Beautiful Venue, Shockingly Poor Service – Avoid for Events
We had high hopes for Retreat East as a venue for a significant family event, given our previous stays. However, our experience with their service has been nothing short of appalling.
We arranged an in-person visit to discuss hosting our event and made a considerable effort to get there, bringing my partner and our newborn along. Retreat East isn’t exactly somewhere you just “pop in”—it involved time off work and a three-hour round trip for us. Upon arrival, we were told that the events manager, Caitlyn, wasn’t there—she had simply forgotten about the meeting. No apology, no explanation, no attempt to rectify the situation.
Thinking this must be a one-off mistake, I followed up with Leyton, their commercial director, expecting at least some form of acknowledgment. Instead, I was completely ignored. No response, no accountability—just silence.
Retreat East is undeniably a beautiful venue, and we’ve enjoyed staying there before. But while the accommodation might be 4-star, the service is firmly in the 1-star category. Their brand promises a premium experience, yet their actual service is completely misaligned with that image.
No doubt they’ll respond to this review with a generic “We’re sorry you feel this way” message, but if you look at other negative reviews—both here and elsewhere—you’ll notice a consistent theme: poor service, lack of accountability, and an unwillingness to improve. Unfortunately, our experience was just another example of that.
Very disappointing, and I’d strongly caution anyone considering them for an event.