Two queries in one day... bad venue review

We are two and a half weeks away from our wedding and i made the mistake of checking reviews the other evening. While there have been no bad reviews at all about weddings I am now concerned about the number of guests we have staying as there are quite a lot of bad reviews of the rooms.

One half of the hotel is recently renovated and lovely (the older part) this is where the wedding is and where our room is and some of the other guest rooms (the ones we were shown when we looked around!) But there are lots of noise complaints (guests staying before flight moaning that their room is next to the other events room - I dont care at all about this as we will be the ones causing the noise!) But also a lot of 'had to clean the bath before it could be used' and 'the shower didnt work' and 'there was damp in the corner' style complants, all of which have been responded to by the manager to explain that they are in the process of redecorating and the specific rooms that had bad reviews would be 'brought forward on the list'. It has left me concerned that my guests are going to get to their rooms and wonder why we've booked a disgusting hotel!!! The only wedding-related complaint i've seen was the fact that the hotel have sold half the car park for airport parking!!! So now i'm panicking that all the guests that are staying will struggle to park.

What i've learnt from this is DON'T check reviews once its booked.

That being said if you havent yet booked fully and are concerned about the reviews, why not a) post the name on here and see if anyone on this forum has been married there and b) bring up the negative review and it's comments to whoever you are dealing with there or a manager and say youre wanting to confirm but you are concerned about rude staff and cold food! if theyre any good they'll have words and it might then be nothing to worry about! (unless of course the manager is rude)

I wouldn't worry- there's always going to be someone that is unhappy somewhere. Go with your gut, I'm sure it will be fine!

Talk to them if you are worried

Do you know how long ago the review was left?

We recently worked at a venue that was actually amazing- everything was spot on. I googled it when we got home as we were interested in returning there for a stay and the reviews for the place are terrible. I was so surprised! It turns out that since the reviews were left, it's changed management and had a bit of an overhaul. Could it be possible that it's an out of date review?

Even if not, keep in mind that it's only generally when people have a gripe that they leave a review and if they'd had one bad experience on the day, they may have been inclined to see everything else that happened further along the line more negatively than they perhaps would have done otherwise.

Try not to sweat it too much, if you love the place and you've been shown great stuff so far, there's nothing really to suggest that wont continue

I was thinking he same as Pavone - when was the review written? If it was a while back then it might be that things at your venue have changed since then.

If it is really bothering you though, why not ask to speak to the manager and explain your concerns and see what they say? They might have a legitimate reason or response. At least you'd be able to voice your worries and hopefully it'll put your mind at rest.

Hi.

As the others have said, I wouldn't worry too much - there's many reasons why someone might make a bad review. If you're worried then there's no harm in printing the review out and discussing it with the staff at the venue. I'd expect that they'd be professional about it and alleviate any worries you may have had. It also gives them a good chance to rectify any problems if there are any. This will put you in a good position after as there's no way they can argue they weren't aware of anything if any of the problems do occur and put you in good standing for some sort of compensation. A good wedding coordinator will put your mind at ease.

If there were loads of bad reviews and very little positive that would obviously be a good reason to worry or cancel your booking. If it's just one it could be someone who's very picky or a competing wedding venue trying to make them lose business.

I hope that helps!

Cheers.

James.

I wouldn't worry - it is very rare people take their time to write good stuff but everyone loves a rant!

One persons experience doesn't make yours.... I am sure your day will be perfect x

Is the venue purely a wedding venue or is it a hotel too? I would be curious as to why it only has one review.

Bless you, you have all been so lovely and completely put my mind at rest. Although the review was quite recent (it said the wedding was in Q2 2013) you're right, it's only one review and I have to trust my gut.

I'm going to speak to the place as well and juts voice my concerns (hopefully if there are any bad attitudes then they will all be on their best behaviour!)

The place is Hengrave Hall in Suffolk, it's really pretty (in my opinion) and I'm going to stick to my gut feeling and go with it.

Thank you all so much

A very relieved (and now relaxed) bride to be!!

Very pretty venue.

Google has a couple of good reviews.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Hengrave+Hall+in+Suffolk&oq=Hengrave+Hall+in+Suffolk&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#lrd=lrd

I was going to put exactly this.

I looked at, toured and considered a few venues before making my final choice. I looked at reviews for every place. Without an exception, each place had "bad reviews", but alongside there were an almost equal amount of good ones. I think reviews can be included when making a decision, but I put more weight towards my "gut feeling". A consideration, but not the deciding factor.

A lot of things are subjective. I love camping, and wild swimming so a tent by a river to me is luxury, but to some that would be the ultimate nightmare.

If you're really worried, ask the venue directly which incidentally looks lovely

Thank you all so so much I feel so happy now and know we've made the right choice

I am also so impressed how many people 'came to my rescue'!! thank you xx

My new happy bride (and groom) friends xx

I always think that people are probably more likely to go to the trouble to put a bad review somewhere rather than a good review.

How many times have you eaten somewhere really nice or stayed somewhere really nice and not posted a review but if you had a bad experience then you would be more likely to want to post a rant.

I would try to ignore it and go with your gut feeling and first impression.

Also, before we booked our venue we visited the venues we were considering beforehand as general guests for a bite to eat to see what the service and general feeling was about the place - maybe go a couple of times for a snack or a drink and see what you think of the service yourself?

xx

One thing I've learnt with my flying as cabin crew, is that people are very quick to write a bad, review rather than a good one.

It wouldn't matter if say 1 person flew 10 times a year and only 1 flight was late, they'd rather write a review about that flight as apposed to the other 9 good ones they traveled with.

x

Exactly! completely agree! x

We actually got married at Hengrave Hall last November and you really have nothing to worry about - we had such a perfect day there and all our guests are still talking about it now, the venue, the staff and the food was all outstanding.

There were a few things about the accomodation at Hengrave that we didn't like the sound of and like you we were concerned in the lead up to the wedding, the staff there were very quick in coming back though and honestly at the wedding it was fine and the next morning none of our guests complained about the early start - they want you out of your rooms at 9.15 so the next day's guests can check in for 12noon - the yummy breakfast made up for that though and it's so nice having all your guests back together the next day.

Honestly, we have no regrets at all in getting married there, if you have any questions or more concerns feel free to message me

I was reading this thinking you really shouldn't worry blah blah blah then you put Hengrave Hall and I am starting to panic haha - I am getting married there. I am surprised that it has a bad review though. I remember someone on here ages ago writing about how lovely it was. I have viewed all the rooms about a millions times (I go back ALL the time) and I have never seen and damp etc. I think the lady I deal with is amazing although not all of them are as helpful as her but that can't be helped. I think the bueaty of this place is amazing. I have also tried lots of the food - you will not be upset with the food, it's gorgeous. I am sure it will be fine (I live in hope) when you getting married? x

When google my venue and then the word wedding it comes up with 'worst possible choice of a wedding venue'. That did worry me a bit.

The review is very old though and it feels like they've learnt from anything that maybe wasn't very good. The things they complained about were the lack of communication etc except we have had fantastic communication with the venue.

I completely agree that people will be quick to write a bad review whereas they might not make as much of an effort for something good.

Hi all,

I found this post when searching Google for Hengrave Hall, this is exactly the kind of venue B2B and I are after and so I wanted to do some research before viewing.

My concerns also relate to the Yelp review that Sturt2b read...plus the other filtered reviews on Yelp that talk about having rooms locked and alcohol confiscated, it all sounds a bit like being back at school!

I understand that there is a hard limit of 23:30 when music must stop and then midnight sharp for carriages, however as we'll have lots of family travelling from afar, I'd like those who are staying onsite to be able to continue a bit later than midnight if they wanted, perhaps using a room in the main hall, nothing too rowdy, just people catching up with a glass of red!

Obviously these are points that I will raise with the venue however I thought I'd be good to ask those who married at Hengrave Hall what your experience was like on these subjects?

Thanks!

RSgroom2be

Hi there,

Re your comments below, I’m not sure if I can help but I spoke to a few people who have previously married at Hengrave and absolutely raved about it. Apparently, if you speak to the girls then there may be some leeway regarding the drinking as this was one of my concerns as well as similarly, we have family travelling from afar. But I definitely think you should have it confirmed before you go ahead with it as some said that verbally it was agreed then on the night they were ‘kicked out’ of the conservatory room for drinking.

The only thing I would say about it, when planning a wedding there, is just watch the costs as we had to cancel as the price escalated to a point where, to us, it was out of control, I spoke to three people about budgets, one had a small wedding, but the other two ended up spending over £30k (one said it was very close to £40, (and the things she had seemed pretty standard) – which is fine if you have it, but I just wanted you to be aware). Just have your budget at the forefront of your mind and stick to it. The caters, although are exclusive, apparently there are ways around little costs / using external suppliers, however I found this was like pushing a brick wall…. They didn't really budge and instead I found I was the only one constantly changing my plans / guest list / course options just to fit in with the budget, rather than them trying to be accommodating to me and ensuring that I (we!!) still got the day we’d always dreamed of.

Sadly, as I say, we couldn't afford it in the end, which was devastating as we both fell in love with it as soon as we drove up the driveway. But hopefully you’ll have better luck and the day of your dreams!

So all in all this is a VERY long winded way of saying, yes people have been allowed to continue drinking past 23:30!!

I hope this has helped a little!!

Oh it really is! But hey….. c’est la vie!

Oh I totally agree, it’s so easy to get sucked in. When you first sit down with them everything seems possible, and very do-able. All of a sudden you’re getting married in your dream place and have money to spare!..... wrong! It’s not until you start adding in this and adding in that you realise how little actually is included in most venue’s original (and not even ‘extra’s) and you start having conversation (and worse, rationalising it) “well if you only have a two course meal instead of a three course one” or “people can line up and take canapés so that it should prevent people from getting two”….. talk about creating a hitch! Something you definitely don’t want on your wedding day! All because you want a particular venue.

Bless you that you ended up losing your deposit, did you have to pay much? How lovely that you still managed to book a local castle for the shoot after (a) brilliant idea and (b) totally worked as you didn’t have to keep moving!

Oh we’re still back to the drawing board! We’re going down to Dorset at the weekend as they have an open day at a place called Highcliffe castle which looks lovely AND has an all-inclusive offer for 2015 weddings on at the moment! Cher-chang!! Fingers crossed! I’m so desperate to find somewhere so I can actually start planning but I flitter too much….. local? Weekend away wedding? England at all? Abroad? But I think I’ve settled on somewhere in England that is not too far but far enough for people to stay over (and make a weekend of it if they want!) I hope anyway!!

Oh that’s not too bad, I’ve heard of people losing 1,000’s they paid for the deposit

We are looking at the Sunday packages or perhaps a Friday as well, its surprising how much you can save. What hotel are you guys getting married in? When is the big day?

Oh bless, it’s so hard isn’t it finding somewhere ‘convenient’ to everyone…. At least this way, you guys get to ‘be away’ for a while, even if it’s just a night or two, which will (I hope) add to the ‘big day’ rather than getting married one day, going back to washing and ironing the next!!

Thank you lovely, oh I do have everything crossed too! we’ll see….. I think the OH will give up if not, I keep dragging him and out daughter around the country!!! Haha oops!

Good morning, let me add my opinions of Hengrave Hall.

As a guest Hengrave Hall is stunningly beautiful on the outside but thin on the inside! This thinness extends to the care and attention given by the staff who run the catering and wedding planning - there are no visible Hengrave Hall staff. You buy a process, a package, you don't buy warmth.

Inside Hengrave is aesthetically cold and cheap. There is hardly any interior decor of quality and style: it's a bit Jury's Inn, a bit Premier Inn, with wood panelling!

The ground floor is a series of individual rooms that are connected by a corridor, there is no heart, no centre.

Main Hall

My daughter used the main hall for her wedding ceremony and for the disco in the evening. It was also used by the staff to set up their food serving trolleys.

It's quite a small room. There were about 80 guests sitting for the civil ceremony and it was a bit of a tight fit on chairs with a space/aisle down the middle. This is not a place for a big wedding - and this makes a miss-match as after the ceremony people are separated as they are in the long corridor or in the different separate rooms that come off and

The disconnect continues as the heated food trolleys are plugged in and the plated food, the portion controlled food was distributed to the guests.

Dining and food and the bar

The dining room is long and narrow. My daughter's wedding had a series of round tables arranged in two off-centre rows. She did not have a top-table. But on Sunday morning (she was married on a Saturday, and we stayed in Hengrave Hall on Saturday night) this dining room was set up for the next event. This wedding did have a top-table, but because the room is long and narrow the other tables were arranged in London rows to the side. This is not a room for inclusivity, where you can look up and see a room full of your family and friends. You can imagine it as an Elizabethan Hall with a long narrow table down the room, the lord and lady ay the top and the diners sitting according to rank down the room. Indeed this arrangement might make the room cosier.

The tables are large and it was difficult to have a conversation with people across the table. Because the room has a lot of bare wall, beautiful tall walls and wooden panelling, it is a noisy place. I imagined the walls hung with tapestries, a warm, cosy, quieter hall.

The food is cooked off site and served onto plates, a bit like hospital dinners.

The Bar

The bar is short and is at the bottom of the main stairs which totally spoils the effect the stairs could have.

The bar is not a space for conviviality, it's just functional. Indeed you get the impression of meanness, of portioning, of not letting people drink together. Yes weddings can be too drunken, but there are ways of limiting alcohol intake. But importantly, essentially weddings are for people to meet, talk share, be together. This short bar has no space for talking to the person waiting next to you to be served: again Hengrave Hall misses the opportunity to get people together.

Bedrooms

Again a Jury's Inn, Premier Inn experience. There's no room service, there are no resident staff. There is more heart in the Youth Hostel on Euston Road - oh and the bathrooms are not en-suite......

There is a tray with a small kettle, some small packets of milk, instant coffee, and tea bags.

My four-poster bed was magnificent though.

Conclusion

I feel my daughter and son-in-law were pleased because they'd spent a lot of money. I feel they bought a pig-in-a-poke, they saw the outside of Hengrave Hall, they were sold the beautiful venue, but it just doesn't have the space or infrastructure to create a warm event.

Why do I write this, because yesterday I heard with sadness, that no-one spoke to my daughter's grandparents. I'm sure this wasn't because of the nature of the guests or because they were too old to talk to. I just think the rooms and corridors separate people.