Belhurst Castle, Geneva

Great location, decent rooms, unprofessional staff. The staff seemed bothered to be there. As we sat in Stonecutters, eating our mediocre meal, they rolled silverware and refilled cleaning supplies right in front of us at the bar. An employee engaged in some sort of "tasting" (buying or selling wine) loudly discussed "business" at the end of the bar. The bartender was minimally attentive and mildly abrasive. When arriving in the room we were greeted by a swarm of gnats. They did immediately move us to a suite for one night, cleared the gnats and returned us to the original room the next morning. The breakfast buffet at Edgars had food that was either completely overcooked or totally undercooked and it was all cold, just like the staff. As we checked out no one asked how our stay was, invited us back, or thanked us for staying - my guess is that they either don't care or that they stopped asking because they don't want to hear the negatives. This hotel has the potential to be great, but because of the poor customer service, negative attitudes, total disinterest and coldness of the staff, what starts out looking like a luxury hotel turns out feeling like a budget motel. A total disappointment.

We stayed at the "Ice House" with another couple because we were told that it could sleep 4. We were told that it had a queen size bed and a double. the queen size bed was that of a double and the pull out couch was half the size of love seat. One gentleman had to sleep on a chair while his wife slept on the pull out. there was plenty of coffee,but no pot. the freezer door fell off when we opened the refrig. The freezer has not been defrosted since the day it was plugged in. the 1 small pan was filthy and the GIGANTIC outdoor spatula still had crusted egg on it from some long ago forgottten time. Must say the the view was beautiful and the food was good. but what a disapointment for the amount of money. it was a scam.

We can't wait to come back!!!! Everyone was so nice. The room was so beautiful, the fireplace, the woodwork, WONDERFUL!!!

To far! No heat! Said they have "been having problems"! It was 10 degress outside! It was so cold in our room! Called front desk, no one there! Had to call sister property 2 miles away and no one could help us! They didn't know what to do or who to call!? Cold air coming through windows! Customer service, Kathy and Matt front desk unfriendly! No housekeeping on Sundays! Don't ask for towels, Kathy will be upset if she needs to get up from behind the desk. Service awful! Beds uncomfortable! From the 1960s. Kitchenettes? Toaster broke, micro broke, oven broke, no cups, silverware, or paper goods! No internet connection No cell phone service The fireplace was nice!

We booked the Carriage House at the Belhurst Castle six months in advance to attend a wedding Friday and another on Sunday. At that time they told me to check out the pictures of rooms on their web site, very deceptive. I chose the Ice House but was told the Carriage House was nicer. The wedding reception was there and we wanted to stay at the hotel. It was Memorial Day weekend and I knew that the area was going to be booked. The night before we spent a very pleasant stay at the Hampton Inn in Geneva. They were full for the weekend so it was not an option to return. I called to see if we could get an early check in and was told that we could check in at 2pm. When I went to the desk at one thirty I was welcomed to the Belhurst, complete the paper work and told that they would call us when the room was ready. We went to the wine store looked around and then back to the lobby to wait. At five minutes after two I went to the desk and asked about the room. She said she would call house keeping and see if it was ready. Then she spoke to man who said he was going out to see if the room was ready. Five minutes later (2:10pm) we were told that the room was ready and we could go in. The Carriage House is down the road across from one of the ballrooms and up a little path. When I started up the path to the CH I notice the parking area and grounds we un-kept, there was broken glass. The "patio" was crumbling and the iron table and chairs were filthy.. I felt kind of creep-ed out about this "Carriage House." When we opened the door to the Carriage House the thick smell of mildew and mold made us take a step back. The door jam had bird pooh on it and the threshold was broken and crumbled. .We are paying over two hundred dollars a night. When I called the front desk about the room I was told they could switch rooms for one night and that the hotel was full. We were in a rush, I turned the window air conditioner on full, we dressed and hurried to be on time for the wedding which was wonderful. Since the reception was just a hundred feet from the room we stopped at Wegman's and bought a large Lysol and a heavy duty room deoderizer. We sprayed the room and hoped it would get better. We turned on floor fan in the large bathroom to circulate the stale damp air. There is no armoire to hang your clothes just a shelf and some hangers. The small TV sits on a worn small dresser. I made a few trips back to the room to spray it and check on it's progress. It was getting better until I lopened the sink cabinet and found some disturbing material. I took a picture of it and went to the front desk and showed it to the her. She said "ehw what is it" I said, " I don't know, I did not want to touch it." She did offer to switch our room again for one night and she called a guy who was on stand by to come and check it out. Aound 10pm I check the room again there was a maintenance man with gloves on working on the material. I asked him what was it and he told me that it was some kind of spray insulation but when he first saw it he thought I better put these gloves on, I did not want to touch it. He was a very pleasant man, he told me he was sorry for the problem that he would report it to housekeeping and when I returned to the cabinet was clean. We have stayed in "historic rooms" before but this one was the worst. Historic should be clean dry and the furniture should be reprodution of the period not odd old furniture. The lines and thin towels should be replace and the room should be gutted and redecorated to fit a Carriage house. This Hotel is a bit confused. It seems to want a high end identity and price without the investment. White robes and slipper just do not make a hotel four star. The Carriage House is barley a one star room for a four star price. We would never go back to this hotel. Beware.

Our stay at the White Springs Manor (WSM) as wedding guests at Belhurst Castle in Geneva, NY in August 2008 was a disaster. The front desk staff was rude and defensive from the moment of check-in. The old, crumbling, unattended "manor" building was dated, dirty, dusty, spattered, and smelly. The housekeeping staff seemed oblivious to the piles of dirty linen,, plastic trash bags, Pringle cans and McDonald's bags lining the foyer, stairway, and hallway as we arrived after check-in time. The lock on our door had been compromised, giving us security concerns. In our second floor, victorian style "romantic" room, housekeeping had failed to clean the volume of bodily fluids from the carpeting and upholstered chairs. After we requested a room change and awaited for housekeeping to clean a first floor room, we couldn't help but notice a strong, sickening odor. Clearly, the housekeeping staff was aware of the problem because they handed us a bottle of Fabrize with instructions to spray the room again, as needed. The first night, while breathing through the sheets in our attempt to mask the strong odor, we heard loud scurrying noises. An animal(s) had entered the building and ran along the air conditioning ductwork below the floor throughout the night. In the morning, we noticed grass and other nesting materials in the floor vent beside the bed. A walk around the outside of the building led us to find several baited rat traps. When we confronted the front desk about these issues, the response was to ask, "What do you expect, you're out in the middle of nowhere?" When we announced that we intended to cancel our third night's stay and leave a day early, the accommodations supervisor reminded us that Belhurst has a 7-day cancellation policy. Only after considerable discussion, did he offer to deduct the third $200+/night charge. A very pleasant workman was sent out to WSM with a long-handled net to "eliminate the problem." He had seen some feathers in the fireplace hearth and suspected we had a bird nesting in the chimney, but we told him that the sounds we heard were not flapping sounds; they were scurrying sounds below the floor. No other hotel rooms were available in Geneva so we were stuck wasting our vacation time dealing with hopeless room issues. We couldn't sleep, and we couldn't wait to get out of there. Our 1,500 mile round trip drive to atttend a wedding and spend a getaway weekend in beautiful NY State wine country was a nightmare. We have to wonder what the health department in Geneva, NY is doing?

Food was way overpriced! Lobsters came out raw, even after being sent back. Should have spent half of what I did at any number of other resturants, in order to get a satisfying meal. Won't return...

I attended a friend's wedding at Belhurst and stayed in the "Vinifera Inn" section of the property. With the exception of two nice waitresses, the entire experience was really awful. Upon arrival during a big snow storm (we were just glad we made it safely - no lights on Rte. 14!), no one was (and no signs were) there to direct us where to park, where to take our bags, etc. so we were left to wade through 2 ft. of snow. When we got to the front desk, we asked if there was someone available to help us with our bags, and we were looked at like we had three heads. We had a decent dinner in Stonecutter's lounge and went to sleep in scratchy sheets without working bedside lights. The morning of the wedding we woke up to a phone call from management asking us - in extremely hostile and rude tone and wording - not to smoke in our room. (We weren't, and it's a good thing we contested this, otherwise they would have charged us.) Then, twenty minutes before the wedding, the power went out (ice on the lines, etc.) and didn't come back on the rest of the time we were there. There wasn't even a backup generator to power emergency lights for hallways/stairwells. It could have been a major physical risk. The wedding was still fun, though the food was very sparse and there was no backup plan for music, HEAT, lights, etc. After the party, we tried to speak to the manager to see what sort of compensation we could get in terms of price for something obviously less than a full-service hotel. She was entirely unprofessional - snippy and sarcastic - and sent us up with a flashlight. (We were lucky - they didn't have enough for everyone.) When we got to our room we tried our gas fireplace and the entire room filled with a gas smell. When we complained to the front desk again we were asked to leave the hotel because we insisted that they sign something written stating that the room had filled with gas - for liability purposes in case something happened while we were in there (they refused). They at least got us a reservation at the Hampton Inn, and on the drive there we noticed that EVERYWHERE but Belhurst had power. Literally. The Hampton Inn was nice, with modern amenities, soft sheets, and working bedside lights. Imagine that.

My son and his fiance' booked their wedding reception at the Belhurst Castle. Living 4 hrs away we had never heard of it, so hoped everything would be okay. We were extremely happy with the food, service, and help planning that the staff gave us. Many of our guests commented on how great the swordfish and filets were. There were also many comments on how efficient and pleasant the waitstaff was. We will go back again for a stay at the castle, just to enjoy the atmosphere. MH

I loved looking out the window and having the view of the lake. We ate dinner downstairs and it was excellent! I would recomend this place to any couples who need a romantic getaway.