RHS Reviews 258

Too many restrictions and entry limitations. So many of the houses and gardens that give discounted entry to RHS members only offer discounts on certain days or at limited times of the year! Very frustrating and not good value. Shame :-(

Travelled over 2hrs one way and planned accommodation around this event, when we realised the weather forecast was going to be heavy rain for several days we contacted customer service and the ticket line to see if we could exchange our tickets for an alternative show as we knew we wouldn't be able to enjoy it with the heavy rain and muddy conditions.

Customer service were dismissive and offered no help or support just 'check the weather'. The ticket line explained that as it was the last day of the show and Tatton was the last show in the year therefore we were not eligible for exchange. I think this is appalling when any other day/show would have been exchangeable, the policy should apply to all tickets and we should have been allowed to exchange it for a show next year or for a voucher towards buying a ticket next year or similar.

Due to this we ended up attending out of spite of losing our money on the tickets and not being able to afford to do anything else with our day instead, as this was an expense we could not afford to waste. When we arrived the ground conditions were super muddy as it had been raining for several hours during the night and previous day. The car park was a 20-30min walk from the show entrance, through muddy fields and woodland, none of this was made clear beforehand and I felt really bad for anyone who was elderly or had less mobility as this was not an easy/pleasant trek to get to the show.

When we arrived all we could see were food/drink stalls and stalls selling trinkets, the kinds of things you'd see at a regular craft/food market. We had booked our tickets based on the reputation of shows like Chelsea and Hampton Court and expected to see gardens, plant displays etc, not hundreds of tents trying to get you to buy things you don't need. When we had already spent £30 to get in, we were certainly not planning on doing any shopping once we got there. We could have easily gotten the same experience for much cheaper at a food festival or artisan market whose entry fees are usually under £10. The big tent with the floral displays was packed to the brim due to the heavy rain so we did not even attempt trying to enter let alone look around and speak to stall holders, this was a major disappointment as this was part of the show we were looking forward to seeing.

Then the gardens were practically non existent, we kept looking on the maps and going in circles looking for show gardens only to find tiny plots that couldn't have been more than 1metre square filled with wildflower planting. None of these smaller plots looked particularly curated or themed or inspiring, they just looked like a section of wild plants at the side of a road that had been cordoned off. The one 'garden sized' show garden that we did spot had a queue of over 20 people waiting to walk through and in the pouring rain we didn't fancy queuing. Other than this we did not see anything that made us feel like we were at a flower show, a huge disappointment compared to TV coverage we have seen of the other two large shows which were too far for us to travel to. I can't understand how the show can justify such a large entry fee when the whole things is then centred around you spending at every food and trinket stall. There was one small row of artist stalls which was the only part that felt justified, supporting local creatives who create work inspired by nature and plants.

Overall, for something we had always wanted to attend, it was a complete waste of money and total disappointment, awful customer service and support, we would never consider attending in future and will have to stick to just watching Chelsea on TV. I'm sure that for people with more money than sense, they will have had a lovely time buying overpriced cheeses and fudge, drinking expensive coffee and eating overpriced fish and chips. But not for me and my partner who saved up for the petrol money, the tickets and the accommodation so that we could attend the show and that we will never get back. We planned our whole weekend away around the show, and we will not get another weekend away this year due to work so feel robbed of what should have been a wonderful weekend. We spent less than 40minutes inside the show trying to find something worth the ticket price only to trudge back to the car wet and muddy and to drive back home. Had we been refunded then we could have used the money to salvage our weekend away and go to a museum/gallery or other indoor attraction.

We have visited RHS Tatton for the past seventeen years. The show gardens were often jaw-dropping - exciting and aspirational in equal measure. We have so many photographs and videos of designs we loved, and wanted to emulate. The financial crisis of 2008-9-10 clearly had an impact, however, and the big-ticket sponsorship dried up, but the show adapted, and the ‘back-to-back’ gardens, for example, and the Young Designer of the Year competition, ensured that the sense of energy was maintained. For a while. Over the past few years, the soul of the show has been lost, and this year was simply dreadful. The show gardens have been reduced to banal essays in the clichés of ‘sustainability’, - deeply ironic in the light of the oceans of over-priced imported tat groaning from the stands around the site. For this, we were charged in excess of £30 a ticket. My partner commented that we could have spent a few hours at Cheshire Oaks, called in at Bridgemere on the way home, and had a better experience - free. We are cancelling our membership. Will it make the slightest difference to the RHS? Of course not, but it’ll make us feel better…

I became a member and purchased 2 show package for tatton at Cottons hotel.
We were in the same room and I could have paid the same for 2 rooms on booking .com. we also were taken from a nice breakfast to be given a cheap buffet breakfast.
The package was a very expesive dissapointment and you could book it cheaper even directly with the hotel.
The rhs website is difficult to use and I find google easier.

RHS flower show Tatton park 2023
Very disappointed. Difficult to see anything due to crowds Loads of stalls selling clothes, homeware, arts and crafts plus overpriced gardening gear and plants. Very few gardens and plant displays. A nice but small floral marquee.
Hugely overpriced food (£10 for a sausage in a bread roll, £13 for a small chucken wrap). Huge queues for coffee as most food vendors don’t offer hot drinks. Then nowhere to sit and not enough shaded seating.
False ‘show price offers’ - not any cheaper than shops and when checking bank account, more money taken than shown on receipt - £129 on receipt but £140 showing on statement….now have to try and get it back (beware if you buy from the hozelock stand!).
Took almost an hour to get off site at the end of the day!

The parks are not fit for the amount of visitors at both Harlow Carr & Bridgewater. Just bring your own food & refreshments then you will be able to enjoy it. Queues for food were worse than in the Soviet Russia. In Disney resorts you can get food in 5 minutes! In RHS I was in the queue for the ice creams for 40 and then for 30 minutes for the food. Venues need more staff, more food/drink/ice creams/coffee stations! And better management of those beautiful places!

Chelsea Flower Show May 2023
Overpriced, overcrowded and far too commercilalised. Extremely disappointed as had been wanting to go all my life.

I go to Hampton court flower show every year, but this will be my last. Got off the train only to find there are no boats to transport you this year so walked a long way with the kids along the river and winding through hampton court just to get to the entrance. Once in It felt more like a trade show than a flower show and it was so over crowded. We spent all day shuffling behind people or queueing in the pouring rain for food and drinks then eating the food in the rain sat on wet grass as there was nowhere to sit or shelter. The food queues were huge and the staff seemed really overwhelmed. We bought burgers only to then be up all night with the worst food poisoning I've ever had. Really disappointing and expensive day out

Parking is good but all a long ride from the show Green car park was a 45 minute bus transfer.
As for the show the show Gardens where poor at best.
And all thee catering is now done by one supplier KURB so you could not even get a sit down brekfast. It was more street food.
Pimes was £14 a pint making Glastonbury seam cheep.
Would we go again NO not even if it was free to park and get in. The map was useless and unhelpful at best. It's now just a disorganised shopping experience.
This was our 3rd and last visit.

Hampton Court Festival 2023.

Arrived by coach on the 7th July The coach park is about 3/4 mile from the entrance. I am 80 and was tired from the walk and the heat when I arrived at the entrance. I did not take water because of the weight. After a 25 minute queue in the sun to get under some shade and a snack and a £2 bottle of water stayed there for an hour, decided that I couldn't face the heat and the crowds so went and sat under the trees by the water for 2 hours and did not see one garden, my wife found me a £2 small tin of water. Then walked the long distance back to the coach. Made to feel very much like a second or third class citizen. Waste of money.
RHS - Health and Safety issue. On hot days like this provide free bottled water - not just a tap where you have to queue in the sun.

It didn't bode well when we queued in traffic for 2 hours to travel 3 miles to reach the parking area. It was a steaming hot day, there were hordes of people, long queues in full sun for food, drinks, loos. Signage was poor which i suppose is because RHS wanted us to pay £10 for their guide and site plan, having already paid £37 each for entry and £16 for parking! The floral marquee was so crowded it was a relief to escape it. There were some areas under trees to shelter from the heat but insufficient shaded seating. Too many people crammed onto the site......an example of corporate greed. Altogether an unpleasant experience and we left after 2 hours and won't return.

Hampton Palace Garden Festival
2.5 hours in a queue to get into the show.
So not really a day ticket left. Weather was bad but no real effort from organisers to cater for this eventuality. No shelters provided, would have bought cheap ponchos if they were available. Food provision was not enough since everything even a drink you had to queue for and they were long queues. Not enough seating provided just for someone to catch their breath and then move on. Food outlets were all very heavy food what on earth happened to sandwiches? Everything but. We live two hours away so had stayed overnight and so the cost was prohibitive for what was little better than a regional flower show. Felt the organisation was a little lazy and did not consider the people attending at all. Won’t be going again!

I last visit then RHS Hampton Court show some 10 years ago.
What a difference today, eye watering ticket prices, in excess of £47 each plus £16 to park a vehicle is truly outrageous for what one gets.
Its actually quite small, effectively a few small gardens , one rose tent and one plant tent, the rest is dedicated to garden furniture and extensive tat from China that has pervaded every garden centre.
Choice of refreshments very poor, mainly consisting of food vans.
Save your money and spend the £100s saved at a nursery- far more pleasure than this overpriced, ill thought out disaster.

Hampton Court Flower Show 2023. I imagined this was still what it is all about - flowers. But no just a few flower exhibitors surrounded by food trucks, accesories even specialist whiskies. Also queues for sub standard pricy food. Snd I haven't mentioned the 3 hour queues just to get into the car park. Dreadful experience.

My first visit to the Hampton Court Flower Show was such a disappointment - never again! Far too crowded to appreciate anything properly and a lack of shady places available given the crowds. Full of stalls trying to flog stuff which makes the entrance price poor value . I expected to see much more in terms of show gardens and less retail. It was so hot we had to leave early. Huge queues for food and drink . Not fun .

More of a lifestyle show than a garden show now to be honest.

I won't be going again while it's taking this approach

RHS Hampton Court visit this year was so disappointing compared to other years. The poor weather didn’t help but that’s obviously not their fault! The show seems smaller. The incredible queues just to get an overpriced coffee (nearing an hour to order and then collect plus £4.40 for a latte!). People crammed into the tents due to the weather but dragging their annoying trolleys with them. We arrived at 11:30 and had left by 4pm. Usually we’d stay all day loving it. Not this year.

After many years of visiting the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show (now known as ‘festival’), I can safely say 2023 will be our last. There’s little left of the glorious former flower show, and no restaurants or places to sit and have a drink. Instead, there are big corporate stands, street food caravans, huge crowds and even bigger queues. For everything! There are a few garden displays and a large tent with flowers and plants for sale. But the charm and ambience of previous years has completely gone. One of our party described it as a ‘hellhole’ when we left after an hour. An almighty rip off for £38 a ticket and a very expensive mistake. I’m not sure what the RHS are aiming for or what their vision is, but I hope they read this and the reviews on Tripadvisor.

Just returned from the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show (Festival). Admittedly the RHS cannot control the weather but they can the overall organisation which was poor. Staff seemed totally disinterested. Road signage was very poor and the road traffic management around Hampton Court and the approach to Hampton Court non existent. The exit process mid afternoon wasn’t that much better. Suggest the RHS re think the management of their show as clearly there are a number of shortfalls that need improving for next years event. Maybe time to consider if Hampton Court is the best location for future use or will the proposed ULEZ extension cut down on the volume of vehicle traffic?

The RHS is a good and worthwhile charity but the back office is evidently understaffed and they will lose custom as a result. Emails go unanswered, telephone lines provide a several minute blurb then fail to connect you to a person to take your call or simply state that there's no-one available to take the call - this is at 9.30am. I was simply hoping to ask whether members could take a guest to their members only days at Hampton Court.
I shan't bother rejoining! I wonder how many others they have lost