The Oregon Garden — Attraction in Silverton

This was a terrible experience & horrible place to have our wedding. The staff is inconsiderate, rude, and misleading. There is not one consistent piece of information between the contract, website, and event coordinator. They have no idea what they’re doing. They treated us like an inconvenience & complained about everything, start to finish. To start, the event coordinator, April, complained to & refused to give my 80 year grandmother a ride in one of their many golf carts to our ceremony area, meanwhile it was 90 degrees and she is recovering from a back operation. Then, immediately following our ceremony, April and another staff member proceeded to drive their golf carts through our WEDDING PHOTOS with garden guests. You would think after the first time this was done and the wedding party, bride, groom, and family members had to scramble out of the way, they would choose another route. Nope, there is absolutely no common sense or courtesy, as they then did this another 3 times. The event coordinator complained about EVERYTHING under the sun; we asked for very few things the day of our wedding (after paying $4,500 for their services), and she only responded with attitude, disrespect, and absolutely no assistance. She threw a childish fit when my family asked her for assistance moving some decor from the ceremony space to the reception space. Even though it was 90 degrees outside and she was driving an empty three row golf cart, she couldn’t have the decency to do her job and offer assistance. For months she assured me that linens were included in our rental, then ONE WEEK before the wedding she emailed me stating they were not, and offered no assistance to resolve the problem she created. We were also told on our tour that we were permitted to purchase our own alcohol and hire licensed bartenders, and were encouraged to do so as means to save money. On the day of our wedding April, the event coordinator, took photos of their OLCCs and the permitted them into the space to serve alcohol. Then, two days after the wedding, guess who emails us to charge $500, claiming the bartenders didn’t have proper licensure? They claim their venue space can require different licensure than the state of Oregon even permits individual bartenders to obtain. They also tried to charge us for other absurd things, including men taking off their shirts after the reception? Meanwhile the garden was not even open to the public. Well before our issues with them after the wedding, our bartenders, wedding coordinator, photographer, and wedding guests all made comments about how unpleasant and rude April and the additional garden staff were and how unhelpful everyone they encountered was. One guest asked where the restrooms were located and April responded with vulgar and insulting language, belittling him for not knowing. Thirty minutes before our agreed ending time, April rudely interrupted our reception, demanding our guests to start cleaning up, even going as far to make commands at the bartenders and DJ. Their website clearly states that cleanup services are provided. After all, what was the $4,500 for? After hearing all of this, we attempted to call April and other staff members and left so many voicemails, they all became full. Only to receive petty and rude emails in response demanding money and stating they “only communicate in writing.” How could any staff member possibly think this behavior and treatment is acceptable for customers who paid so much for services and the space, let alone on someone’s wedding day.

Considering how many beautiful places there are in the Willamette Valley for the same prices as the garden, I would literally never recommend the garden as a venue space for ANY event, let...

FYI: This review is about about the restaurant and bar, not the gardens. I visited my mother at Oregon Garden resort for dinner when she was staying for her birthday. Unfortunately I came a little late in the day so the gardens were dark when I arrived. I will say though, the drive through Brooks and through the twisty windy roads during sunset was amazing and I’ll be coming back to this area for a cool summer drive for sure. When I got to the resort the inside was very quiet seemed clean. I met my mother in the bar, where she had ordered some onion rings and a drink. The onion rings weren’t warm when I got to them, but I ate one anyway, and I hoped this wasn’t a preview of the food to come. The onion rings were so greasy and tasted of nothing, but my mom mentioned they were good when warm, so I kept my faith about dinner. I had been there at least 15 minutes and the waitress who saw me come in (there were only about 4 other people there) never came over. I finally went up to the bar where the bartender was telling a story to two patrons, she looked over to me and I smiled politely. She took that opportunity to finish her story, which was about 5 minutes long as I stood at the bar being completely ignored. I ordered a soda and was given a plastic straw, which was very unfortunate given I was at a place that honors and profits from the beauty of nature🙅🏻‍♀️🌎 We decided to go to dinner a little early, and the dining room was freezing. The bread they delivered to our table was pretty good, but the butter they had was actually amazing (and honestly the highlight of everything we ate). First we ordered the 🦀 crab cakes, which should be changed on the menu to say “crab flavored breading” because that’s all it was, mushy, greasy bread with some onions slightly flavored like crab, we couldn’t finish them. My mother ordered the salmon, and I the lobster Mac and cheese 🧀 Her salmon came with rice and veggies, and the overall meal was just ok. The rice was bland but I wasn’t surprised, and the salmon was cooked very well, however had a weird cream sauce on it that wasn’t needed. The veggies were obviously previously frozen, but with some salt and pepper turned out edible. My meal looked super good, until I poked my fork in it, to discover that the noodles were sitting in a bowl of cheese grease, seriously, it was like a grease soup!! I ate the top portion of the noodles that weren’t basking in this hot grease bath, and the few bits of lobster placed on top. The general flavor of the Mac wasn’t bad, but it was so heavy and rich that I could only stomach a few bites, and something was telling me that there was something weird about this meal. I don’t waste food, so I decided to take it to-go, knowing I could strain out the grease at home. However, when I went to place the food in the to-go box, I discovered that underneath the noodles and grease bath, was a thick layer of meat smashed onto the bottom of the casserole dish..... I was extremely confused and started to pick at it, only to realize that this meat looked nothing like lobster meat, and more like the canned cat food you can buy at a Plaid Pantry 🤮. My mother and I gasped and my stomach turned, knowing that whatever it was I just ate, most likely will be coming back up to see me soon. Thankfully, I did not get sick, but I’ll be feeding my leftovers to my unknowing roommate, and I will NOT 🚫 be eating at the Oregon Garden resort...

This was our 3rd visit to the Oregon Gardens Resort over the Christmas holidays. Our average stay was five days.

Pros: Check in was very easy. Rooms are clean with comfortable beds, a refrigerator, small coffee maker, microwave and a gas fireplace. High ceilings give an impression of more roominess. There is sufficient room space. A shower tub and double sink in the bathroom.

The lounge is very nice with a large two way fireplace. Drinks were ok. Sometimes one has to go to the bar to get a drink, When servers are available they do a good job.

Cons: menu is for the most part sparce. The dining room is pretty “cold,” and sterile. Breakfast would be better with waffles and pancakes available. Some type of hash browns or small roasted potatoes would be nice.

When I think of a resort, I think of facilities that stay open and involved until at least midnight. The entertainment is sparce and not the high quality. No real room for dancing.

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the main attraction, Christmas Market, and most lights were shut down. But this is a time when visitors who leave their homes want to enjoy those things.

My wife and I feel that this is more a hotel than a resort.

This place could be made into a very special in my wife’s and my opinions and some other guests we talked with by doing the following.

The menu is much too sparce. Perhaps offer both “Comfort” food during the day and a more fine dining restaurant at night.

Make the dining room more warm and improve the aesthetics.

Improve the entertainment. Small trios or quartets who play music for dancing.

Redesign the lounge so that at least a small dance floor is available. This might mean taking out couches and using tables with comfortable chairs.

We are not ignorant of the fact that some of these items would increase costs. But we feel in the long run, it would result in more customer and customer satisfaction. In other words, it takes money to make money. With these changes, I think you would become more a resort than a hotel with a lot of pretty lights.

I am attempting here to give very honest criticism and not to be overly critical.

Thank you for providing a method of providing...