LOFT STORY — Attraction in New York

In April of 2021, I was given a tour by Elira who I now know is one of the owners of the space. In the initial visit she was pleasant and quickly followed-up after the visit with a quote. Due to the climate of COVID and the uncertainty of how things would turnout I decided to wait till closer to my proposed event date pushing my next conversation with Elira until Aug 2021.

I reached out on August 11, 2021 and was told she would be out until the end of the month. I was contacted on August 31st by Elira confirming by date was still available but that the pricing I had received back in April was no longer valid and the cost of the venue rental and bar packages had significantly increased. The price had increased by a $1,000 of which part was related to a $9 per person increase on the bar packages.

After some discussion, I was offered a $500 reduction on the new pricing. I agreed and moved forward with a deposit on the venue. During my emails with Elira, I asked questions that were simply ignored. When in the process of finalizing the contract, I asked for her to call me to explain certain items that were confusing and I was ignored. My gut and family were telling me not to move forward just based off the customer service.

Due to her inability to call me, there were several emails going back and forth with questions I needed answered regarding the contract. I was told she did not have time to answer my emails due to the company being short-staffed and I need to refrain from contacting until they were able to reach out. Days went by without a response and my calls were just ignored. After several days I decided to call the venue directly instead to speak to someone else. I called and spoke with Pirro who explained that he was the owner.. He asked me who I was working with and unknown to me Elira was his sister which he failed to mentioned throughout the conversation.

Pirro apologized and acknowledged why I would be frustrated. He blamed the increase of pricing on wanting to "attract better clientele who would not fight and damage the venue". He says "I'm sure you understand what I mean, I'm referring to the people who just mess up nice things". He went on to say he was going to check with Elira on the outstanding questions and would get back to me by the afternoon. Less than 10mins later I receive an irate call from Elira who was aggressive, disrespectful with her tone and not someone I would think is a business owner speaking to client. I was told she was too busy, I was too needy and I should take my business elsewhere because she did not need it. She then confirmed she was the sister and co-owner of the venue and everything that was discussed with Pirro was told to her. She went on and on in an aggressive tone about how she felt the best thing was for her to refund my deposit because it wouldn't be a pleasure experience going forward for either of us.

In summary, inexperienced owners with horrible customer service, disrespectful to clients looking to make their $10k+ celebration special and no patience for anyone planning a first time event. It shouldn't be the clients fault if the business is understaffed and their stress should never be taken out on someone just looking to plan a special event in their life.

Update: The original quote was given in April, the second in September. The speakeasy and rooftop was not included with the venue so that's irrelevant. The deposit was returned on September 18th, not 5 months ago. And yes, in some sense the venue is working for you since I am paying for a service. Another lie, is the number of calls which is completely untrue and maybe if you would not ignore questions and throughly respond there wouldn't be a need for follow-up. The response below should show the type of owner she is and how unprofessional the organization is in general. And of course, I'm going to take time to write a review after how disgusting you treated me as a client. Upset because the review is all true and exposing what you did. Tell all the lies you can to justify the...

I held the screening for my new web series this past Saturday at Loft Story and I cannot say enough nice things about the experience. It was, hands down, such a perfect night.

The Space - I rented the speakeasy and I LOVE the look. The atmosphere was perfect for this night. I wanted to book somewhere that I did not have to bring things to decorate and this was definitely a place for that. I just brought myself and it was a DREAM!

Food/Drinks - The food and drinks were great! My guests thoroughly enjoyed the options. When planning this and speaking with Elira, she gave me options where I could customize the food and drink package that I purchased. I had attendees that were Vegan and Vegetarian and she gave me options for that, as well. The open bar was a nice touch in that I could create my own specialty drinks, along with personalized names!

Execution - This was also great in. how everything flowed. I told them everything I wanted and in the order I wanted the episodes to screen and Taylor (we'll get to her in a bit because she deserves her own section) created a placeholder that had my theme that said "Congratulations to the Cast & Crew" and also created transitions between the trailer of the episodes and the actual episodes. Everything came out right on time as far as food and drinks being available, as well.

Staff - Everyone was so friendly and so welcoming. I really enjoyed everyone I came into contact with.

Taylor - She was A-MA-ZING! I am naturally a worrier (lol) and I did not have to do that with her. She contacted me the week of the screening to make sure she was aligned with everything and even gave me more suggestions on fun things I could do for the screening. When I came in, she was very warm and friendly and it felt like I was meeting up with a friend that was helping me host. She was very accommodating, making sure that my guests and I had whatever we needed. She was flexible on if I wanted things to come out at certain times or decided to go with the flow at the last minute. She was the one who controlled the projector for the screening and, at the same time, would make sure the sound was good. It seemed as if every time I turned around, she was waiting right there to see what I needed but also handling everything else. I'm not sure how she was able to do it lol. I would 1000% have another event here and she is definitely a huge reason why.

Some of my friends are tough critics, but they made sure to tell me how great the night was and how much they loved the event. After working on this project for 1.5 years, it felt really good to relax for one night and just enjoy the work. I will for sure make sure to tell more people about this space.

Thank...

We need to start a petition for Google to offer 10 stars!

Literally, what a night! Our organization hosted a very special event last Friday at Loft Story and we were blown away by the venue and the wonderful team behind it. Loft Story is a hidden gem that cannot be kept secret any longer!

From the day we reached out to Pirro, to the afternoon we worked with Daniela, Leonard, Sophea and their team of event experts - we were truly treated like royalty. Pirro and Daniela rolled out the red carpet for all of us - a powerhouse of compassion, hospitality, attention to detail coupled with cool Brooklyn chic. The night of our event, Leonard, Erin and Sophea and her team of experts made sure everything was perfect for us - none of our requests were denied and we had A LOT!

We're a small organization and our event was a combination "friendraiser" and cocktail reception featuring the screening of our new film. Daniela helped us with special requests -making sure we had the beverages we needed, helping us store items beforehand to help us save costs, answering every question with patience and grace and presenting solutions when we needed to change our program or decor.

The Loft Story team is so well organized and professional - none of our guests had to wait for anything as the bar ran smoothly and guests enjoyed a creative signature drink curated by the Loft Story team. We used an outside caterer and they all worked together beautifully.

Loft Story is a bright and beautiful space by day and a chic, unique venue by night. Leonard ensured our film was displayed carefully on the floor to ceiling screens. Every corner of the venue was immaculately clean - our guests were charmed by the speakeasy space which was a great spot to begin the evening.

I can't wait to work with Loft Story again and highly recommend them. You get the full package - white glove, platinum service, a caring, hands on team and a really cool space that's so special, your guests will be talking about it long after your event ends. My only wish was that we took advantage of the rooftop! ...