| Location | 9/10  |
|---|---|
| Venue | 9/10 |
| Food | 9/10 |
| Value for Money | 5/10 |
| Overall rating | 5/10 |
Full review by
jenona
on 21st Jan 2007
User Rating : 5
Respect :
0
Good Points: Lovely setting Wonderful food
Bad Points: Not enough attention paid to organisation of wedding - got the impression it was a bit of a conveyor belt, and hence there were a number of problems: The wrong music played for the processional, no gifts table provided as requested, and eventually tucked away at the back of the restaurant, room bookings lost, guests charged for rooms we were paying for - then being refunded, but charged again on the same bill, and being told different things by different people - ie. bridal room included in the price, then after the event that that was last year's deal. Also, had to be careful about room allocation - my mother was initially put in a room outside the main house - the same price as the main rooms, but with the decor and overall feel of a motel - I only discovered this when casually double-checking. And despite my constant double-checking, the room booking for the best man was lost, so he ended up in one of these motel style rooms allocated for men's changing, and was charged for it, despite our request for his room to be on our main bill. The women's changing room was also in one of these outer buildings, which would have meant tramping across the gravel car park in my dress to reach the main hotel for the ceremony. I chose to change in my mother's room, which was much better! Incidentally, there wasn't much thought given to the room allocation - my brother was put in a very feminine, beautiful room, while my mother was eventually allocated a luxurious but more functional room - not a big deal, but it does show a lack of thought, especially as on the four occasions I visited the venue I was told I couldn't see the rooms - I was in fact shown two of them on my final visit and assumed they would all be of the same standard, not being told otherwise. After all the hoo-ha about guests being incorrectly billed and refunded, we were finally billed six months after the wedding, with no concessions made for the inconvenience incurred and Ghyll Manor failing to return numerous calls we made over several weeks to to query items on the bill. To date they still haven't replied, and we are still waiting to pay the bill!
General comments: Ghyll Manor Country Hotel in Rusper, West Sussex is a lovely venue, with beautiful grounds and wonderful food in the pretty Benedictine restaurant - but if you hold a wedding/reception there, you will need to check up on things every step of the way. Make sure you ask about EVERYTHING in advance, and don't assume one person will communicate with another - make sure you deal directly with each individual - there's not much co-ordination in evidence at this place! And if you want the right music played as you walk up the aisle...get someone in the wedding party to do it!
Having said this, we had a lovely wedding in beautiful surroundings, and everyone was impressed with the meal, and they commented about this for some weeks afterwards. It's just a shame the "fallout" from GM's poor organisation has continued for so long, and it has somewhat tarnished my feelings about the place.
jenona's review and ratings | 539 words
