Whitehall — Attraction in Louisville

I visited the Whitehall for their Valentines day dinner "experience". Let me preface by saying it was not cheap at $85 per person. I was expecting a nice environment with a great meal for that price. Well, the only good thing I can say is that the building itself is beautiful, beyond that, the evening was a disaster.

First red flag is that we walk in, we are greeted and told a table number. And that is is. No indication of where it is, staff did not seem interested in actually seating us. Remember, thisnis 85 dollars a person and we are already not doing basic guest seating like you would get at an Applebees.

After we wander around we do find our table, but were a bit confused because it was in a side room that we didn't realize was even part of the event, as it was empty. The tables were marked with a number, but they chose the worst cursive font that made it very confusing as we thought we were at the correct table only to realize later we misread the last digit due to it looking very similar to another.

The first thing I noticed is how cheap the table spread was. The table signs were so cheap that they could not stand on their own, they were propped up with a sweet'n low container and would topple with the slightest nudge. Also, despite this being a "candle lit" dinner, our candle was not lit. I told this to one of the wait staff and a woman came over and complained that they would not stay lit. The reason being that they were using cheap dollar store candles and the wick was far too short. Again, 85 dollars per person, but everything is cheap.

I started to notice that there was some great confusion with the wait staff. Our waiter would bumble in and out of our dining room repeatedly without saying a word, constantly disturbing us in the process. Then other staff would come in and out repeatedly, again doing nothing and saying nothing. I began to realize that I think the staff was having trouble keeping track of who was seated where and kept going to the wrong rooms. Even more strange, the server would come to our room, bring our food to the wrong table, pick it up, then bring it to us. He did this for EVERY SINGLE PLATE, even for the dishes that were identical for all guests like the dessert. It was extremely bizarre and made zero sense.

The food was mediocre to horrible. We were served a butternut squash soup which was not bad, then a garden salad which was carelessly slopped onto a plate, it was cheap and average at best. Next was the main course, and it was HORRIBLE. We got their chicken dinner and it was woody/flavorless. Even more strange, while my date got a normal chicken breast, my dinner was chicken piece milled together with a hidden wooden skewer that I unexpectedly found when trying to cut it

At the end of the meal we were to be served "gourmet" coffee, but it didn't arrive. I asked the wait staff when it would be served and they looked confused as though I was making a special request. After some more bumbling it seems like they figured out that they were supposed to actually be offering said coffee, I recieved a small cup with a side cup of cream with a nice big hair in it. No one ever returned to our table after this so we just left.

I e-mailed the event organizer about this and their initial response was effectively "sorry you couldn't find your seat hope you come back next year".

If you wish to visit, do so for the garden, never ever go here for any of their catered events unless you want an over priced comedy...

Whitehall is for everyone who loves gardens ,trees ,architecture, flowers and plants,. It houses one of the world's most varied collections of ferns many varities of daffodils, woodland gardens ,including the amazing stumpery that continues to grow and evolve. Imagine tree stumps that smell like oranges and project like art ! Bee hives which are producing some fantastic honey. Exquisite antique furnishings,many original pieces from ancestral family.It also exudes the spirit of all the devoted people, gardeners like Liz directors Kristen and Carol the wedding planner extraordinaire.This is a wonderful place to experience events like the fall color walk,recently the bluegrass music event,authentic Victorian. Christmas tea in early December, and the core event that celebrates philanthropy by our local leaders The SUMMER CELEBRATION to mention just a few events . It was a total delight and has a tremendous array of breathtaking trees hand picked by one of the most knowledgeable tree masters in the country .I enjoy every aspect of Whitehall. There are lectures by many nationally known experts on varied subjects It was a must see for familes and individuals where volunteers, such as the Master gardeners of louisville, continue to thrill me with their innovative garden designs. Whitehall is unbelievable treasure. And I highly...

This is a historic home from 17th century. The home was remodeled for the last time at 1900 and is almost unchanged since then. The last owner wanted to make it a public place for people to enjoy. This idea of the owner was respected and it turns into a public wedding place. So it is not a museum and you can go and touch sruff and sit on the chairs and play the piano. You can take your weddings here. It costs somewhere between $500 (for micro weddings, some friends and taking some photos in the garden) to $50,000 (with 150 guests and a lot of food, sweet and drinks). Thr ticket is $5 and I really enjoyed from visiting ths iconic building. It is my number 1 suggestion if you want to visit a historic home...