B6836HDemmam
Google
TLDR:||Complete disorganization from the top, price gouging, uncooked chicken served, ran out of food, was not served dessert, 2 bartenders for 200 people, terrible attitude. Don’t host your wedding here unless you’re prepared to bring in a construction crew and specialists and if your guests don’t need food or drinks!||||When planning our wedding we really wanted to make it a special experience. Serendipitously, Habitas had just opened its doors, and the venue happened to have been owned by my grandparents 50 years ago, so we thought it would be the perfect place. Understanding that this was the first wedding that Habitas was hosting in its new iteration (after the property had exclusively been an events venue for 20+years), they assured us that we would work through any learning curves and kinks collaboratively. However, it was a battle planning with Habitas from the beginning. ||||They “required” us to book out the entire hotel at almost double the room prices that are usually offered to the public( we negotiated from $575/night for the smallest rooms to $475/night before taxes, normal rates at the time were $300). 2 weeks before the wedding they sent us an unexpected “required” bill for cooking supply rentals for over $6k, separate from the rentals we were required to provide in our contract (tent, tableware, etc). The power requirements they gave us for our generator were wildly inaccurate and all power went out 30 minutes before our ceremony. My stepfather had to get an extra generator with a trailer and delay the ceremony in the rain. We were offered no help or solutions from Habitas. My cousin who’s an electrician installed a new circuit breaker. My family spent the whole day preparing the site for rain, including purchasing and laying down a walkway so guests could get to the tent safely. Without these people, we would have had no food, no music, no lights, and no wedding. ||||Once the power was restored (no thanks to Habitas), we were met with disdain and rudeness from the kitchen. While we understood that the circumstances delayed food production, we did not expect perhaps the worst offense - entirely uncooked chicken was served 2 hours late to the entire party (photos attached) (it was grilled required no power to cook). When asked, the chef told my brother “get the f*ck out of my kitchen” and called us “entitled rich pr*cks”. This is a health hazard, and our guests were severely underfed. The other other dishes quickly ran out and we ordered pizza from Rhinebeck Village Pizza.||||They refused to bring our wedding cake from the kitchen to the tent down a slippery 200-ft walkway in the rain from their kitchen to the wedding tent, forcing our pastry chef (who happened to be a guest) to carry it alone. If she hadn’t also been in attendance they would not have brought the cake out at all. On top of that, they did not prepare or serve the additional dessert that they promised on our menu and which we paid for, nor did they apologize or mention it. ||||The bars were so understaffed (2 bartenders for 200 people) that one of our guests got behind the bar to help. Their coordinator Charlie was fantastic with the limited resources she had but the general manager didn’t even introduce himself (to a client paying over $100k for 2 days). ||||To top it off, the day after the wedding, my husband was charged an unauthorized $8k without warning for hotel rooms that were already paid for. ||||We have spent the past month going back and forth with Habitas and painstakingly fighting for a refund for the entirely inedible dinner, in addition to the lack of service (we paid over $10k for service alone- they hired 8 front of house staff total). We were forced to engage legal counsel, but after agreeing to a settlement they have gone radio silent. Nobody has taken responsibility or even apologized for any single incident beyond saying “we are taking this very seriously”. We have also spent the past month apologizing to guests who traveled far and wide to attend such a disastrous event. We feel deeply ashamed and embarrassed. This was a huge expense and supposed to be the best day of our lives. ||||The beauty of the property and its potential makes the situation even more disappointing. We highly recommend you explore other venues for your special day.
