Gates Garden Centre Reviews 

Just been for afternoon tea which was bought as a present for us. We pre booked a table for 1pm and pre ordered one meal with no cheese.
On arrival at 1pm we were told to find a table and then queue for the till. This took 20 minutes to get to the till, and were then told there was a 20-30 minute wait for food. We waited until 2pm for the tea which could have been prepared earlier as it was all cold food. They brought a pot of tea which was gone before the meal arrived but as stated in the deal, they filled up the teapot free. We were told it was not advisable to sit outside which we were hoping to do as there were lots of wasps, which was true, hardly anyone outside and some came in as they were being attacked by wasps who were also coming inside as the windows and doors were open.
Food was very tasty and freshly prepared, fresh bread and tasty fillings, two scones each, sausage roll and eton mess and fairy cakes, and cheesecake. Too much for us but a box was provided to take home. Staff were all very helpful and came out to check what my husband could eat while it was being prepared.
Please sort the wasp problem, and we would return as the meals all looked very good, as did the carvery.

We tried the Restaurant yesterday. Very disappointing, as you now have to queue for a Carvery, what a shame.
My sister settled for Sausage and Mash, it was terrible. It was obliviously packet mash, about a table spoon size, the 3 sausages were OK, but the whole thing was swimming in Gravy, more like Soup. We won't be eating there for a long while. Expensive for what it was. I was embarrassed to have taken my Sister there.

Don’t allow dogs! What a shit garden centre. Avoid it. It is probably vastly overpriced but I will never know as I wouldn’t dream of leaving my dog in the car to look round their (presumably) overpriced crap shop.

I have been going to Gates, Oakham for many years until now.
After pushing my daughter to get a job there I thought it would be an amazing experience for her but after being there for a number of months she / we have discovered the higher management prefer to make the kids fear them rather than respect them. Staff turnover is extremely high, now I know why and the business is run inefficiently. A certain woman in management does not know how to manage, speak to or treat the staff with the respect they deserve. I have pulled my daughter out of there now due to her diminishing mental health. I will not be returning as a customer or nor will a lot of my friends.

I brought a plant through amazon it came to me broken plant was snapped of from pot.i text company all I got just put soil back in pot. I explained it the plants be snapped was also told put back i. Pot found they was not customer focus or care told no returns refunds and suddle company policy on return send back to Amazon with out any advice or a care for customer yet again.
Find this company are just useless and dont care about there customer from start to finish I be driving past there site to someone who care what goes on so I have a plant I can send back but no money back or throw in bin no money back, ask for a replacement and they could not do that just a shower of

Was helped by a lovely lady named Donna who was very knowledgeable in the plant area, she was not only extremely friendly, but also gave me some great advise, not pushy at all either, 5 star service, thank you

Visited Gates Hinckley yesterday morning. Had a really lovely time. Lots of beautiful plants and flowers. Then went for a coffee and light lunch in the restaurant. Loved the way to order at the till and then the food/ drinks brought to the table. All the staff were so kind and friendly, nothing appeared to be too much trouble. Drinks and food served very quickly, restaurant was spotlessly clean. After lunch we visited the concession outlets, my mother felt a bit unwell ( exceptionally hot day). The lovely assistant in Pavers found her a seat and offered her a drink. Fortunately she quickly recovered but again we were so pleased at the kindness shown.
We really enjoyed our time at Gates and will certainly visit again and definitely have a meal in the restaurant. Only drawback for us - dogs not allowed ( except guide dogs and assistance dogs).
Thank you

I spoke to a member of staff in the plant’s department about two plants that had failed, he was very unhelpful, advised that there was nothing he could do and then hung up - be warned

Having been a regular customer of gates Oakham, when the hinkley one opened we soon went as its closer to use than Oakham. We have I would say visited about 6 times since it opened . I think they have a nice selection of everything obviously not as wide range as Oakham but that's a different layout. I think they have done very well with the space.
Restaurant we have visited this everytime we have been to the garden centre , we are impressed every time food quality is very good , we have had breakfast , pie and also carvery, all very nice .

Being a believer in credit where it’s due and in this age of reputation assassination via social media I want to shout out for the brilliant service at Gates garden cr Hinckley , years ago it was Woodlands privately owned and brilliant great plants , great products and staff that would know about plants and engage in conversation, then it was taken over by, well the equivalent of a cheap supermarket but in the guise of a garden cr, more important became building shops to rent to other companies ie clothing, shoes and kitchen equipment (that doesn’t bother me but shouldn’t the garden cr be the main draw) it spiralled downward in everything it did, dead plants empty shelves and a mish mash of confusion , a few years later it was sold to a competitor that thought it was a good idea to operate it in the same way ie dismal, then a knight in shining armour came along and hope restored (ok so that’s totally over the top but a little authors embellishment a) anyway a couple of visits and what an impressive improvement fantastic quality plants of all types colourful quality bedding, trees and perennials all healthy and ready to plant, impressive water features, accessories and powders and potions (what gardener doesn’t like bottles jars and packs of plant food that’ll be in the shed for decades ) staff that apparently been their for ages but in the past you didn’t see or speak to because they were discouraged to engage with the punter , that’s all changed and they come up to chat offer help and advice who’d know this encourages visitors to purchase their offerings , so anyway on our latest visit my intention was to purchase a couple of begonias lovely quality and about a tenner , but that all changed when I saw some old style planters , garden troughs in the style of a by gone era , not cheap but centre pieces , so my intended budget tenner spend increased , then out of the corner of my good eye I saw and heard the sound of bubbling water from an feature that immediately grabbed my attention being with my other half whose wallet last saw sunlight in the early nineties I nonchalantly guided him over to said bubbling feature and said how much I liked it (he did too , he just didn’t realise it yet) but he had questions, like how we gonna get that in the car, do they deliver , are they in stock bet you have to wait ages for one and many many more .undeterred I looked for a member of staff who just might be able to answer these points, then John came along and was brilliant a fountain of knowledge (pun intended) who answered the minor points we had , delivery no problem says John it’s free , stock check no problem says John I’ll just go check how many we’ve got they’ve just come in (at last I thought I’m a trendsetter) two minutes later he’s back we have 3 says John , he gives advice on maintenance and winter care and we then ask him what’s the procedure to buy said bubbling urn, I’ll come with you to the till and sort for you says John off we go and spend considerably more than the cost of a begonia but John was brilliant, the items we bought were real quality and having checked online were really competitively priced and the water feature was delivered to our home 2 days later and the driver offered to place it where we wanted. If gates keep this up and maintain the improvements it’s going to be a great success.So credit where it’s due plants great quality, great products good prices and above all thanks John

Bought a rare plant online from Gates. Great price, size and quality. The plant was delivered extremely quickly. Thoroughly recommend.

Went to the restaurant at woodlands, not impressed. The coffee was weak, the tea cakes looked like they were wholemeal but no option when ordering to choose so know we didn’t make an error ordering. The tables weren’t cleared and when we ordered tea for two, everything was dirty with tea stains. Had to request clean cups twice but didn’t enjoy at all. Won’t be going back

To be blunt there no the cheapest and when you try to complane about anything forget it they don't want to know. My wife has brought loads of things from them and they always bits missing.

Ordered some Bramblecrest garden furniture from here on 17/5 and it arrived on 21/5. Delighted with the quality of the product. Excellent service from ordering to the delivery. Would highly recommend and definitely would buy from here again. Thank you Gates Garden Centre.

The garden centre is fine, though there aren't many flowers. I found the food disappointing. While it carries the name of a restaurant, it feels more like a high street café serving local food. The menu is quite basic and inexpensive—it could really benefit from being upgraded to a proper restaurant menu.

Ordered garden furniture on Easter Saturday 19/4 evening, and it was delivered Thursday 24/4, from Leicester to NW England. The service was amazing. Everything was intact and it took us no time to put it together. I had been looking for stylish aluminium garden furniture and I’m delighted with the quality of the furniture I received. Gates kept in touch with progress the whole way through. Highly recommended!

Have visited Gates, Hinckley for the 2nd time today and ordered a mocha for the second time here. They don’t seem to have any idea how to make one. Absolutely disgusting.

Visited Gates Stapelton and decided to have lunch at the restaurant. Ordered Fish & Chips, when the food arrived and I began eating something was definitely off with the fish. Dry and like rubber, almost like it had been reheated. Only had half as it was that bad. Four hours later I was so violently ill, horrendous stomach cramps etc. Almost certainly food poisoning. As I had only eaten toast for breakfast no other explanation. Will not be going back. Also employ some more staff so that tables are kept clear, we had a job to find a table that wasn't covered in dirty pots. The worst dining experience I have ever had.

Went to the new Woodlands gates garden centre with prepaid and pre booked afternoon tea. The service was awful with staff not knowing what to do. Went to the tills said we hadn't booked when we had, tea arrived with no plates, sorted that then no knives for the scones, sorted that. The scones were stale, hard, small and dreadful. Overall food was OK but for £40 for 2 overpriced poor value little welcome and poor service

Had been for a walk with the dogs and popped into gates on the way home. Only to find out no dogs allowed bit strange it's the only garden center I know dogs are not allowed