Chatsworth Reviews 

We have just returned home from the Christmas market today. The parking and stalls are overpriced, the place was really busy with people and worse of all some employees have no idea of disabilities. We were taking a 96 year old out for a treat. She does not drive and does not have a Disabled blue badge. She has recently fallen 3 times and cannot walk very far. An elderly officious man told us to catch the tractor and trailer he described as a one step entry which was impossible for her. In the end a young man, who was very pleasant and caring, came to the rescue and found a space higher up. Shame on you Chatsworth - not all disabled people have a Blue Badge and there is the Equality Act 2010 protection. Perhaps staff should be better trained. We will not be returning next year.

I have been for the last 2 years ..... The market was great thank goodness as the house and decorations were very disappointing compared to last year and found it too busy whilst trying to go through the house .. that makes the market a very expensive day out as although free the only way to get parking is to book tickets.

All weekend parking fully booked. Travelling alone and £30 to park is just too expensive anyway.
The market is sold as "free entry", £30 to me is certainly not free.
Thank you Chatsworth, come on, be more honest and show some Christmas goodwill!

It seems like there is an agenda to take Christ out of Christmas. It had no Christmas feel to it whatsoever. I have been in the past and my experience then was that I was extremely impressed. Now its more about fairies and mythical things rather than Christ-mas. The lighting was dark and thwre was hardly anything in there. Seems to be a massive cut back. So so disappointing to say the least

What a dreadful experience - eight of us went to the Christmas market yesterday and caught the bus from Baslow car park at three pm, stayed in the market till six and the bus driver then announced he was only going to go back to Bakewell. He left at least twenty people with no transport to the car park, having to stumble down the long drive for a couple of miles to get back to our cars and with one of us being a back pain sufferer and two others fresh out of bed with flu. Lol. Added to this the food prices are an absolute insult now, with a pork bun coming in at twelve pounds and a hot drink topping five. Incredibly tacky rip-offs. Provide service and quality if you're going to charge. A pork bap isn't worth twelve quid unless it's handmade bread. Not fluffy white baps, and the place should be served properly by bus if you can't take the cars!!

Visited the Chatsworth Christmas Market / House and gardens.

Market and House brilliant as always.

The Garden and light trail was disappointing this year. Doubling back at the Maze as it was cut short from previous years, created a massive bottle neck when walking back. Over crowded walking back and hard to walk as meeting others walking the opposite direction. Previous years much better with the 1 way system

As a family we attended the Christmas markets and were all very excited.
First off, we arrived after a long journey to be told the taxi mini bus could not drop us off, we had 2 elderly disabled people on board who could not walk the distance from where we were, despite the fact taxis are allowed to drop off for free we were told we needed a drop off pass, one of our party called the organisers as the pass was not on their website to be told by a very very rude woman it would be £60 to drop off and pick us up! When questioned the woman advised as a mini bus was grey area she would charge us £30. We were left with no choice but to pay.
Second of all when we arrived at the drop off area at around midday, we followed the directions of where to walk provided by a female steward only to be screamed at by what I can only describe as an aggressive male steward. He terrified and intimated our party by screaming for us to get behind the barrier, which may I add we were walking towards and was directly next to our mini bus. He removed rope to allow us through shouting health and safety and he hit my elderly mum in legs which hurt her when attaching it back, my mum told him he just hit her and he did not care nor did he apologise. My mum was very upset and traumatised from this. The man is an absolute disgrace. Unfortunately as we aren't magicians and could not transport ourselves from the bus to behind the rope.
The third thing is when going back to our pick up point and getting on our mini bus which the driver was in may I add, yet another rude steward shouted at us demanding to know if that was our mini bus and that it wasn't on her schedule, which I find hard to believe as the driver would not have been allowed entry at the first point.
Chatsworth House as beautiful and stunning as your house and grounds are, you need to sort your staffs aggressive and disgraceful attitudes out. You ruined our experience and this review in no reflects the christmas markets where the stall holders were polite, but due to your staffs attitudes I will never return and if I could I would give you minus stars.

The entry cost to the house decorations was very expensive and disappointing. Just a few decorated Christmas trees. Much better displays of decorations at your local garden centre.
The range of stands at the Christmas market was limited and over priced. Food was excessively priced at over £10 to 2 hot chocolates. There was no atmosphere and no effort to make it special

We visited the Christmas Market yesterday. We prebooked parking - which was expensive but very well organised indeed. TBF for 4 of us on the bus, it was only £6 more in the car and more convenient to get home. Although it was very busy, it was fine considering it was Sunday. Last year we went mid-week and that was less busy. A very good range of stalls. We didn’t have time to go into the gardens or shops too. The food and drink stalls were expensive so factor that in. £8 for a hot (delicious) pastie for example. Got some good Christmas presents and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Very well organised. We will definitely be back again next year.

Complaint I have just returned from my first ever trip visiting chatsworth house And all I can say if how utterly disappointed I am

I myself am currently 7months pregnant and it was my actual birthday today So as a treat for my birthday as a family purchased tickets for the Christmas market garden tail and house Firstly the drive there was horrendous the post code in the email took us to the entrance where it said no access so we had to turn around and look for the lack of signage which are barley in the dark When we arrived in the car park the stewards directed us to the exit so we had to turn around again and say no we are coming not going Once we finally parked and walked in we was then told the Christmas marker was closed !!!!

This was the main reason for going so as you can imagine me myself for my birthday was completely disappointed! We all looked forward to this all day the day was ruined I am also 7months pregnant and the walk through the closed market was a hazard as it was so slippy I was frightening of falling We tried to get something out of the evening as it took us an hour and a half drive we walked to the shops which we also found closed After walking around the house - the only thing that was left We tried to get some food from the stall but again as it was later in the day there was nothing left and the prices made my jaw drop After feeling robbed, dissatisfied and completely miss sold and disappointed we decided to just go back home Clearly, this is not sold with clear instruction as we asked the steward and he said he didn’t no why tickets were still being sold at the time we purchased them if everything was closed and I specifically purchase Christmas as chatsworth.

a complete waste of our time and money

We attended The Queen's Reading Room Festival at Chatsworth House on 20th September, travelling from Cambridgeshire. Our tickets were purchased well in advance but our experience on the day was not as it should have been. We spoke to their Events Organiser on the day and he gave us his email to document our issues. To date my emails of 20th September and 7th October have gone unanswered so I think this rating is justified. Seems like we're not alone to be underwhelmed by the Chatsworth experience. The courtesy of a reply to my emails would be a good start.

Went to see the house decorated for Christmas. Had a lovely meal in the Cavendish restaurant and a look around the market which was good with lots of stalls. Had a very overpriced tea and hot chocolate later in the white tented area, over £7 for two drinks. The Christmas garden themed decorations were good with the exception of the dinning table which was not set and just had three vases on it. Looked like an after thought. Given three stars because of the overpricing, the unfinished dining table and everything being very expensive.

Very disapointed ….over priced car parking, food a hot Cornish pasty ( not a large one) was £7.25 !! I don’t think so ….these are only two issues I can list I could go one but not worth it , to cap it all for chatsworth at christmas there was virtually no decorations very poor….

The house and grounds are beautiful and are kept in this condition by some very devoted staff/volunteers.
I know they have to do it, but there are too many other exhibits unconnected to the house and its history.
The cost and quality of sandwiches available in the eatery (for lunch), did not match in any way. If you pay nearly £8.00 for a sandwich then you expect something special. This was far from the case and was the only disappointment of the visit.
Also, and I know they cannot do anything about this, but the house especially was full of "pushy" and rude foreigners with mobile phones (taking numerous pictures of everything). Enough said..................

Truly lovely day out, although helped by perfect weather! Gardens are beautiful particularly if you walk up into the woods. The house is amazing although it would be nice if more information was given about the various rooms.
There were a couple of extra bedrooms open for viewing and these were well
worth looking at.
Cafe and courtyard were great, as was the shop. Prices were okay, and the food was nice. The sculptures in the garden were a bit random but they didn't detract.

Paid £20 to attend The Queens Reading Room event on Sat 20th Sept with 2 friends.
We arrived around 11 after a 2 hour drive.
Once inside the grounds we expected to get some sort of guidance on to what was happening where and when but couldn’t find anything so asked in the shop.
The member of staff wasn’t particularly friendly and just gave us a map.
We then found out from a member of the public that their wasn’t much to do if you hadn’t booked one of the talks with an author ( which was an extra fee and all fully booked anyway)
We then went to the Orangery to purchase a book as we had been told by another member of the public that we could get them signed if we queued at the designated tents in the grounds.
We tried to enter the building and was rudely told by staff that we weren’t allowed in! We then found out this was the exit( why said member of staff couldn’t politely say this and point us to the entrance is beyond’s me!!)
After purchasing our books we made our way over to the tents to then be told that the queue for the author we wanted to see was closing! This was around 12.30.
We then made our way to where the Jane Austin play was being performed and couldn’t see a thing.
So went for a walk around the grounds in the rain.
The last straw was being told we couldn’t enter part of the grounds due to a private function by another rather abrupt member of staff.
The weather is very unpredictable and so in October is it too much to ask for some marquees to have been put up to watch the play and the big screen??
A totally underwhelming and disappointing visit.
Total waste of £20

I have been told about this place for many years from a number of people, as I love history, aristocrat and family empires and so on.

I visited over last weekend for the annual Country Fair at Chatsworth and it did not disappoint.

The house is also something your mind cannot even comprehend, it is glorious and luxurious. The history is amazing and incredibly intriguing, the gardens and grounds are spectacular.

I see other reviews mention turning up later in the evening and not realising it closes early-ish, as well as some of the art exhibitions that take place. I understand, the website could do with being re-done and made somewhat clearer, but it is also up to you to do your research to check closing times and if anything exhibitions are taking place during the time of your planned visit.

The guides in around the premises, especially in the house itself, are fantastic and offer a wealth of knowledge and insight about anything and everything Cavendish / Chatsworth; which, for a knowledge and information geek like myself, is truly amazing.

I would like to point out David Stone in specific, he was lovely, insightful and gave me and my partner the time of day with vast information. He should be acknowledged. You can tell that himself and others truly love where they work and the Cavendish family.

I have now joined as a Friend of Chatsworth, as their annual events and general admission to explore their grounds is more than worth the £227 annually as a fee for two adults! A wonderful place to casually visit at the weekend for an explore, walk, spot of lunch and further tours of the house.

Supposedly one of the finest houses in england but currently stuffed with an art and floral exhibition of no relevance to the house and its history. dark, sombre. like going round a morgue. The building and grounds are impressive but don't waste your money going round the house. Many of the rooms lack the relevant furniture. Hardly anything about the history of this great house and family. All about the arty farty irrelevance of the exhibition. Presumably they were paid plenty to host the nonsense art exhibition.

Do not stay at The Cavendish Hotel and have food. Whilst the hotel aspect and rooms are very nice the food is simply terrible. From dinner to breakfast the quality was shocking. Basics were done so badly, zero to no seasoning, poorly cooked food and yet the price tag and marketing would suggest otherwise. I can’t stress how bad and then to top it all it is a non negotiable service fee!! Just don’t do it as your bill will be extortionate and you will left wondering why.

Chatsworth House provides only sloping gravel parking sites which are slippery and dangerous for motorcycles.

They are rightly concerned to provide accessibility for other minorities but show no interest in danger to motorcyclists.

I emailed Chatsworth and they don't show any initiative at all.

Food at the Carriage House is not particularly good and is significantly
overpriced.