilliant, at the wake we attended, they made the whole day and experience much better to be at, the food was fantastic well done to you all."
• "We attended a reception here. Plenty of space, food was good and well presented."

Cons:

• "Cute cafe but horrendous wait time."
• "If you buy anything from the other cafe its a fortune, due to rent i suppose."
• "The cafe was closed."
• "Cafes aren't very good for food, just pre-packaged Sandwiches, Snacks and Ice Creams - nothing fresh."
• "Very disappointed with the cafe in the courtyard."
• "Let down is refreshments, the restaurant near the Hylands House is poor with miserable staff and dreadful organisation."
• "The Cafe has recently been taken over by a new company. We visited there this week and were very disappointed."

Parking and Accessibility

Pros:

• "Easy parking, wide open space, lovely gardens, stunning house, great cafes, wildlife adventures."
• "There is ample parking for guests."
• "Parking was more than adequate and unbelievably, it is free!"
• "The park was very clean and you could park inside and it was FREE....."
• "Free parking too!!"
• "There are no parking fees."
• "Ample parking."

Cons:

• "I do feel the parking charge was excessive."
• "Whilst a £5 charge for all day parking is reasonable £3.35 for an hour is not."
• "Car Park Charges a disgrace in times of mental health."
• "Only thing that I can take as a negative us the £5 parking fee to walk your dog."
• "More commercialised. Have to pay for parking your car now."
• "The new parking system is ridiculous."
• "Never visiting again because of extortionate car parking charges which we only discovered after driving in."

Facilities and Maintenance

Pros:

• "Hylands House itself is a masterpiece."
• "The old stable block and cafe make an interesting visit and the gardens are lovely."
• "The toilet facilities are very decent."
• "Toilets near cafe are better maintained than toilets near playground."
• "The toilets of which there are many are kept immaculately clean which is a big tick for me."
• "Lovely well maintained park. Great play area for the kids and some lovely walks."
• "The grounds are so well maintained."

Cons:

• "They were way beyond disgraceful.Ultra dilapidated and filthy (not a bit grubby but filthy)."
• "The state of repair is not best, despite their best efforts no doubt."
• "Admittantly, the most disgusting toilets."
• "Toilet block by adventure Castle was closed in the AM, with clean & functional demountable open. Then in the PM they closed the demountable & opened the main block but this quickly started to overflow!"
• "Rubbish dumped all around it and doesn't have the special feeling it deserves."
• "This places needs a revamp - it needs to be made warm and inviting, not cold empty halls."
• "What a rip off £5 to pay for parking so one would expect wages for personal to check facilities toilets are disgusting very very dirty."