Villa Terrace Museum & Gardens — Attraction in Milwaukee

UPDATE: A couple of friends and I decided to visit the Sopra Mare Sunday music/coffee event thinking it would be a pleasant coffee shop sort of vibe. No. It was not. It was a chilly and stilted mini concert with people stiffly sitting in their chairs, facing forward, and shooting daggers at anyone who even dared to whisper. The music was fine but it was a solo guitarist who was the very definition of background music. And if the free offerings are going to be dried up slivers of fly infested pastry it might be better to set up a venue outside to performance area for purchasing fresh and clean snacks. The employees/volunteers still present as rude and condescending so we adjourned to the lower patio area for quiet conversation and pleasant weather. Just very disappointing all in all.

Underwhelming. This building practically begs for guided tours because its layout is confusing even with a map and because the rooms are essentially empty. Even more docents available in the rooms to offer some information and answer questions would have been helpful. It seems they have opted for being a museum/gallery and not focus on the fact that a family actually lived here for many years. It's possible that the focus on having it be a "venue" has created a need for more empty rooms with fewer items of value that could be damaged by drunken wedding guests. That being said, there are a couple of interesting features: the blue and white stones in the courtyard were collected by the original owner and her children over the course of a summer from the beach below the terrace at the direction of the contractor. The water stairs were amazing, probably more so with actual water. And the Cyril Colnik exhibit was as great as...

Wedding nightmare alert!!! Completely rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional staff. The bride was told at 10pm the night before the wedding that she was not allowed to come early in the morning with her bridesmaids at the time discussed with coordinators. The bridesmaids and groomsman did ALL and I mean ALL of the work bringing items into the venue and setting up. It was 95 degrees outside and there was absolutely no fans provided in any areas. The bathrooms were disgusting (covered in dust and dirt). PLUS there was no toilet paper or paper towels in the bathrooms. It was very clear that nothing had been cleaned from the event before ours. When the DJ arrived they did not have a DJ booth which they told us they would provide to him. They did not provide us the appropriate amount of cocktail tables for our cocktail hour when they promised they would. One particular “event coordinator” yelled at a bridesmaid that everyone including the bride, groom, and bridal party had to be out of the venue an hour earlier than the contract stated…oh and that was 30 minutes before her demanded departure time. And worst of all we had immediate family members denied entrance when they showed up because “they came too early.” I have a lot more to say, but that gives you the gist of what happened on what was supposed to be one of the greatest days of this couples...

Unpleasant experience being our first time at the Villa. We just had my younger sister's Quinceñera pictures Sunday. We arrived to our appointment, front desk explained to us what was off limits and if we needed any help opening doors or windows to ask an employee for assistance. About 15 minutes later while we finished setting up and started the first few pictures, the director at the Villa greeted us with "Hola hablan en Ingles?" We said yes we do, the director proceed in introducing herself in English, and explained how some visitors leave garbage behind etc. Then asked if my pregnant sister can follow her to the hallway we came in from and pointed to her the glitter on the floor that the dress left behind. Very small amount. And proceed to give her a broom so my pregnant sister can sweep it up. We paid OVER $200 for the 2 hour appointment. Very unprofessional to make a visitor CLEAN UP glitter. This was so embarrassing and very UNPROFESSIONAL from the Villa and the Director. It belittled us and we felt like we were profiled. We had two toddlers with us and we made sure to keep the children from touching anything or leaving crumbs of any source. Also they followed us throughout the whole 2 hours and took pictures without the concent of the mother of the underage Quinceñera. WILL...