Write a review of your visit to Queen Elizabeth Country Park

Reviews

42 reviews so far

02/10/2012 11:17am

In general this is a very pleasant stop. however It is very annoying after many years of purchasing a bacon and egg sandwich after my Friday run to find they stop serving this after 11.

21/08/2012 01:15pm

BIOBLITZ: Please pass on that my wife and I were impressed by what we learnt from both Steve Peach and Matthew Parrott. The quality of presentation was informative and gave additional insights into the world of trees and birds.

20/08/2012 03:47pm

Whatever has happened to Butser Hill? Trying to visit again after a long break on saturday evening, and hoping to enjoy the sunset, I was met by a gate and a red sign saying that the car park closes at 8pm. Why?

I returned around sunday lunch time to find a few cars in the lower car park, but no sign of the large summer car park and happy throng I remember from previous years. A portaloo and a barely functioning kiosk completed a very sad picture.

QECP replies

We are sorry that your visit was spoiled by the problems with the Butser kiosk. The County runs its own private water supply on Butser Hill and this has recently been condemned. As a consequence until the situation has been resolved and the water quality passed by the District Council we can only offer a limited service as far as the toilets and kiosk are concerned.

With regard to the nightly locking of the gate on Butser Hill, the Old Summer car park was closed down about 8 years ago due to ever increasing incidents which were blighting the area and the Lower car park is open from 8.00am through to 8.00pm. For 24 access to Butser Hill the best car park to use is adjacent to the visitor centre and to walk up the South Downs Way. This car park with its CCTV, good lighting and 24 hour toilets is much more suitable.

20/08/2012 05:27am

Sunday 19th August - fabulous sunshine, fabulous views, no litter, just moved to East Meon, exploring area, gorgeous, took picnic very nice benches at Butser Kiosk - stopped ate lunch, bought 2 coffees all set to buy 2 ice creaams, KIOSK CLOSED 1.30pm NO SIGNS to say when open again - just read that information on your site, which says OPEN until 4.30 at weekends. What a shame such a brilliant British experience for locals & tourists was spoilt.

QECP replies

Unfortunately due to a sudden loss of water at the main catering site in the visitor centre at the weekend the staff needed to be draught down from the kiosk to keep the main facility open. We realise that signage would have gone a long way and will ask our catering contractors to, should the need arise again keep customers informed of any changes. We are sorry if this spoilt your otherwise enjoyable day, thank you for your kind words about the rest of the site and hope you return soon for another visit.

14/07/2012 04:53pm

We had a good walk on Butser Hill and got soaked to the skin. We had intended to return home, but decided to call in at the cafe for the always delicious soup of the day to warm us up. We weren't disappointed!

12/07/2012 06:08am

Spent a lovely morning with my family today, some running children cycling, then the treat of some home made cakes. Unfortunatly the selection of "home made cakes" are now not available very dissapointing. Staff very helpfull offering tempting alternatives but missing the lovely cakes you used to offer, please can we have them back.

12/07/2012 06:17am

We are at the park virtually every Saturday and Sunday, and look forward to the fantastic homemade cake, but the last few weeks, these have gone down hill and are very dry.

QECP replies

While many of our cakes are purchased from an outside bakery, this not to say that they are mass produced in a factory, but rather they are made in a small bakery in Maidenhead where every cake is crafted by experienced, skilled people - not machines.

The owners of the company pride themselves  on making cakes using trusted household recipes and traditional ingredients. They do not use artificial preservatives, flavourings or colours, nor do they use fats that have been hydrogenated or anything that has had its genes tampered with.

The ingredients are mixed together, weighed into individual cake tins and baked in small batches. The cakes are then passed on to a team of skilled finishers who turn the cakes out and ice and decorate each one by hand.

06/07/2012 09:36am

I visited Butser Hill Picnic are yesterday, with a friend and Holly the labrador. We visit every year - beautiful venue, lovely walks and Usually facilities. We did use one of the two remaining picnic tables, but alas there were several people who would have used one, if there had been more. But more importantly, the splendid building (which must have been expensive to build) was locked and 'Out of Order', The portaloo, had NO water - for anything, no water available for the numerous dogs who passed us by. Rather sad when the school's summer holidays are approaching. It did cost £2.00 to park the car, but why no water?

05/07/2012 02:05pm

I have been bringing my family to the cafe at the Queen Elizabeth park for years and was really impressed this year with the homemade cakes ,qiches and soups they had on offer. The service was great and the staff very friendly. Last week I bought some friends up on a first time visit and was really disappointed to discover no homemade cakes or their famous bread pudding. All the homemade was replaced by factory made cakes that did not touch the homemade. Bring back the individuality please, we can go to a number of places and eat factory cakes. Queen Elizabeth cafe was finally becoming a talked about place for it great homemade food. Whats happening?

02/07/2012 09:54am

What a lovely family walk we had in the park. was very unhappy when visiting the Cafe, Had the homemade soup, the soup was really not very nice, bread was stale. All six of my family left the soup. When the table was cleared by a member of staff, she asked why we had left our soup, we told her why, we were told well we can not please all. We didn't bother staying for drinks and ice creams for the kids.

QECP cafe replies

We were horrified to hear of your complaint as we pride ourselves on our homemade soup and hot baguettes. Please accept my apologies and a complimentary soup with hot baguette for six. We are grateful that you put in a complaint so that we could rectify the problem and prove to you that normally our soup is of a very high standard.

Review Ref. 347146

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