National Trust Anmeldelser 

I'm so disappointed to see the sorry state of many National Trust houses, gardens, car parks and catering facilities these days. I've visited several locations in the South West, Midlands and North West recently, and everything seems rather uncared-for and more overpriced than I remember - and most places are certainly worse value for money than equivalent RHS or English Heritage offers.

Having worked for the Trust for several years (both at property level and in the consultancy) I can only imagine maintenance and customer care have taken a back seat to allow the overpaid consultants and central team their regular membership-funded jollies (one of my roles within the charity, alas, involved booking expensive hotels and travel options for a consultancy manager. I always understood said consultants were to share what they learnt from such excursions with property teams, but having later worked at property level, I can confirm this was never the case where I worked).

That said, the volunteers we encounter are often brilliant, and lots of property-level staff (usually those paid the least) are doing their best, but I'm so glad I paid the individual entrance fees rather than for a membership. I don't believe it's worth it anymore.

Elite pricing for the rich and well off.
We’ve been going to national trust cottages for years and years, always been a bit expensive but good for a weekend treat.
But looking at the prices for next year, they’ve gone up exponentially. Very sad for us as we can no longer afford one of the charities elite cottages. Seems us working class are no longer wanted to grace their cottages anymore.

The National Trust should not be a charity, it’s a commercial enterprise. Does nothing for the working class.

I appreciate what they do, but they undermine the membership with so many free entry offers or free entry with a newspaper clipping that having run the maths, it's cheaper for us not to have memberships and take advantage of all the free entries floating around the internet.

Would give more stars, but they're one of the few companies left who have no option to cancel a membership with a single click even though you can join with one.

It's very sad the self inflicted damage of the National Trust:
1. A HUGE increase in property visit prices, most are now £40 to £50 for a couple, this is beyond the reach of many working people
2. Poor use of funds - the Trust has a huge income from property they rent, memberships, commercial activities and property visits, yet much of this money is wasted. You only need to visit some of the properties to see this yourself
3. The Woke agenda - I will not even start on this one

I sincerely hope that the Trust returns to it's roots...

Was given a gift card which i tried to use a few times at different locations only to be told machine was unable to accept it so had to pay with another method. When i finally did find a property where it would work I was told the card had expired and the balance was written off - into National Trusts coffers - nice little scheme they have working for them there !! Buying a gift card just restricts your own money into something less flexible and liable to be taken off you.

Unbelievable... We have been booking National Trust holidays for many years now, benefiting from staying in some astounding places and supporting a great cause.... Well not anymore.
They have moved to a dynamic pricing model.. net result, price increase from last year between 40-100% .

This is absolutely gouging your supporters... Membership will be cancelled from the next renewal...

Thank you for your response confirming the Dynamic Pricing. You are a charity and I would have expected more from you.

Too many dogs running around off leads in the wider estates.
My family have been members for years and are keen walkers which means that along with visiting houses and gardens and spending money in the shops and cafes we are keen to explore the wider estates.
Since covid we are alarmed and dismayed at the amount of dogs running around wildly off leads.
More upsetting is the attitude of the owners. I have been told numerous times that I shouldn't be walking in the particular place if I don't like dogs.
Basically going to your properties is far from the relaxing experience it used to be.
Come on national trust do something about this as its getting out of control.
I'm seriously considering not renewing my membership next time.

Visited a Cove in South Devon where I had to install the Just Park app.
Please tell all your members why the Just Park app needs our card details when it says it’s FREE?? Why are you letting a third party keep our card details when there is no need to…… They can’t say it’s to verify who we are as we give them our membership number.

Dec 24 I experienced my first national trust cottage, a small detached one on the beach on the Llyn Peninsula with my dog. 2nd one this time with Hubby & another sea view @Ravenscar near Robin Hoods Bay. 3rd one hubby & dog again at Wallington Estate near Hexham. Summer back to my first one for a full week. July, Norbury Manor for a full family get together. Late summer squeezed in edge of Snowdonia National Park & then Autumn Holy Island for more than a quick visit and finally a birthday celebration coming up at Dinefwr in South Wales.
What can I say but WOW, consistent high standards across the board. Beautiful locations with out of hours access.
I have a beautiful home in a beautiful place, I want the same experience only in a different setting when I go away especially having family members who won't fly.
However don't moan if something's not perfect by nature these are historic no uPVC windows and doors here but quirky and creaky, take some bed socks and a dressing gown for winter. Choose carefully, consider if lots of day visitor will spoil it for you, I've only gone outside of school holidays and never had a problem. The experience at some of total isolation is fabulous, no WiFi no problem do something else.
And no, money is a consideration all my holidays have had some kind of special offer either last minute or out of high season. Holy island, £100 a person for 2 nights, you can't rent a converted garage on Airbnb for that!
Ok, I'll leave it there, here's my last thought that one about you can't please all the people all the time well I'm not only pleased I'm absolutely delighted.😍

Planned a family trip to Powys castle with the family and what a waste of time. Went to go around the gardens with the dog and was greeted by a rude lady in the hut informing me the dog was not allowed to walk around in the garden until another 2 days time. The only place the dog could go was to the car park or the courtyard. As a family we had already been to the cafe and despite having to sit outside as no dogs allowed in there had spent a considerable amount of money. Rude lady in the hut had her cat with her so obviously cats maybe more welcome. Following doing laps of the courtyard and the car park in the rain left to ask at the main reception for to put in a complaint. Staff at reception were extremely rude to my daughter and elderly father and refused to take the complaint card
We live in northumberland and all the properties are dog friendly, accessible to them even the cafes. At this property there was massive signs up saying don’t tie your dog up outside the cafe or don’t leave your dogs in the car despite the property not offering any alternative. Think the trust need to look at training their staff on how to be polite to people. Would not recommend and ruined a day of our holidays

Some years ago I received,as a Christmas present, an annual pass for the NT. The year of the COVID lockdowns and the restrictions on attending anywhere public. The year expired and obviously, for safety, the pass hadn't been used. I called the NT and explained hoping they might allow it for the following year. NO absolutely not. So the Trust for the Nation is I facts a trust only for those that run it. I gave no TRUST in them. Very very poor . Just think...I may vahe visited their venues and even used their cafés.. but not now or never...

I purchased some goods from the National Trust Online shop. They arranged for delivery by Yodel. Delivery was promised 4 times and no delivery made. Contacted the NT Online shop by phone believing that they would be able to sort the matter out. No such luck. Poor response from the staff there who gave the impression that they couldn't care less, It was all too much trouble and, in the end, I accepted a refund. They apologised for the delivery fiasco but were totally useless in trying to discover why a delivery to my property seemed beyond their carrier's ability.

Everything was lovely BUT National Trust coffee is awful - absolutely tasteless. It's the same in every National Trust cafe.

It's a mornings work dozens on names loads of profiles. Members resolutions with no direct access to content. This hopeless presentation of AGM voting weighs heavily on the reputation of the Trust that we as a family used to value.
Voting in the National Trust is like picking horses in the Grand National "shut your eyes and stick a pin in "!

A wonderful service and affordable for families.

Don’t care about peoples safety! I tripped over a bit of metal sticking out the middle of the path. I reported it in person to Sheffield Park Garden and followed it up with an email with photos to the National Trust. 2 weeks later nothings been done. The man at Sheffield Park garden said he’d put a cone over it. Nothing marks it and it hasn’t been removed. I jarred my back badly. It hurt for over a week. If an old person falls down they could break something. Shocked nothings been done. If this was USA I’d sue them!

I don’t know why you’ve asked for more details. I’ve emailed you with photos and details of what happened and of my injury. TWICE! Reported in person once. You haven’t taken it seriously and have ignored me. The chopped off metal pole is STILL there2 weeks later waiting for someone else to trip over it.

Today my husband and I visited Charlecote House. We had a very pleasant afternoon. The guides were exceptionally friendly and informative, all with a smile. The restaurant served a varied menu (much better than some NT properties), with well cooked and presented food. Again, the staff were friendly and helpful. The facilities were clean and well maintained. The buggy was also clean and well maintained. But above all the house was lovely with beautiful grounds and parkland for long walks. Well worth a visit.

I took a guided tour around Corfe Castle with a tour guide by the name of Alistair and it is clear he is very passionate about his interest and sharing information to me and others on his tours. He gave out interesting information and kept the group engaged in the time we had. I enjoyed the tour immensely and learnt much more about the area by the end. I hope to see Alistair again if i was to do another tour or something similar as he made the whole experience amazing.

I joined NT this year and have visited many of the properties in the Midlands/Warwickshire/Worcestershire area. They all (with the exception of Charterhouse in Coventry) have the same issues. The Cafes are all exactly the same and the food offered is overpriced and not very nice. The pasties were hard, scones dry. Everything is pre made and just heated up. Sandwiches tasted stale and had sell by date weeks ahead. The list of ingredients for a plain sandwich shows just how much preservative has been pumped into them. They seem to be trying to attract more vegan people but forgetting those who aren’t. It would be much better if they could have freshly made food which caters for everyone. No point in having signs saying tell us about allergies when everything is pre made and cat be changed anyway

We visited National Trust property Shaw’s Corner for their Apple Orchard Day expecting a fun, family-friendly experience. Unfortunately, it turned out to be very overpriced and poorly managed.

The event advertised all sorts of apple fun, including apple tastings, with a suggested £2 donation for purchase of apples. But after sampling just a few apples, the person at the stall insisted we pay for each person who had tasted in our group — including our 5-year-old — and charged us £9.50 for doing so. This was never made clear upfront. After being caught off guard and paying the charge I watched others tasting freely without paying anything. This was unfair, and inconsistent. I had already paid for buying apples.

Later, after buying a Jellycat apple from a separate stall, we were stopped at the exit and told the payment hadn’t gone through due to a card terminal issue. We paid again in good faith. What bothered me most were staff were checking records and following up on missed payments — yet they had no issue with other staff members charging randomly for tastings, which after looking at the details again were included as part of the event.

The whole experience meant that £50 ended up being spent on what should have been a simple outing and I was charged £9.50 for something I should never have been charged for.
The orchard is lovely, but the experience with staff left us feeling fleeced.
Disappointed and wont be returning.