Mackintosh at the Willow in Glasgow City

We really enjoyed both the tour and light brunch here! We had our amazing guide, Jamie, all to ourselves on the 10 am tour (11 am was much busier). He was incredibly knowledgeable and clearly had a genuine interest in the history and the architecture. Having tea in the front room after hearing all about the provenance made it all the more special, and the tea was great as well!

I have always been a fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife Margaret MacDonald and her sister Frances MacDonald. I am a lover of the Art Noveau and Art Deco styles and this place was basically a pilgrimage for me. When we decided to go to Glasgow, I knew immediately that I wanted to go here. If you're a fan of the art and architecture, while there were pieces of the designers' art and furniture in the Kelvingrove and the Hunterian, and the Mackintosh house by the University is fantastic, this for me was the shining example of the absolute best of Mackintosh and MacDonald. We first did the tour in the morning and the tour is a must do!! I say this because not only do you get really interesting information on the tea house, its female owner, and how she worked with Mackintosh at the time, you get to see rooms that wouldn't see if you were just having a meal there. Heather is an amazing guide! You can tell she loves the place just as much as the fans do (I noticed she had a Mackintosh styled tattoo) and she is incredibly knowledgeable. We loved her. The tour takes you upstairs to rooms you wouldn't see otherwise such as the Ladies Tea room which is breathtakingly beautiful, and to our surprise, the Billiards room, which was said to be closed on the day of our tour, but when we walked by, staff said we could go in even though it looked like they were getting ready for an event in that room that day, which was so nice! We returned later for afternoon tea which was also lovely. I had a mulled wine tea that honestly tasted just like mulled wine - so incredible. We had a splendid time here for both the tour and the tea. You will be disappointed if you miss this while you're in Glasgow.

Expensive but worth the experience! Art Deco interior- refurbished back to its early 1900s decor. Afternoon tea comes with unlimited tea (32 to choose from), sandwiches, scones, and desserts served on a three-tiered tower and fancy china for the tea. Even my teens loved this- great for a dark, dank, cold, windy, rainy day in Glasgow. Note! We had tea at 4:30pm and ended up canceling our dinner reservation and still had to box up some of our treats!

Very nice and friendly staffs, we enjoyed our tea and brunch here before flighting out of Glasgow. Love the decor and Willow tea China set.

Lovely day with the family for lunch at Mackintosh. Always wanted to go and finally made it today. Beautiful tea room, service (with Jamie) was great and menu choices amazing. Would absolutely recommend the solstice spice tea.....like Christmas in a cup 😍

We had a great experience at The Willow Tearoom. My mum has always been interested in the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, so having recently moved to Scotland this was a perfect birthday treat. Jamie, our excellent guide gave a well-paced and very informative tour and really engaged the group with the history of The Willows. This was followed by a very interesting exhibition about the tea room, Mackintosh and Miss Cranston. We had then booked afternoon tea in the Salon de Luxe, which was excellent. More fascinating history from Jamie over canapés, followed by a great selection of sandwiches, scones and cakes as well as a staggering choice of tea! Good quality food, great service from the team and a really lovely atmosphere in a special place. This was a really lovely day out and the perfect treat for a Mackintosh fan!

The tour of the Willow Tea rooms was very good and very insightful. Jamie, who conducted the tour, clearly had a passion for not just the history of the building but also its future. His wider knowledge of Macintosh architecture was a real eye opener. I would thoroughly recommend the tour for anyone who loves Glasgow or is interested in the history and architecture of Mackintosh and Miss Cranston.

The heritage tour should not be missed, the building is stunning and the tour gives a real insight into history of the buildings. Jamie , our tour guide was very knowledgeable answering any questions we had. It was so nice to see a guide who loved the buildings and designs as much as I did. Highly recommend…I would do the tour again.

Visited the Willow on a Thursday around 4pm. Had not booked at table. Tea room looked pretty quiet when we arrived with just a few tables being used. Had to wait at couple minutes before a member of staff approached and asked us 'if we had a table booked'. 'No' was the reply, she proceeded to look at the pc screen and repeat 3 times 'haven't booked a table'. We were then guided to a table right next to where we were all standing. Got settled in and got a run through of what was available etc. But by her manner one could tell she disinterested in us and what she was telling us. Food was good. Whilst having our food we could see that other staff seemed a bit disinterested in what was going on too. It was only when we asked for the bill did a member of staff show some energy and a smile. Only when we got the bill did we realise there was a service charge (it is on the menu, just just didn't see it) plus a £1 donation to the NTS. My wife went to the toilets and said they were a bit grim.

Heather was really thorough. She was able to bring the story to life through her narration and the detail that she provided to the space in our visit. Really superb and left us wanting to know more — thank you!

Even if you're not an architect, you'll be able to appreciate the beauty of what was created by both Charles Mackintosh and his wife Margaret. Heather, our guide was very informative and gave credit to Margaret, rightfully, for the design details within the Tea Room. It was the best 2 hrs spent.

Booked the historic building tour, which was excellent; our guide (Heather) was very informative and the restoration is stunning. We also visited the exhibition, also very good. Can highly recommend both the tour and the exhibition. One tip: if eligible for a concessionary rate, book the exhibition and tour separately as the online booking system for a joint ticket doesn't cater for concessions.

As a Rennie Mackintosh enthusiast, visiting the original tea rooms, was an amazing experience I had wanted to see for some time. The freshly baked scone, clotted cream and strawberry jam with coffee was a delight. Staff in the cafe were friendly, polite and knowledgeable about this work and how cafe set up. I would highly recommend this cafe as both a historic design and architectural site, with lovely service and food

The atmosphere is lovely. Seeing the architecture and art was pretty. Scones, soup, and quiche were average. Nothing exciting. We expected so much more after reading reviews. Staff were not super warm but were attentive. We would not go back.

My friend and I decided to treat ourselves today and have a lovely sandwich and tea. Around 2.45 not overly busy. Spoke to the most unprofessional server (this should have been a red flag). Advised we just would like a sandwich and tea or coffee. We were shown a table for 4 and reset it for 2. Ordered straight away,elected to have a coffee and a bloomer sandwich with Ayrshire ham and a side of fries for my friend. I ordered the same sandwich only toasted . Coffee came very quickly, I’ll to the chase by 3.25 still no sandwiches,coffee finished asked another server if she could advise on how our order was going. She advised problem as it didn’t look like it had gone onto the system. Sandwiches came the were on a plain white sandwich and the ham looked like you’re asda special. My toastie was cold, the salad was brown and the coleslaw looked as if it had scraped the bottom of a barrel. Explained to young server the apart from toastie being cold this was not the sandwich we had ordered. Pleasant girl advised would speak to manager, our unhelpful server came and advised as it had been a busy day she would refund the toastie approximate cost £9.50. By this time I’d had enough paid the bill (minus the toastie) amount. Disgusted by the whole afternoon, congratulations you managed to spoil our day, never again. Food 1/10 the server about the same

It was very special to get a guided tour of Mackintosh's Willow Tea Rooms, and most especially to see the Salon De Luxe at First Floor Level. I have been a huge Mackintosh fan since my university days studying Architecture. Our tour guide gave us a great tour - very evocative and descriptive - of Mackintosh's and Miss Cranston's adventures and endeavours in creating her Tea Rooms empire, describing the design approach of Mackintosh and his life partner Margaret MacDonald, incorporating their elegant and widely lauded, Art Nouveau approach. A Fun Fact - we were told that Tea Rooms { and by extrapolation - coffee shops ) were invented in Glasgow by Miss Cranston's brother Stuart!!!!

First time in Glasgow and someone recommended Makingtosh Of The Willow Tea Rooms it was not great, we had a tuna toasted sandwich which was really dry and soup which was very bland then I had a scone which was very dry would not go again.

I visited with my mother for the champagne afternoon tea. Jamie was our server and he was attentive, friendly and very knowledgeable regarding the history of the tea room. I enjoyed the ambiance, the tasty food, which was beautifully presented, and the delicious champagne and coffee. Afterwards we visited the exhibition which was informative and also fun. The gift shop had a good range of items to suit all budgets with a very helpful assistant. I would highly recommend a trip to the Macintosh at the Willow Tea Room - it was a wonderful experience and a must-do for Macintosh fans.

We attended a 'Make your own mosaic mirror' workshop with Oliver and we had a really lovely time. Oliver was so warm and welcoming, friendly, supportive and encouraging of all the kids designs and efforts. It was a fabulous craft activity! Afterwards we popped upstairs for tea and cake, which was delicious. Staff were lovely here too!

I did the historical building & exhibition tour and it was brilliant, the guide (slim girl with hair in a ponytail) was so knowledgeable and made it all very interesting, i would highly recommend this. The exhibition is fab too. I booked a table for lunch and i had a lovely welcome from a young man with blonde hair, all of the staff are lovely. The only thing that i found wasn't up to the standard of everything else was the food, i had the Mack & Cheese which was a more than adequate portion size but the sauce was a bit watery and the pasta overcooked. It also had a strange taste. However I would definitely return and maybe just stick to tea and cake next time.