Jane Austen Centre Reviews 8

Easy to find, just around the corner from Oxford Circus Station. As soon as we entered the building it was like going back in time. The staff stayed in character throughout the visit. I was particularly impressed by our guide, 'Georgiana Darcy'. She made us feel welcome and enabled us to join in with dressing-up, tasting, playing games and writing with a quill. The way she conveyed her vast amount of knowledge kept us interested and captivated throughout the visit. She taught me things I never knew about this wonderful author and has made me an ever bigger fan. All staff were attentive but I would like to thank 'Georgiana Darcy' for making our first visit a special one. We look forward to the next time.

Only visited the tea rooms as the rest of the centre was closed.
The tea was booked in advance but our time altered by the centre on the day.
The food was fine and well presented but the experience could have been much better.
One small pot of tea allowing only one cup per person was insufficient for the tea experience.
The pot was somewhat grudgingly topped up with just hot water.
The ambience disappointing

Experience????
Terrible experience.
We waited 45 minutes for our tea. Having requested where it was and how much longer we would have to wait the excuse was that the kitchen was small and that a tour party of 14 were basically the problem.
I have a few suggestions.
1. Close
2. Close
3. Close

My friends and I had booked an afternoon tea with Mr Darcy.

I regret to say that we were deeply dissatisfied as the service and standards we encountered fell significantly short of expectations.

Upon arrival and seating, we were met with cups and saucers that were visibly dirty which not only detracted from the aesthetic experience but also raised concerns regarding hygiene. Additionally, the milk jug presented was covered in grime and old milk, rendering it unfit for use. Furthermore, when staff were asked to change we were presented with even more dirty equipment.

The quality of the food served was equally disappointing. The tuna sandwiches had a very off putting taste, suggesting that the ingredients may not have been fresh. Furthermore, the egg mayonnaise sandwiches were excessively dry and appeared to contain minimal mayonnaise. In addition to this the cakes had not quite defrosted which suggests they are freezer kept and the scones were very dry and very hard which again suggests the these are not made fresh!

To compound these issues, the state of the toilets was alarming. They were grimy and overall disgustingly dirty, reflecting a lack of attention to cleanliness that is unacceptable in a reputable establishment.

Overall my friends and I had a diabolical experience and would not recommend at all.

Austen fun.
What a hoot. This is a first rate peep into the world of Jane Austen.
Lots of fun and information. If you love Jane you will love her more after visiting the Jane Austen house.

Thank you

Memories where made. Our visit to the Jane Austin experience, started off with meeting outside by a colourful character who left a lasting impression.

We got tickets for the tour (this also gave you a discount in the shop) .

The actor who played George Wickham (Fictional character created by Jane Austen who appears in her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Who is introduced as a militia officer who has a shared history with Mr. Darcy, if you know the books films he is a cad, scoundrel yet very charming) I want to say you played him perfectly Sir. Thank you for making our group experience so much fun.

We of course had to try the dresses(more big sizes please) hats and take pictures, learnt fan sign language) we then took quill to parchment, generally had a hoot. (Mine being a Mr Wickham rat drawing)

If you are a Jane Austin fan or bridgerton this needs to be on your list of todo. If anyone has seen the movie Austinland we all agreed it had these vibes also. Fun and entertaining.

I know myself and the ladies I was with will be telling tails of this in years to come. This made of quick weekend girls trip.

We ended this in the gift shop where upon I had to buy myself a hard back beautiful copy of pride & prejudice and a little vodo doll of Mr Wickham ♥️ ( don't forget your discount)

Have fun

I have never had such diabolical service.

We attended the tea rooms with my mother in law for a special birthday. (We were late, we were booked for 13.15 but arrived at 14:15, we were accommodated which was nice) However, it was all down hill from there.

When we arrived we were seated to the left as you walk in. Not even in the tea room per se and just outside of it. Right next to the kitchen and in front of the check in desk. On entrance the room had a charity shop aroma which was not pleasant. It was a hot day and the staff were all in these outfits which is fine but they were all complaining about the heat openly in front of us for the whole time we were there. To be fair they should have been allowed to wear something cooler in that heat.

We waited 1.5 hours to receive our afternoon tea. We were offered one drink in this time. I had a raspberry lemonade. It wasn't from the fridge nor did the staff have any ice when i asked. I did see a fridge of drinks. It had no light on when opening, so not sure if it was even working. It was not refreshing at all. The tray they served the drinks on was full of grime and dirt too. I noticed they stuck them in-between the work top on top of the fridge, not hygienic in the slightest. Because of where we were sat we could hear all the staff in the kitchen swearing and getting moody with each other. One of the girls went into the kitchen and said everyone is looking at me and the other girl says angrily " stop looking at us". Cannot believe they said that, the shear rudeness! What else are we supposed to do while we are waiting, scare at a wall?

We were told 45 minutes in that there was going to be a delay due to them having to prepare gluten free sandwiches for another table. Yeah, we already figured hun.

One of the staff members burnt some scones (which are not made fresh, just shop bought) and the supervisor just said sprinkle some more icing sugar on them so they can't see. (this is all happening behind us because of where we were sat). The servers did this in front of us and didn't even try to hide the fact that they were doing this. The scones were not black but definitely over done and should not have been served.

I asked for a flat white with my Mr Darcy Afternoon Tea. I could hear the staff in the kitchen asking how do I make a flat white. They were swearing, laughing, not working at all.

When we finally get our cream tea, one tuna sandwich had one bit of sweetcorn in and another two the tiniest amount of filling. We asked for these to be remade. The bread was not the nicest, stale. We were not told the fillings and we had to guess what we were eating. The scones were presented the other side of the sandwiches and had salad underneath - yuck. Thank god we were not given the burnt scones but our scones were not the nicest, rock hard, crunchy even. We were given 3 pots of jam and one pot of cream. (between 4) When i asked for another cream the server took it from a different table and gave it to us. When I challenged her she said she didn't, albeit I watched her to do this.

The supervisor was in the kitchen saying if they don't ask for a discount don't give them any. When guests were coming to check in they were queuing around our table which was off putting. Overall unorganised chaos and poor customer service. If we hadn't of pre paid I would have been asking to speak to the manager and refusing to pay at the till.

I wanted to find a birthday present for my wife, something different. Jane Austen is her favourite book author, so after googling her I ended up on this site. The range is amazing, prices are very good too. Placed the order about a week before christmas, and it even arrived before christmas too, which is brilliant. Can't wait to see my wife's face next week open these (by the way, I recommend paying the extra money for the gift wrapping service, it is more than worth it!)