Westlake Village Inn

RECEPTION REVIEW (4 stars):
Westlake Village Inn is awesome! When we decided to book WVI, I was a bit miffed that they weren't will to negotiate anything but we booked them anyway because the location is just so gorgeous. During the planning process, the catering manager was very responsive to my e-mails and worked with my requests. Even though we got one of their standard wedding packages, they were more than willing to customize the dinner and everything to what we wanted. The only reason why I've not giving them an A+ is because 6 weeks before my wedding, my catering manager left and I couldn't get a hold of anyone (not even her boss) for 2 weeks. It was extremely stressful. Finally, her replacement started. I was still worried because Colleen was new but when I met her the week before my wedding, she really had her act together. Colleen MAJORLY came through for us that day. She coordinated the ceremony and really pulled things together when some problems before the ceremony arose but my wedding coordinator wasn't around because she was setting up the reception. Colleen was wonderful! On the day of the wedding, the staff's service was 5-star. Apparently, there wasn't enough hors d'eourves and chocolate fountain but that was our fault for not ordering enough. My only complaint is that there were significantly less clams in our linguine with clams dish than at our tasting but it wasn't that big of a deal. Honestly, I chose this place because of how it looks, not for the food. Also, we paid WVI $2000 in advance for bar and they were very honest about consumption. They refunded us $500 at the end of the night because our guests didn't drink that much!

HOTEL REVIEW (5 stars):
Westlake Village Inn is gorgeous! My package came with a Courtyard Room but I upgraded it to a Mini Suite. If you're planning to get ready in the room, I would totally recommend booking a Mini Suite. I had 3 BM's, 1 friend, 2 makeup/hair people, 1 videographer, 2 photographers, and 2 mom's in my room at one time! You'll need the space! It's also really romantic for your wedding night. There's a fireplace and jacuzzi tub! The room was gorgeous. The Courtyard Rooms are nice too. Our wedding party stayed in Courtyard Rooms and they overlooked the golf course and lake!

WVI is really flexible with the room block too. They don't force you to pay for leftover rooms as long as you allow them to release the rooms 30 days before your wedding. So my guests still got the discount even though we couldn't fill all 10 rooms.

This place is gorgeous. I can't say enough about the landscaping. We had our reception in the Lakeside room which had a great view of the lake and fountain. Our bar was set up by the water with tables and chairs for the guests to hang out at while we got our photos taken and they had cocktails and hors d'ouvres. The staff was very helpful and did a wonderful job. They were on top of everything. One of our guests had requested a high chair prior to the wedding but it wasnt set up when they arrived but the staff scrambeled and re-arranged the table to fix the problem and got the guests seated very quickly. I appreciated that. The food was great. We had a choice of filet, salmon and chicken. All of which got great reviews from our guests.

The Inn was absolutely gorgeous on our wedding day. It has an old world European type feel with some ridiculously lovely grounds. At the beginning of my wedding planning I really wanted to get married in a church, but since nice looking, relaxed churches in the area are hard to come by, I decided to make my life easier and have the ceremony and reception in the same place. I am so glad I did. The Inn has multiple locations for ceremonies, but I was drawn to the lushness of the gazebo, though I'm not a huge gazebo fan. We held the reception in the Provence room, which was what sold me on the place. I loved that it isn't a typical ballroom. It has two levels, hardwood floors instead of floral carpeting, and a wall of huge windows which look out on the lake and the golf course beyond. With the Provence room, we also got the use of the lobby, which is gorgeous and a great little retreat for people who wanted to lounge and talk. So many of the guests were gushing about the Inn and how great the location was. It really felt like we were in a different world, and that made the loooong drive to get there totally worthwhile.

As the day drew near, I got a little nervous because the hotel was undergoing some major renovations, and one of those renovations included the Provence room. I felt a bit edgy because I hadn't really been warned ahead of time, but the changes were all for the better. The ballroom was transformed from a rustic bistro with wooden beams and huge campy French posters to an elegant dining room with crystal chandeliers, new lighting and a softer paint job. The hotel had also taken on a new head chef in charge of catering, and we got raves about the food.

The site coordinator, Colleen was so incredibly sweet and pretty accommodating, for the most part. Because I hired my own coordinator (you have to bring on your own or pay extra to use theirs) I didn't have to rely on her too much the day of the wedding. The reason the Inn doesn't rate an unqualified "A" is because on our final visit, we realized that the gazebo we were getting married in front of had been damaged. Some of the shingles had fallen off, and in place of them there was what looked like plywood for a repair. It really looked awful. We emailed Colleen to see if anything could be done, but had some trouble getting in touch with her. When we finally did get the chance to ask her about it, she claimed no one had complained about the gazebo (really?!) and that she would see what could be done. We never heard from her. It wasn't a horrible situation, of course, but it did require some last minute scrambling and more cash than I had anticipated spending. Nevertheless, the good far outweighed the bad, and I count the venue decision as one of the best wedding ones I made.

Several of our wedding guests stayed at this hotel, and my in-laws hosted a rather large rehearsal dinner through them. The staff was friendly, the food was good -- although pass on the chicken - ick - and of course, the grounds beautiful. My main complaint was that even though we had a private room and terrace, the music booming from the bar just across the way was too loud and a little annoying. Hence, four stars.

We chose the Inn because the grounds were absolutely beautiful, and we wanted a sit-down dinner with an upscale menu. My brother is in the catering/food/hospitality business, and I consulted him when we were planning the venue. He said the Inn really is the best value for what you get. We were able to secure a new wedding site, The Tuscan Garden, before it had even been built. This made me a little nervous, but they gave us the site at a discounted rate, and we were able to view the various stages of development. They were helpful and answered all of our questions thoroughly. We had to use their coordinator, and she wasn't as attentive to details as I would have liked, given that we had to pay extra for her services. But since my mom and I are project managers, we didn't really need her anyway. All of our out-of-town guests commented on how beautiful the grounds and courtyard rooms are. We reserved 2 blocks of rooms, and we ended up having 19 room reservations! We upgraded to a mini-suite, and my mom rented the luxury suite. It was huge! We really needed the extra space, and the "getting-ready" photographs came out beautifully. It poured down rain the day of our wedding, but stopped a few hours before the ceremony commenced. The Inn was accommodating with a back-up plan just in case, but thankfully we didn't need it. They really pulled together and got the site ready and beautiful in no time. They were also very accommodating since we hired a bagpiper, which is quite loud (and there was another wedding that same day.) We had the cocktail reception on the Provence Patio, and the appetizers were delicious! They brought out heaters and had candles on the tables, so it was the perfect sunset venue. We had the reception in the Fairway Room, and it was intimate and beautifully decorated. The second-story view of the lake was spectacular. The food was good, although not as good as it was at our tasting, and the service was first-rate. We upgraded to floor-length tablecloths, chair covers, and red charger plates (cost extra, but worth it.) I had the wedding of my dreams within my budget, and got everything I wanted - beautiful ceremony site, outdoor cocktail party, and sit-down dinner with great food. Everyone said it was the best wedding they had ever been to!