National Trust Reviews 

Went to portstewart strand beach yesterday 12th july 2026.which is an absolutley beautiful beach.but the toilets are an absolute disgrace. My young grandaughter was coming out of the toilet cubicle and there was men standing waiting to go into it as they are gender neutral toilets.i am disgusted about this.there was used sanatry products lying all over the toilets.the amount of money they make from vehicles going onto the beach surely they could afford a cleaner.

We visited Kingston Lacy on 11th July.
Being a very hot day we decided to visit the house. We would like to congratulate all the volunteers who delivered the history of Kingston Lacy with such enthusiasm. Everyone was so informative and friendly ,especially Chris on the stairs. We were especially excited to meet Max the JRT, who was the newest volunteer in the book shop.
We had a wonderful visit.
Thank you again.

Private organistaion charging a fortune to visit a coastline. Needs stopping.

We’ve enjoyed staying in National Trust Holiday cottages because they’ve always been affordable and we appreciate that the income supports conservation. Unfortunately, the prices have now increased to a level that simply doesn’t reflect the standard of the accommodation. The same cottage we have stayed at twice has now increased by 85% since the following years stay despite extensive mould, damp, bubbling paint and tired decor. When I raised my concerns, I received a generic response that didn’t address the condition of the property or the value for money. It’s disappointing because we wanted to continue making this an annual holiday, but at these prices we’ll be looking elsewhere

The Aoartment, Greenway, Devon
A disappointment. We visited in the 2026 summer heatwave. The flat was unbearably hot. The windows only open a fraction. I think the NT needs to address climate change when renting out its properties, and at least supply a fan for each room.
When booking, I didn’t realise there would be no WiFi. I also didn’t know that we couldn’t drive up to the flat. We had to unload some distance away and look for a trolley to load our luggage onto and then drag it along the cobbled paths to our flat. Then unload and carry everything up 2 flights of narrow winding stairs to the flat. We’re OAPs and this was in 30C heat.
I think it should be made plain that this flat is most suitable for people under retirement age.
It was all disappointing, and not a cheap flat to rent. We gave up and left a day early.
However, Greenway gardens and the river Dart were beautiful.

Croft Castle countryside walks spoiled by so many cows, having been a regular visitor to this property for many years, it appears this year the tenant farmer has gone cow crazy!
The NT appear to not care how this can impact a walk if you have a dog, young children or are elderly, not everyone is as keen on cows as farmers!

Paid for a family membership in April and over 2 months later I’m still waiting on my passes & welcome pack. I’ve spent more time emailing them & printing off these useless temporary passes (that they keep fobbing me off with) than actually visiting national trust locations.

Cancelled my membership this year after 31 years, you care more about your carbon footprint and all the other green nonsence than your members, i suppose closing all those cottages had members in mind aswell, and not honouring the thousands that had already booked. Such a shame.As you can see by the reply they dont care

Having booked a cottage in North Wales we were informed a few weeks before departure that our booking was cancelled. We were offered another property LletyMawr ( which we are currently in) The whole change was arranged by an off hand Staff member who just wanted me to take a refund
On arrival we have to park 200 meters from the property in a pay and display car park A parking permit was alleged to be provided but took two days to find as the cleaner had placed tea pots etc on top of them
The stairs are described as ‘steep’ but are in reality steep ,uneven and dangerous. (A possible breach of well established building regulations) None of this was mentioned when they rearranged our holiday nor was any question of my mobility enquired about
This cottage sleeps six but has only one bathroom at the top of the aforementioned rock face climb to the first floor
I am really concerned about the direction the NT is taking. Many of their holiday let’s have been withdrawn from service. The internet is full of disgruntled customers who feel let down and taken for granted.
Be warned by my review that nothing with the NT is what it seems or what you might expect and book elsewhere as I will do in future

Having been given a gift card for my birthday to use National trust properties I duly looked at booking online. Was told online booking might not be possible for all places, so off we trot with a £50 voucher to use at Ascott House Bucks. No sorry we don't accept gift cards I was told. So what I'm saying is tell your loved ones to stop handing gift cards out as they are no accepted everywhere, making it a profitable scheme getting money without any fulfilment. Cannot say whether I would ever give or want to receive anything to do with the National trust ever again.

My husband began his subscription to The National Trust in December 2025. When he was purchasing his membership he obtained a free Carer's Pass for me. He explained that he was in poor health (Parkinson's) and that he might not be able to use his membership for long and he enquired whether he could transfer his membership to me when he was too ill to use it. He was told that he could do that. He is now in a Care Home and is unable leave. I, as his Attorney, telephoned the NT to ask for the membership to be transferred to me and was told that it was not transferrable. If my husband has known this he would never have purchased membership. I have also been told that he must continue to pay the subscription for the rest of the year. So he is having to pay for a membership which he has never used and never will be able to use. A total waste of money. If I had been able to have the membership transferred to me I would have probably really enjoyed the experience of visiting the various venues and would have renewed in my own name the following year.

We recently visited the giants causeway and had a tour presented by Toni and Lisa. It was so informative and fun. They were both brilliant and made our experience extra special

I was never told that the monthly payment was an annual commitment at the point of signing up. 16 months later and I try to cancel my direct debit only to be told I am expected to make my "donation" for the rest of the year. What a scam!

We visited yesterday and overall had a lovely day. The grounds are absolutely beautiful and we really enjoyed our picnic.

However, we were disappointed by the communication regarding the house opening times. We arrived at around 12:30pm carrying a large picnic hamper and several bags, so our focus was understandably on finding somewhere to sit and enjoy our lunch. We did not notice the signs stating that the house closed at 3:30pm.

Unfortunately, by the time we went to visit the house, which we had paid to enter, it had already closed. We appreciate that the information may well have been displayed and accept that we share some responsibility for missing it. However, a verbal reminder when tickets were purchased would have been helpful, especially as many visitors are focused on settling in rather than stopping to read every sign.

What disappointed us most was the response when we politely asked whether a partial refund might be possible. One member of staff was understanding, but another immediately pointed out how long we had already been there and referred us back to the signs. It felt defensive and dismissive, rather than acknowledging our disappointment.

It’s a shame, because the setting itself is stunning and we had been looking forward to seeing the house as part of our visit. A little more proactive communication and a more empathetic response would have turned this into a five-star experience.

I can't believe the negative reviews here - National Trust is a charity staffed largely by volunteers, who in my experience are knowledgeable, informative and friendly. We recently visited Moseley Old Hall and were given many historical insights regarding Charles II and his brief stay there in hiding. All the staff were wonderful. I particularly wanted to thank Noel who was manning the dining parlour - he gave us some great historical insights including the origin of sayings like 'burning the candle at both ends' and 'Chairman of the Board'. Thank you Noel and to all the great NT staff nationally - what you do is truly appreciated.

Make a digital membership !!!!
It’s ridiculous that
national trust don’t have the option for a digital membership!!! I have a Photo of mine on my phone with a photo of my driver license to prove with photo id it’s me and they still want a physical card on entry !!!! Absolutely stupid !!! It has nothing to do with “ phone reception “ it’s stored on the phone !!!! If people want a Picard then that’s a choice most want a digital QR !!!! It may be the reason I quit the NT !!!

Reply to theNT reply - it is not hard when almost all annual memberships from other huge corporations are DIGItAL !!!!!!
If you had my pass and my drivers licence how is tat not showing it’s me!!!! You all must be absolutely clueless to think a photo of a pass can be abused but a physical membership card can’t be abused !!!!! You charge enough to sort the digital side out !!!!! And sort your website it’s utterly useless !!!

We visited Cragside over the bank holiday weekend. Obviously it was very busy and the main car park was full, so not quite what we planned. However I would like to thank Keith for his kindness and support. My wife had a problem with her knee and Keith did his very best to make our visit easier.

As the NT has recently acquired a number of Ironbridge sites, I contacted them to ask if members of the Museum Association still received free entry into those sites. Customer services told me they were still looking into this and could not advise further. After a few weeks I called customer services to ask again and they still did not know the answer. There website is vague on what associated organisations gain free entry to these sites. This is not helpful when trying to plan days out whilst on holiday this week.

Visited Cliveden House today in 34c, a very enjoyable day with a lot to see and 2 very pleasant staff members in the Gift Shop where we purchased a Robin on a fork, now known as ‘Clive’.

Two points:

1) lack of refuse bins around the site although in fairness the grounds were pretty spotless but I held an ice cream wrapper for ages.

2) Toilets down by the river boats, you’re selling food and drinks and it’s a picnic spot. Maybe just from May to September, realise it’s a cost but it is 2026.

Very little is done to prevent this.

The cost of restoration is astronomical and, as the years go by, fewer and fewer artisans are even capable of such work.

Their journeymen and apprentices certainly aren’t.

There isn’t the money, or anything like it, to do the job, nor is it realistic to believe there ever could be. The sources of funding are irrelevant; It is the amount required that is a simple impossibility.

So when National Trust executives engage in pet projects like educating the public about the usual fashionable topics they aren’t wasting money that might have been spent on mending a roof, rescuing a dilapidated castle or revitalising ornamental gardens.

They know very well their job is impossible.

Which makes it all the more contemptible that they accept the job, the pay and everything that comes with it, knowing full well, at the outset, that it’s all entirely pointless and that there’s no plan to sort it all out.

It would cost trillions and require more stone masons, gardeners and artisans than exist in the entire United Kingdom.

There isn’t even any evidence they are allocating funds strategically in order to save properties most worthy of being preserved or that aren’t too far gone to be saved.

This is simply providing dubious characters with an extremely good living.

And King Charles as patron? He is presiding over this folly, almost certainly knowingly - it is quite inconceivable that he does not know what it costs to even attempt to maintain these properties.

So when you make a donation to the National Trust it is to a tired, cynical, lazy organisation that long since gave up trying to perform its duties.

Just look at the grinning array of top brass on their website.

Would you buy a used car from any one of them?