Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site — Attraction in Louisiana

While this is my favorite plantation of all I am very upset about my last visit yesterday. The staff were all extremely rude!! I went there with my daughter and photographer for her bridal portraits. We arrived at 3:30 pm. We were told upon arrival the park closed at 5pm not an issue. I paid Reg admission for 4 people just to be there. No tour so no staff necessary. We proceed to move onto the property to begin our photo session. After a few minutes someone comes to tell us again very rudely we have until 5:00 TO BE OUT!! We say thank you and continue on. Exactly 7 minutes later which is now 4:32 pm we are approached to be told yet again very rudely the park closes at 5pm. WE HAVE THE MESSAGE AND WE ARE NOT INCOMPETENT!!!! We had rescheduled this appointment multiple times due to the weather. There was absolutely no one else on the grounds. That was the issue. These people who had already had paid days off were planning to leave before 5 and we were preventing this. We finish our very unenjoyable visit and head towards the car. We run in the bathroom to remove the wedding gown and at 4:50 pm the staff, who already had a vehicle caravan lined up ready to leave, begin blowing a whistle at us. Remember, we are the only 4 people on the grounds!!!! This was extremely rude and unnecessary!! We still had 10 min before 5. I am so angry that this is how my daughters memories of her bridal photo session went down. I am very disappointed that this is how the staff at a state park are allowed to behave that represents one of the most beautifully preserved pieces of our history and heritage. I can tell you as a business owner myself, this type of behavior would be unacceptable!!! There definitely was NO southern hospitality anywhere in this experience!! God forbid we had requested the...

While the plantation is beautiful, I cannot leave higher than a one star review because of how rude the ladies who work in the front office are. One specifically, but I didn’t get her name. We planned to take my daughter’s senior portraits here. My husband and I visited a month prior to get all of the information and to make sure it would be ok to take photos here. We were told we could take pictures anywhere throughout the plantation, except inside the house. Very understandable. We were also told they have a strict closing time. Also understandable. I hired a professional photographer and we both drove two hours to get there the day of our scheduled senior session. Upon arrival the employees were beyond rude. They would not let my daughter change her clothes in the bathroom. They would not allow us to bring anything extra with us, including the photographers light. They even told me I needed to put my purse back in the car because I was not allowed to set it down on a bench! If I would have been told all of these things when I visited a month prior, we would have chosen NOT to do our session here. I understand having rules because people take advantage of such beautiful places. But these rules should be advertised or told to you, especially when you take the time to visit and ask all the questions. I felt like this particular employee was making the rules up as she went. These reviews speak for themself as to how rude the employees are. Go to Afton Gardens instead. Even prettier and MUCH more relaxed and kind staff. Thankfully we had a great experience there after our experience at Rosedown....

Last tour of the day on a gray and wet Saturday, and the tour guide was unquestionably & plainly uninterested and ready to go home. There were only four of us on the tour and the other couple was from France. I wasn't expecting this tour to explain the experiences of the enslaved population on this plantation beyond the statistics, but when the ONLY comment a tour guide chooses to make in reference to slavery on a Southern plantation is that "the family treated their slaves really well" I am offended by the indifference and ridiculous nature of the statement. Better to say nothing at all then to perpetuate this singular scenario in your script. We later asked if John Audubon had painted the portrait of a young woman that was similar to a portrait we saw at Oakley Plantation. The guide explained emphatically that "Audubon never painted portraits, he only painted birds and animals" and that the guide at Oakley who had attributed their painting to Audubon "was wrong." At that point I wondered if anything our guide at Rosedown had said on the tour was true. The gardens, the home, and the furnishings of Rosedown Plantation are spectacular and should not be missed. The tour itself was disappointing and may have been an exception judging from the other reviews, but every guide on every tour is presenting the history of our country and should be...