Hopetoun House — Local services in Great Britain

I took my Primary 2 class here for the day as part of our topic on the Victorians. We were greeted as soon as we got off the bus and directed to the 'school room' where children could safely leave their jackets and bags/lunches. During the first session the pupils were dressed in authentic Victorian costumes which they highly enjoyed and then given a tour of the house as servants. Mrs Ward was an excellent guide and kept everybody engaged through her humour and enthusiasm. We all learned a lot and I feel that everything was adapted to their level, which was a concern I had before the trip! There were many opportunities for photos and at the end we undertook various cleaning jobs in the Butler's pantry - this was the highlight as it was a very hands-on experience for the learners. We returned to the school room for lunch and in the afternoon we received a tour of the beautiful grounds. The children struggled to stay as focused during this session, I think because they hadn't had any opportunity to run around/release their energy and also it wasn't really relevant to the Victorians. However, they were fascinated by the deer and were given the opportunity to touch real antlers. I would highly recommend a visit to Hopetoun House for any classes studying...

Second time for us here and this visit was on the first day of opening, after being shut down for Covid.

The first person we met was a lovely lady who sold us our tickets. You could see she was so happy to be back again.

We drove up the main drive towards the house, and parked across the drive to get a great photo of the house. Shame there isn’t a proper place to park for a photo. As we had to be quick as a car was coming up behind us.

Parked up and then walked to the front t door of the house. If you have walking difficulties, you may need assistance to get into the house. Once inside you may have problems moving upstairs and around the house.

The staff are only to happy to stand and talk to you. Please ask questions, they have all the knowledge and will make it more enjoyable for your visit.

Before you leave, you must go to the stables and grab a bite to eat. The stables are bright and a great setting for afternoon tea/ lunch.

However I have to mention the cakes, oh my god!! They were awesome, and well worth sharing. We had 4 in our party and 4 different cakes and we weren’t disappointed with any, so we’ll done cake chef 👍🏿😂

Will I be back?

Hell yes and even just for the...

Two of us visited the Stables tea room at 11am this morning. I am gluten intolerant and asked the young server what I could have. Judging by the look on his face he had been taken by surprise He offered my something from the cake stand. I explained I could not eat the cakes on offer. Poor bloke looked uncomfortable, but, basically there was NOTHING for me to eat. A good 5 mins had now passed with a queue forming behind me, I felt uncomfortable and being a nuisance. After a bit of thought he said he could ask the kitchen to make me something. His manner gave the impression that this might not be possible. This is NOT the servers fault on any level, a definite lack of training. Which is the responsibility of the management.

I visited this place a years ago with 3 other ladies for afternoon tea, and phoned in advance explaining the GF. I was assured then it was not an issue, IT WAS. I thought that after 3/4 years they would have brought this issue up to date. Afraid not. They have given themselves such a great build up on the website I feel it deserves this review. PS We left and went to the Hopetoun garden centre and had a great lunch...