Villa Olivia — Attraction in Hanover Township

TL;DR: Everything was great... except the service. Can't say this was a good experience and I personally won't be returning.

Villa Olivia had good food; buffet was always stocked and there was definitely a good variety of tasty items, but the dessert bar was underwhelming when it came to taste. Environment was enjoyable and tables had a good amount of room to walk around. The food and environment isn't what made me want to leave a review as soon as I got home, though. I have to say that the service me and my family received was somewhere on the level of the worst service we've ever gotten. Before elaborating, I'd like to quickly point something out-- the servers appeared to have two jobs: bring drinks for the table and handle the check. There were excellent support staff who seated us, took our plates when we were done, refilled our waters, and cleaned the tables. Those guys were flying across the dining room and were great. But our waitress was quite the opposite. After we were seated we waited a bit before our waitress took our drink orders and got us our drinks, most of the table having left for the buffet at that point. But once we began eating, nearly our entire table went empty on our drinks with no refills. No biggie since we had waters to sip on, refilled periodically by the support staff. Once we were able to grab our waitress's attention--- (yes, grab; she would look directly at our table and then walk past. This theme continues throughout our experience and never once would she willingly come to our table.) --- she got us our new drinks to get us through the rest of the meal. Then my table one-by-one finished eating and the support staff took our dishes away. And from this point, we waited. Waited for about ten to fifteen minutes before, after calling the waitress over again, we were able to ask for the check. She brings the check and we wait again, my entire family having been ready to leave for many minutes at this point, until my father is able to slip the check back into the waitress's hands, with the card, and she takes it away. Now, we wait for more than fifteen minutes, the waitress still having the card god knows where, until my mother asks to speak to a manager and communicate our experience. This part is funny because another kind gentlemen, who I had never seen before but had made short conversation with me in the buffet line, was presumably also speaking to the manager to complain. Once we were able to speak to the manager, he vouched for his employee by saying the card system was having some difficulties which I understand, just trying to appeal to the customer and all. But it wasn't JUST the card reader. It was the empty drinks, extremely long waits, and the begging of service that got to me. If this was someplace else that we weren't spending $200 dollars at then whatever, brush this under the rug, go on with your day. But I find it pretty crazy that we are paying that much when we are literally doing everything except cooking the food ourselves and pouring our drinks. The waitress would come in and out of the dining room, holding a tray with literally two drinks in it or a coffee pot in one hand, and I find it bizarre that you wouldn't just pop on over to our table and pass us our check when passing by? It literally was like a joke, after our conversation had burnt out from sitting together so long (hour and a half in total--- finished eating at around the hour mark, maybe a bit before) somebody at the table made the joke that she was doing coke in the back with our card. Which would be funny under normal circumstances, but I think it'd be more fitting if she was taking some sleeping pills instead with how slow she was going. I've been here before for a different occasion but never eaten at the buffet, and I cannot say that I would willingly go back. Take that as you will, and if you get the older-woman waitress, don’t be shocked when a search party sweeps through for the MIA server—they certainly aren't coming to help you, nor' will be the waitress any time...

The WORST golf experience EVER. Where do I even begin. Ignorant, rude, nasty attitudes, immature, unprofessional, disrespectful, negative behavior. I mean the list can go on and on. What started out as a memorable and fun gathering quickly turned into the most regrettable moment ever. First and foremost this entire situation took place before the first hole was even completed, the ranger named Tom had a sour attitude from the get go. He would roll his eyes when someone in the party missed their shot and had an annoyed look on his face the entire time. He then proceeded to tell the bridal party in a very loud aggressive voice that they needed to "hurry up" because they were "holding everyone up" mind you only 2 out of the 9 people had taken their shot. Last time I checked villa Olivia was open to the public, not just professionals, so, sorry if they weren't tiger woods or anything. One of the groomsman asked if he would be going along with them the entire tee times. Tom again with an attitude said yes and decided to go up to the groomsman chest to chest in an attitude of wanting to fight him and than proceeded to use PROFANITY towards him (we had minors in the group) Not to sure what other establishments you all have been too, but never has profanity been the "norm" The bridal party obviously didn't want to be treated this way and decided to go back for a refund. Again not one full round at the first hole was played. Now on to management. Hoping that management would be there to help in the situation, they did the complete opposite. The accused the group of only wanting money back because the course was "too hard" to play and that they were cheating the system. When a manager was asked for, a man named Jason came to the counter. After telling him the situation. He laughed at their faces and agree with everything his staff had said. Oh and Tom, yea he denied acting that way. Why is management laughing? Shouldn't they be problem solving, making the customer happy, resolving the situation. No instead Jason just laughed. After going back and forth they finally got their money back. Beyond lost for words at how the bridal party was treated. I will NEVER EVER bring any money into this business again. They are rude and very unprofessional. Trust me when I say I will never refer anyone there. I'll make it a point to stop people from coming here. STAY AWAY FROM...

Villa Olivia could have been the perfect place to host our wedding. The setting is beautiful, and the wait staff on the day of our event was wonderful. But the experience was overshadowed by Lisa—the event coordinator—whose attitude, behavior, and lack of professionalism were jaw-dropping.

From day one, Lisa was rude, dismissive, and nearly impossible to communicate with. She dodged phone calls, delayed responses, and acted inconvenienced by any question we asked—even though we were simply seeking clarity on venue rules, not asking her to plan our wedding.

Behind our backs, she called us “high maintenance” to vendors—vendors who, unbeknownst to her, were also our friends. She minimized the importance of our wedding with comments like “it’s only 60 people,” as if our closest family and friends didn’t warrant effort or kindness.

She falsely claimed our dogs could be part of the outdoor ceremony—then reversed her stance just a month before the wedding. When we challenged it, citing photo evidence of other weddings with dogs, the venue finally allowed it. That alone nearly derailed the entire reason we booked here in the first place.

On our wedding day, Lisa didn’t greet us or our guests. She walked around with a sour expression, and when my mother asked for water, Lisa snapped, “I’m not a bartender,” and stormed off.

We later learned from staff that she had been bad-mouthing us to management for weeks. This appears to be her strategy: discredit clients first so she can’t be held accountable later.

After the wedding, we were finally directed to Bobby, who apologized and said we could coordinate future events through him to avoid Lisa. Unfortunately, we had no idea this was an option until the day-of staff encouraged us to speak up.

To the owners of Villa Olivia: you have a stunning venue and an amazing waitstaff—but one person is actively sabotaging your business. An Event Sales Coordinator should bring calm, joy, and professionalism to one of life’s biggest moments—not dread, tension, and damage control.

Though Bobby offered a solution, I won’t be returning. I refuse to support a business where the face of the event experience is someone so hostile, unkind, and unfit for the role.

Edit: yes, our wedding was in October of 2023, the experience was so poor that it has stuck with us...