Center In The Square — Attraction in Roanoke

My now Wife is a much more elegant writer than I am so I'll post the bulk of her review here. Google reach out and contact me for proof of the contracts and anything else you require if the review is flagged as false and I will provide it promptly as this is a genuine account of the problems we faced when dealing with this venue and it's new management. (I have edited it with my personal experiences just to be clear.)

So, I wasn't happy with my experience with my wedding venue--Penthouse at Center in the Square (Roanoke, VA)(just the venue, to be clear--reception and other vendors were all great). CITS is attempting to the erase my reviews of their services from the internet, and I'm posting it here on my page because I'm 100% certain they're looking. They instantly removed my post from their Facebook page and changed the settings so it doesn't accept reviews. Anyway...

I got married at CITS last weekend and wasn't happy with my experience with the venue. I posted my review on Wedding Wire and CITS didn't like what I had to say, so they disputed my review with Wedding Wire by telling them I wasn't an actual client of CITS (the only reason Wedding Wire will remove a client review). It will take a few days for the Wedding Wire team to review my receipts to verify that I was actually a client there. Meanwhile, I'm sharing my review elsewhere. Here it is:

This is a beautiful location / facility that's extremely poorly managed.

I booked a year in advance for my ceremony. My initial booking experience was uncomplicated, but things went sour after a new management company took over. I discovered the change by happenstance whenever I attempted to take some family members up to the 6th floor in order to show them the venue. It was closed, and an employee told me it was being remodeled, and that the event booking company had changed.

I reached out to the new management company via e-mail and was repeated promised by Caroline that someone would get in touch with me. This never actually happened until 2 weeks before my wedding day. Only then did I finally get to speak with someone--in retrospect, this foreshadowed how poor management would effect my wedding day.

I was promised that the 6th/7th floors would be closed to the public, and that security would prevent any members of the public from entering during my rental period. CITS made NO EFFORT to deliver on this promise, to the detriment of my wedding. Before and during my wedding, the public came and went as they pleased. Some were openly consuming alcohol and were offensive and rude when 1.25 hours before the wedding I am there at the venue (in jeans and a tshirt) telling people to get off the roof because it was closed to the public and I had rented it for a wedding. This was so common that a tour guide actually brought a TOUR GROUP into the space and gave them a speech. It SUCKED! It was 4:45 and I was dealing with people not messing with our setup instead of being ready to get married. Some paper signs were taped over the 6th / 7th floor elevator buttons stating that the levels were closed for a private event, but people ripped through them and hit the buttons anyway.

The constant invasion of our wedding space and harassment added a huge amount of stress and negativity to our wedding day. I'm still furious. I absolutely would not recommend this venue unless you want to spend thousands of dollars to rent it only to have the drunken public traipsing in and out during...

TLDR: This is one of the best attractions in Roanoke. Overall this place has endless exploration for kids. Pop into the main lobby on any given day and they might stare at the various aquariums for a half hour. It's always clean, the box office people are friendly and efficient, and the gift shop is nice. [8/10] I've been to the science museum lots of times over the years and there are frequent updates and changes of exhibits. Be sure to allow plenty of time at the touch tank. [9/10] The pinball museum and Starcade are both fantastic if you can hit a day when there aren't huge crowds. If not, they can be both overwhelming with noise and disappointing with wait times. [7/10] The most recent trip was for Kids Square. Wow, what a place! My kids are 9 and 5 and had an absolute blast. They were wide open for the whole 3 hours and not ready to leave. Favorite exhibits were the children's hospital, salon, and the blue "sand" pit with the slides and all the things to scoop and pour...

a one of a kind special place! staff is super friendly and very knowledgeable. we got a chance to relive some exciting childhood memories covering all of the years of arcade fun. every pinball machine I have ever played or seen all working and in almost new shape. Video games from asteroids to dragons lair and all in between. this museum will provide multiple days fun and excitement for the entire family. we are going back many more times. surrounding businesses have many restaurants and the people everywhere were friendly and helpful with information. the museum is open 11 to 8 and when you go plan on making a day of your trip. only pay admission fee and play for free on pinball and or video games. they also have rooftop gardens, aquarium, and movie theater for children and adults alike. we didn't adventure into the theater or gardens. there was a private event in the gardens. this is a gem of an adventure that all...