Pembroke Lodge Richmond Park - dodgy?

I had a look online and saw the article you were referring to. While it's the first time I've ever seen tips distributed that way, it's not unusual for tips not to reach waiting staff. Believe me - I worked in hotels long enough haha!

I wouldn't let that put you off. If you decide to go with them and you feel particularly strong about tips then I would advise leaving a cash tip on the day and insist it be distributed once the wedding is over. That's the best way of making sure it goes to the waiting staff.

I got married here 4 months ago it was an incredible venue and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful, they couldn't do enough for you. The day went without a hitch and it was completely down to the staff and Adrian, the banqueting manager, I was in such a dream world that I had no clue what was going on half the day! I included the optional staff gratuities within the budget, I wasn't sure about it at first because 7.5% is a lot of money but I was worried that if I didn't I would be treated differently. A couple of weeks before the wedding I rang them to go through everything. For the evening buffet we decided to just go for bridge rolls and wedges, when I asked how many bridge rolls we would get I was told that it was one per person - I just assumed you would get a selection of bridge rolls for £5.50 per person (very naive perhaps) I then got in a bit of a panic that the evening buffet wouldn't be enough so I changed the buffet to mini baguette, cheeseboard and wedges which was an extra £440! Because of upping the budget we couldn't afford to pay the staff gratuities so I emailed them and explained the situation, the were completely fine with it and reassured me that it was optional. I felt terrible at the time and more so after the wedding with how amazing the staff were but I really don't feel that bad about it now after reading that report!!
Don't let me put you off the venue though because it really is fantastic. I just think that with every wedding venue you need to check exactly what you are getting for your money!

We have been incredibly disappointed by Pembroke Lodge and really regret choosing them as our wedding reception venue.

The pandemic has obviously been a really difficult time for everyone, but sadly we feel that our experience has been very far from what we had expected from a venue in the Royal Parks.

The Consumer and Markets Authority guidance for wedding venues in the pandemic says that in most cases the CMA would expect a consumer to be offered a full refund, even where they have paid what the business says is a non-refundable deposit. We're aware that many venues have refunded couples in full, but unfortunately Pembroke Lodge has chosen a different approach and is refunding us nothing, despite the fact that our wedding reception could not legally go ahead as planned due to the government restrictions.

We would really recommend that couples do their research on wedding venues at the moment. With the prospect of covid-19 restrictions continuing to change for some time, a venue's approach to refunds and how they treat couples is going to be so important.

Hi Annie, we have our wedding scheduled at PL in November. They are saying we can go ahead with a small wedding on our date or reschedule to next year. Did they give you any option to reschedule?