St. Audries Park, West Quantoxhead

Subject: St Audries BEWARE PARENTS Even if something goes wrong at the 10 months and 26 days point before your wedding at St Audries Park you cannot get your very large deposit back £ 4250 + £500 because of THEIR UNETHICAL terms and conditions even if you were not made aware of them at the the time of paying on behalf of the couple and had never seen a CONTRACT and definitely without any warning from the operative taking your money at the time of this important transaction I find their service Disgusting and awful treatment of me a disabled person trying to recover their rightful deposit for goods and services that NO- ONE has recieved or going to receive The CMA say the All money’s other than a small percentage should be repaid but St Andries Park and Swift Resourses Ltd ingnore this and treat you as an imbecile including the top of the tree, a Cllr no less multi millionaire. Who I phoned personally and he was so condescending and patronising DONT BOOK THIS VENUE

Myself and my wonderful husband had our wedding here. Staff were friendly but as the day unfolded the nightmare unfolded also. Firstly some friends had to be moved from the coach house due to the rancid smell and sight of mold. Luckily the disabled room was free so our heavily pregnant friend did not have to endure such an unpleasant and health risk environment. My mum (mother of the bride) had a really nasty fall in the evening on some dangerous poorly lit stairs in the garden, resulting in the first aider at the venue not having a clue what to do, me having to dress her bleeding wound, a trip to A&E for stitches, the venues night porter trying to pick them back up from hospital and spending hours getting lost as he had never been to Taunton! My son sleeping on a mattress in our room for the night (was going to be sleeping with my parents). The place is an absolute health risk with poorly lit paths and stairs, uneven surfaces with no warning or lighting. My brother had to use a mobile phone light to find his way back to the coach house. Myself and my husband went to bed in tears, the day ruined. Be very very careful, if all goes well then great. If however something like this happens then be prepared. The company have the most unsympathetic directors I have ever spoken to. No care or compassion for my mum or how the incident made myself and my husband feel. No offer of goodwill or help in anyway whatsoever. We also had friends staying at the old rectory, they also had a problem. Be warned their is no phone signal, no landline, there is an emergency number which the venue provided but no one answered. The front of house manager also did not answer. Thank goodness the situation was not life threatening. When we first booked I was worried about some of the negative reviews but they did put my mind at rest when we visited them....but please take my advice and steer well clear! 

Unfortunately we are having to now pay for our evening reception all over again so that we can have the party we never got due to their dodgy grounds.

Had our wedding here early autumn 2010. We were delighted to have found this venue which provides a total wedding experience all on one site (accommodation, ceremony, wedding breakfast, evening do). It offered so much promise, the venue is stunning but the one wedding in, one wedding out exclusive package only works if the team deliver on their accommodation check-in and check-out guarantees. For us they didn't. We booked all available accommodation (32 rooms) and were guaranteed in writing room check in at midday and check out at 10am. Our guests who had travelled from places such as Kent, West Mids, Yorks and London that morning with the promise of two hours to be able to relax, shower, change etc in time for the 2pm ceremony. Instead, they (many with children) were left queuing for their rooms for between 45 and 75 minutes after the promised access time. Even with the delay, they should have priortised the needs of key wedding members which is why one of our ushers is missing from the groom professional photos because he had nowhere to change before 1pm. The following morning staff insisted that our guests check out at 9am not 10am as promised - therefore effectively reducing access to rooms by two hours at the most valuable times of our guests' stay. The pre-wedding experience was deeply unpleasant and unprofessional. Staff disappeared, no management of the situation and absent and inconsistent information. While in the bridal preparation suite, I could hear the situation unfold first hand given the lengthy queue of people below in reception, and the fact that guests made their way up to my room. Understandably, they all felt that they had to be patient and polite about the delays on the day so as not to spoil our wedding but their frustration and stress was very evident. The venue insists on 100% payment upfront, yet they refuse to be held accountable when they don't meet the contractual obligations. What is most distressing to us is they have still not had the courtesy to apologise, take any accountability or acknowledge the stress and inconvenience they caused our guests and the detrimental impact it had on our wedding experience. In spite of all this, luckily we had a wonderful day thanks to the good nature and warm, loving atmosphere of our group of friends and family. The service failures on the day and now afterwards have left a permanent stain unfortunately and a very poor impression of the management and customer service. So if the previous wedding group refuses to leave on time, the knock on effect to your wedding is pretty significant and what is clear is the organisation expects the disadvantaged wedding group to put up and shut up. We were actually told, "you were given access to the rooms eventually, and they were beautiful rooms," and "nothing ever goes wrong at St Audries Park." It is a lovely venue, but it comes at a price if something goes wrong - the biggest margin for service failure is the accommodation turn around and that is a pretty big part of the overall experience. Buyer beware.