Wedding GREAT! Spa OK! Lodging HORRIBLE!
By BRIDE 09, 10/04/09
We had our wedding at Purple Orchid Inn in summer 2009. We rented both suites for night before ($375/rm) & entire Inn for wedding night (over $2600). Toilet in Morning Dove suite ran all night, extremely loud, enough to disturb joining suite. Also didn't flush so I had to fill it with coffee pot before each flush (tried trash can for more efficient filling but was crusted with coffee grounds & garbage after I took out liner). Reported to INN staff next morning who told me previous guests had also reported the toilet!?! Needed coffee to wake up after little sleep, had to clean grounds and old filter out of coffee maker before making coffee. Breakfast was precooked frozen food that was served barely at room temp and an hour late. My wedding party was getting ready in suite so I borrowed maid of honors rm "Orchid Retreat" to shower. Took 20 min. to shave legs as I twisted under the dribble! Entire shower head was clogged, no pressure ($240/rm). The grounds and scenery are beautiful & The wedding was Fabulouos! Thanks to Jess, amazing event planner (no longer w/ the Inn, sad, she was one of the main reasons we chose the Inn for our wedding). But at end of the wedding (11pm) I went back to suite to use restrm & had to fill the toilet with the coffee pot In My Wedding Dress! Toilet Still Running! I told Jess, who was appalled & called in a favor from a personal friend who came out to fix it. After telling my new husband "Sorry babe, wedding night can't start till the plumber gets here" & all the other stresses, we decided to take a bath to relax (it was 1am & plumber had just left) in the jacuzzi tub for 2 they advertise. My mom had mentioned she had taken bath (they stayed in joining suite night before listening to toilet run- pipes were in wall right next to headboards, was supposed to be our thank you gift to them) & when she drained tub there was a filthy residue! So I made sure to run it several times & clean it first, completely disgusting! White towels turned brown. I took pics it was so gross! But it didn't matter how much I cleaned it, it still looked like pond water. Jess came back to the Inn & turned on outside jacuzzi for us, but we were so exhausted we went to bed shortly after. Worst part was when we told the owner he blamed everything on his staff & acted like any reimbursement was an undeserved favor he was doing for us. After many talks/emails/arguments he eventually agreed to refund a small portion of what we paid, but only if we, our family & our friends never talked about the experience we had & if we lied in a statement saying the Inn & owner were great. We also paid $250 linen deposit to be returned after wedding. After several unreturned emails they sent to Purple Orchid the Rental Co. charged us for a few missing items- totally fine- but should've guaranteed the $250 deposit be returned to us in full! We still haven't received it! (I have read many reviews of Purple Orchid Bride's with the same complaint) The lack of concern, professionalism and remorse for a wedding night gone bad (a night my new husband and I will never regain) by the owner is very unsettling! Purple Orchid is extremely Overpriced for the quality of lodging & customer service they provide!
