Carrick Hill — Attraction in Adelaide

I HAD THE WORST EXPERIENCE WITH MY WEDDING here yesterday and I cannot explain how difficult it was. The place is gorgeous no doubt but I would never recommend it for a wedding because staff are the most difficult to deal with. I talked to 5 different people about my wedding, no help from the rozelles staff in regards of setup or even talking or running through things with us, no microphone or speakers even to hire, strict 2 hour venue hire, you can’t even come 15 minutes before to setup, couldn’t bring my small floral arrangement to leave the day before my wedding morning, wasn’t able to even put my food inside to bring out because it wasn’t food from Carrick hill and truly the list goes on but the worst part by far was the staff. Having the change over of hands, I was told by one of the rozelles staff members I could bring my own food to provide to my guests but the day before my wedding I was told I had to pay an additional charge because I didn’t inform them I was bringing food. The rozelles staff member lied over the phone and said that we never even had that conversation but was silly to think I wouldn’t ask a venue to provide my own food which costed $1,000 dollars before I ordered it. In the end, it was decided that I didn’t have to pay that additional charge but you can imagine how I was feeling as a bride the day before my wedding being told that information. I was crying as I was driving home the day before my big day. They changed over hands so many times and the staff member from the rosellas group who I originally planned the whole ceremony with ended up leaving CARRICK HILL but didn’t even send me an email or message to say she had left the venue and when I contacted her I was shocked at the RUDE and disgusting way I was talked too on the DAY BEFORE MY WEDDING. Even with payment of the ceremony Id paid and sent the photo of the invoice to two different people but was still contacted 2 months before my wedding day while in Sydney on holiday as to why I hadn’t paid the invoice and that I needed to send it to another email. By far the worst experience I’ve had with any place, especially for a wedding day. Honestly, I felt that this place only cared about taking my money for my ceremony and walking away until it was done. Would never recommend this place for a wedding venue and was so lucky I didn’t end up with my reception there. Trust that I will be posting this review on wedding sites and pages because I do not want another couple to go through what I did on my special day. Unfortunately I was forced to remove names of staff members who did this to me on my wedding day because I was called and threatened to be sued by...

"He was comfortable, but she was wealthy" - our favourite quote of the day. . Always a delight to visit a living museum, in Adelaide we went to Carrick Hill (1939) built in the style of an English manor. Being far out from the actual city, the land size is the same as it was back in the day. . We went on a house tour, to learn more about the history of the Haywards and their home, as well as the artworks and furnishings. Crazy goals include: build a house, then buy the inside hoping it'll fit. . This is the place for art, interior design and history lovers: 🎨 🖼 from the collection by Dobell, Gaugin and Sickert 🗽 sculptures by Jacob Epstein 🇬🇧 decor english country living, including William Morris . Unlike most of the mansions we've been to, where they had 12-20 kids, the Haywards it seemed wanted them but it didn't happen, so it was preserved as a house museum from the 80s. . Spanning across three floors, the most wild thing - they have a lift in the new area! Like no heritage listed buildings have a lift but they do. There's also a gallery in the attic.

Exploring the gardens, designed by Lady Ursula Hayward (who doesn't have a wiki page, but her husband does?), it's based on the English country park, once an elegant setting for social events and tennis parties. Adult goals to host all the events! . Keeping it real we only saw the highlight, the green arch and hedge, with limited time, but ideally you'd want to make this a half day trip, to do the tour, free roam and run around the gardens. . Tips - get the uber to drop you off at the artist rendered cafe (very bright and white) NOT at the gate. 🚕 . 🏰 @carrick_hill 📍Springfield, South Australia 🎨 Tours - daily 11:30am/2:30pm 💵 $15 house entry// Gardens are free 🌳 🚕 Drive only location...

Amazing gardens, but terrible communication.

Fool me one, shame on me. But fool me twice...

First experience: rang to ask about booking the stables for my twin daughter's 1st birthday party. Was told that it's not possible to book the stables, so just show up and take your chances. So we got there early and set up and had all our friends and family arrive. Halfway through the party, Carrick Hill catering show up and tell us we have to pack up and get out as the stables were booked. Wait, what? We were specifically told we couldn't book the stables. Carrick Hill catering didn't know what to tell us, so all we could do was pack up everything and get out. Happy birthday kids.

Second experience: organised a gathering of a bunch of families after Anzac Day morning. Since it was Anzac Day I rang up and was told that they opened at 10am. After my last experience, and since I was organising multiple families, I wanted to be absolutely sure, so I messaged Carrick Hill on Facebook - I got a reply in writing that they opened at 10am. There was no other information on their website. So we all arrive at 10am and yep, the gates were closed. We all sat in our cars for 20 minutes with screaming kids in the cars waiting for the gates to open. There were other cars in the queue too, so a lot of people got caught by this. Eventually we all gave up and left and tried to find an alternative for everyone. I rang later in the day, and was told - as if it was perfectly obvious - that they opened at 12pm on Anzac Day. I mean, great, obviously. [EDIT: in response to this debacle Carrick Hill have added a line about Anzac Day on their website, at least there's that now]

Such a shame for such a nice place to be so...