Altons Garden Centre Review

Well stocked and staff very helpful. Ample parking space.

We went in with a BBQ budget and set our sites on the one we wanted... The kadai fire bowl... The BBQ team were fantastic really helpful and gave us really good advise!! They even threw in a couple of free accessories as we were getting so much!!! Thanks BBQ team... You made our BBQ choice alot easier

Good selection of plants and trees.
The reason for two stars in these times, no sanitation for trollies or carts! Went to Summerhill after visiting Alton, they have someone at the entrance greeting you in full PPE, sanitatising everything. Baskets,carts and trollies before you touch them.

Lovely place, good selection of products, friendly staff. Our main purpose of visit was Santa Grotto about which I was very sceptical at first however it has been the loveliest place ever. Santa was so into his role that he made me feel like a little girl again just to mention I was there with my 4 year old daughter. It was much better than over rated Santa Grotto in Stratford (London) which is a service less money making machine i.e. 30 mins with Santa Claus a big fat lie after 10mins there we were hurried out!? Never again Stratford our new destination for next year is ALTON Garden CENTRE without a doubt!!!

Wide range of products, excellent cafe. A pleasure to browse around, but not the cheapest garfen centre!

The Christmas tree delivery service is brilliant. Phoned up and the person was very friendly & helpful. We explained we wanted to order a tree for a family member going through a difficult time and they went above an beyond to get it to the as soon as possible. Highly recommend! Thank you Alton Garden Centre!

Very good range of plants (and lots of non plants products). A bit pricey.

Always great to visit. Shame though the cafe is shut due to covid pandemic

Staff so very helpful excellent service prompt delivery first class

Great around variety of plants and trees. I went to buy fruit trees and these were at competitive prices.

Went to Alton's with a friend for a look around..some very good bargains in Edinburgh Wool Mills section..had a very tasty lunch reasonably priced and a nice walk around. Staff all very helpful. Will definitely visit again.

just love this garden centre.
friendly staff.usally get everything you need.

It's a really big site. My first visit and I could find everything I would need under one roof.
They have small selection of Koi as well as the best selections of water features I have seen in any garden centre I have been to locally in and around Essex.
As with all stores leave time to queue. Monday is quieter in the afternoon so non existent queuing. Lots of staff on hand to help.
All staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.
Good selection of garden furniture but seemed slightly expensive and range seemed slightly limited, but worth a look. With lockdown and issues with stock, just expect a delay which staff are quick to inform you of if picking a popular design/range.
If visiting on a hot day, keep water bottle to hand as it can be overwhelming for some as it didn't feel like any aircon in the main stores building.
They have a range of mowers. Good selection of tools.
Lots of pots.
Separate and very large range of plants to cover all tastes and prices are very reasonable. Only let down I noticed were the Dicksonia Antarctica which looked like they had been neglected which is a shame.
Better options down the road over in summer hill if you want one of those. Summerhill has larger range of sizes, all very well looked after and to fit all budgets based on size you are after.

Well organised in these crazy covid times. Not mega busy and no long queues, waited 10 mins to get in Which is good. Maybe the queues could be split to make it simple for people who want outside/inside access. Otherwise a reasonable stock and efficient, friendly staff. They could do take away coffee and snacks for people to have whilst shopping, since they can't open the full restaurant yet?

Wide selection of products a little on the pricey side if you want to shop around but good quality and a good place to get everything under 1 roof

Lovely, very christmassy, lots of gifts available too

Lovely helpful and friendly staff and great selection

Thought this was Alton Towers, clearly not. Hay fever was out of control because of this trip here... also where's the towers?

Very tidy and clean store, love there items in store. Reasonable prices and worth every penny.

Good safety and the room to ensure Covid rules are followed.

I found the Alton Garden Centre on Amazon whilst searching for Artificial Christmas Trees and having a huuuuge problem with my Balsam Hill order. Lucky they were almost local (15 miles) so we could pop in, see the trees and leave with one. We had a small problem with it but the staff replaced it with a new tree straight away. The staff was very helpful and giving great advice, both from the Artificial Xmas Tree department and from the lights department. Pity I couldn't find Alton Garden Centre before I placed my order with Balsam Hill:(

Visited Altons weekend just gone. I can't wear a facemask for medical reasons and usually shops ask me to wear a mask and I explain I am mask exempt and it's fine. This is the process outlined on the government website. However, Altons' door staff were extremely rude and demanded I wear a lanyard or the like even though this is not the government's expectation. They stated they had the right to demand this as it is private property and they can request what they like. Does this mean they are above the law and can discriminate on any basis they wish? Racial or disability for example. I don't think so. Also, I think this aggressive approach to mask wearing would be very upsetting for some people. For example, someone who has suffered some form of abuse. Really disappointing from a shop I used to love.

This is one of two excellent garden centres on the A127.
Both Different. Always visiting Both.
This last visit was the Alton. Got advice on my Tomato plants. And purchased a zip up cardigan. Edinburgh Mills.

Christmas is on the way out so in store looking a bit chaotic. Good selection of plants and winter hanging baskets

A lovely place with both garden and home bits. A tasty resturant with a wide variety of food that is reasonable for a garden centre.

Well organised and felt very safe. Very impressed. Disappointed with the quality of plants though.

The Christmas display is sooo gorgeous. And as for the Kylie goods fabbuulous but expensive.....the plants speak for themselves...lovely all year-round xxxx

Good selection, prices are reasonable, came out with more than I went in for but thats joy of shopping,

Looking for a shed, don't bother, no deliveries available for over 4 months. Very disappointing.

Large range of products.
Good social distance measure on place.

Good selection of products. Cafe lets it down by small canteen style tea cups for teas and coffee. At dear prices.

I came to ask for information and came out with all that I needed. Thankyou.

Decent selection, fair prices, the hedging section is unrivaled in the area.

Love the range of herbs here that you rarely see elsewhere. But that's just me, most come for the Christmas decorations and to see so much garden furniture on display in one place. Really a one stop shop for anything to do with your garden.

Excellent garden centre, absolutely love visiting and have filled our garden with wonderful plants and garden furniture, everything excellent quality. BUT totally let down by cafe. Food is either under-cooked or cold by the time it reaches the table. Could be a real asset to Altons but every time we visit we give the cafe a try and am always let down. if you are keeping your customers waiting for whatever reason, just walk round and refil coffee or tea cups, keep your customers happy. staff work hard enough just the old adage in business "don't work harder work smarter". Management to blame.

Lots of choice of everything you need for your garden. I bought bits for pond plants

Lot of parking, lot of plants nice to vist but considerably more expensive than other places

More space given over to selling all sorts of non gardening tat makes me wonder if it should even be open during lockdown

Was pleased with the contents in the sale at the moment, probably missed quiet a lot of products reduced . Shop equipped with hand sanitizer on entrance, and found not to many people shopping today, so all good.

What a shame! Altons have been excellent over the years but not today. Purchased an expensive BBQ from them recently and said that I would need a Green 13KG bottle. Tried to fit the bottle but it was far to big and clearly only takes 5KG. Went back to Altons to change it over for 2 x 5KG bottles as this was promised by the Altons guy who fitted the BBQ for us. Got their today and he wasn't there but no one would change them over just kept telling me to contact CALOR. So now I'm left a 13KG bottle which hasn't been used and no valid gas bottle for mine. Don't say your going to do something then don't honour it! Disgusted!

1st time at this centre. It is huge we only saw part of it. There is plenty to see and buy. the staff are very helpful. Would highly recommend it.

They seem to have it will organised just a shame about the people who are either totally oblivious to others or don't care, a mixture of both I suspect.

Visited the cafeteria food was excellent one of the best jacket potatoes I've had will revisit in the future x

Appeared to be fully stocked. Well signed for social distancing. Cafe not open.

I purchased a sun umbrella for my garden furniture which broke after having it for just over 2 years, I got in touch with Alton s who then spoke to the manufacturer who then said the warranty had expired, The guy I spoke to from Alton s garden furniture department said he felt this was unfair and that Alton s as a good will gesture would replace my sun umbrella and even delivered a brand new one for me today I would highly recommend Alton s for good customer service and after care.

Very busy garden centre. Staff always helpful. Christmas display looks lovely. Nice cafe too!

Very helpful with regards to my return of a broken item .

You can wander around looking at all the various gardening equipment and plants, and they have a wide selection of items for sale

Bit expensive but we'll presented with unusual stock.

Good parking, although can get very busy. Good selection of plants etc. There is a cafe available.

Lovely place. Brilliant restaurant. Quality plants. Friendly, helpful staff.

Great social distancing protocols, felt very safe. As always, they have a beautiful display and lots of lovely gift ideas.

Without doubt so much more than a garden centre. Superb nice bits if you're looking for a special treat or present

Very good found what I wanted and good delivery date just great

Ordered a BBQ cover and grill plate online with next day delivery, 2 weeks later still no delivery, apparently sent two but still nothing, made several phones call but still could not complete my order from Essex to suffolk so now have asked for refund, awful service

Spacious garden centre with an abundance of utterly essential Chinese made Christmas tat which fully justifies their essential status during lockdown. It's either that or the candles or BBQ's.

Not to bad very pricy cafe is not bad but amazing Xmas experience you need to rethink about how to pay for the see santa !

I went to the garden centre on the 22nd October 2020, I entered the main part of the shopping centre and started looking at all the Christmas stuff, within a few minutes an employee walked up and aggressively asked wheres your mask, I told him I was exempt he then aggressively asked wheres your exemption certificate, I told him I havent got one as theres no legal requirement to carry or show one he replied yes there is it's the law he then told me to leave the garden centre which I did and he followed me to the front door, I couldnt believe the way I was treated by this man imagine if it had been an elderly person or someone vulnerable, instead of a 6 foot bloke, that was treated this way.

First visit 20/03/2021 buying plants for my balcony. Staff in the outdoor plant section were helpful and friendly towards my little doggo. Good variety of trailing plants, shrubs, herbs, bulbs, fruits and even composts and planters. We bought some fashionable planters, and in them we will out our new strawberries, mint and lavender plants to go with the eucalyptus I was gifted by a friend. Received advice from staff about which compost type would suit all these plants, and how much to buy for the size of the planters we'd bought. I'll be going back to buy my indoor plants in a few weeks. Looking forward to it!!

Been here a few times and always had a great visit to the garden centre. There is a wide range of many products and great christmas decorations when on display. Staff friendly aswell

I found the staff friendly and helpful, will be going back again.

A large garden centre with plenty of parking. In addition to the usual garden stuff there are books, and kids toys.

It really comes alive at Christmas with a massive selection of decorations, and the kids love wandering round looking at the lights.

Well set out, outside area was a bit messy and some plants difficult to locate, good measures in place to keep people safe

Excellent staff, most helpful and efficient and really friendly. During these difficult times I felt really safe. Well done.

Only went to outside plant section on last visit ,good selection of plants & flowers for time if year , seemed a bit pricey but what isn't nowadays lol .

BEWARE! You can't take purchased items back unless you are prepared to be publicly humiliated. We have just returned 2 items, we had the misfortune that one of the partners saw us queueing and found out that we had come for a return...he was so furious I was shaken, I thought he was going to hit us! We were made clear that we were not welcome into the store ever and that they did not have time for people returning items that were not damaged. The kind -frightened too- ladies who actually processed the returns told us that we could complain but the angry person unfortunately was one of the partners!

Great. I wanted to buy loads. Everything you could want and more.

What a Christmas display you could spend all day here & spend a fortune. Brilliant finished off with a coffee by Sam in the car park a true Barista.

Has just about everything.... including things for the garden....!

Absolutely brilliant! The amount of Christmas stuff is unreal!! Got served by two ladys, proper quick service! Proper nice too!

To many people considering we are in lockdown. Should be monitored better.

Lovely gift shop full of surprises lots of perfect and individual presents for all occasions.
Really nice restaurant nice staff and yummy cream cakes really worth a visit.
As for the plants and flowers fabulous!!!

Plenty of stock, everything you need. Good cafe. Helpful gent in the garden shed department.