Newfound Lake Inn — Hotel in Bridgewater

Overall, my wife and I had a really great time at our wedding here - though I will say it was not without its avoidable issues.||||Positives ||Its cost is relatively low compared with some venues of similar settings it has an inn so that a large number of people including the wedding party were able to stay on sight. Very picturesque area, versatile to accommodate an outdoor wedding at a few different locations on sight, or indoors if needed, (it rained so we needed this!) Very good food as well, and many renovations were done so the whole place really looked awesome. There are also plenty of places around that can be booked as places to stay for relatives that are coming from out of town. ||||Now onto the negatives: granted - all of this may be based on our opinions, but our opinions are based on all of the following things that did happen at our wedding, ||||Michelle - one of the managers and head wedding coordinator for the inn - Michelle seemed confused much of the time despite the many detail planning meetings we had with her prior to the wedding itself - she had a completed plan to go off of and everything, which would have been anyone's guess by the way she operated - she did not seem to know how to run basic logistics of a wedding day (despite telling us many times that she has run events out in California involving thousands of people), was constantly panicked, and on the wedding day itself continually sought us out to solve very basic logistical things for her, right up until minutes before the ceremony began which very much stressed us out unnecessarily. It honestly felt like this was her first or second wedding ever, which I know isn't the case because she is listed on other reviews here. ||||Michelle was argumentative and very rude with members of our family, particularly towards my wife's parents who were helping to set things up (she was fine with them helping set up as we covered all of this with her prior). She was argumentative with my wife and I when she insisted, we were wrong about details of our wedding plan (which we had gone over with her several times, and our plan was altogether very simple in terms of coordination - her behavior was bizarre. ||||When it was clear that she was out of her depth in coordinating the rehearsal of the ceremony, our officiant (who has planned weddings herself many times) kindly began directing people, which helped things finally to start moving along - Michelle got right in our officiant's face and said loudly for everyone to hear for her to back off, that she was in charge and she needed to step aside - which wouldn't have happened if Michelle took charge at all - it was almost like she wanted us to direct ourselves...and yet this was her job to do. (the practice run of the ceremony was supposed to take about 30-45 minutes but took 2 hours and we were late to the rehearsal dinner on site - everyone was confused by her directions, she kept mixing up which groomsmen were with which bridesmaids (and still got it wrong on the actual wedding day), and she just seemed to have a running series of not very kind commentary coming out of her throughout. ||||The way she was acting was strange - very spacey and just odd in her demeanor, yet also unpleasant and argumentative - which is when our officiant started directing people which is why the practice run of the ceremony even was completed in the first place. She continued to be argumentative - quite literally was starting to argue with me 5 minutes before the ceremony as I am about to go to the alter to wait for the start of the ceremony in plain view of the wedding guests gathering. then there were elements to reception we had simplified and eliminated - which we had gone over with Michelle - a family member was originally going to do a blessing prior to everyone eating, we got rid of this. Michelle insisted that it was a part of the original plan so we were doing it, we told her...remember, we got rid of that. we went over this with you the day prior again...Red in the face she storms off and when the food was served she had the DJ announce that our family member would be giving a blessing (we had even told our DJ this was not the case, but Michelle incorrectly recorrected him minutes before, the poor guy didn't know that of course). so, our family member was put on the spot without anything planned. I could understand her being upset if we added elements to the plan last minute, but we took an arguably simple thing that required nothing of her off of the list. All she had to do was nothing. ||||When we went to do our photos after the ceremony with the wedding party and close family, Michelle had not adequately planned for where we could do this due to the rain and insisted we would have to go outside in the rain to do our photos because we needed to vacate the hall so that they could get it ready for the reception- hey, fair enough, I get it. You need to set up...but she did not plan for this despite saying that there were several options in the chance that it rained (the only other location indoors was being used for cocktail hour). She then yelled at our photographer in front of all of us and many guests and threatened to call the police on him (not at all warranted, our photographer simply asked, where are we supposed to take pictures, its pouring outside and you have no plan). Michelle was also dressed like she was going to a grunge concert, it was honestly just bizarre, she did not look professional. Picture a sea of nicely dressed people - and there is Michelle in a dirty black t-shirt and black leggings and messy hair - maybe rude of me to say, I know, but she did not look like someone managing a wedding at the actual wedding. ||||Time and time again in dealing with her, she was just unprofessional, and unpleasant. The inn should be embarrassed by her management.|||| Furthermore - we were told that we would be getting videography as a part of our package. It has been a year and we have still not gotten this from them - and yet they used some of that video of us to advertise on their social media accounts. I do not remember being asked if we were okay with this (honestly I don't care, but it's the principal of the matter that not only were we not asked if we could be used for their advertising, but they never gave us the videography that they clearly used as a part of their advert) In summation: ||||Get an outside person of your own to do the coordinating and planning if you are thinking of booking here, it will be worth it, maybe pay extra to have Michelle brought off of location for the duration of your wedding. By the end we basically had our officiant managing the wedding because of how lacking in professionalism and actual the lack of logistical prowess on display by the manager and coordinator of the inn we paid for. ||||A few other notes Her staff could have done with some professionalism training as well. Mostly they were good, but they made a lot of bad taste and some rude jokes and poor taste commentary that a lot of the guests could hear, like it was some kind of imposition that they had to work today and that hey, hopefully the wedding will be called off that way we can go home...I'm sure it's a frustrating job at times but, maybe don't make jokes and off-color commentary like this for people to hear and have some decorum. Its a large venue, plenty of places you can have that sort of talk where no one can hear. ||||During the reception the cake was served to less than half of the guests, so we ended up going home with half of a massive cake (we also were not served cake at our own wedding) ||||The room we stayed in- we had to clean off the bed as there were dead insects under the comforter and in the sheets and generally it just seemed like the room could have used a once over. At the very least, we took all of that in stride and had a great day with family and friends. ||||We got the sense that the venue was aware that they didn't perform at a satisfactory level as they offered to pay for us to all come back (the wedding party and close family) to do photos again as a sort of anniversary wedding shoot. A nice offer in theory, but logistically difficult to pull off - and likely a response to how Michelle acted towards all of us when we were not given a space to do pictures after the ceremony.||||*This wedding was in...

We had our wedding at the Inn in late June. We chose it as our wedding venue because it is an absolutely beautiful location that we felt met all our needs (we could have an outdoor ceremony, move into the air conditioned barn for a big party, great food, and hotel rooms so our guests wouldn't have to drive!). Also, I grew up in the area and spent many days on Newfound Lake so it was really special for me to get married there. We were married on the lawn, had a tented cocktail reception, and then dinner and dancing in the barn. Joy was really helpful and pleasant during the planning process, although she is clearly overworked. Most of our guests didn't end up staying at the Inn, because they have a 2 night minimum and they only needed 1.

The grounds and the barn (and the Inn itself) are incredibly beautiful. There is a little dock across the street where you can get some great pictures, and the beach is quite nice as well (we didn't go there on our wedding day but did when we had our initial tour). The whole place has a really elegant feel but with a touch of rustic NH - there are cool antler chandeliers in the barn but it still manages to not feel like a hunting lodge!

The reason I only gave the Inn 2 stars is because the service we received before, during, and after the wedding by the Inn's owner, Larry, left a lot to be desired. I felt bullied when I wanted to do things that are outside their normal mode of operation (for example, something as simple as having the groom put the Inn-required place cards on the tables instead of having guests pick them up on their way in). He was rude and pushy during our rehearsal (he didn't seem to like the way we organized our processional and kept trying to make us do it a different way).

We hosted an open bar and 4 guests mentioned that their drinks were taken away by servers before they were empty, and when they said they weren't finished they were told "it's ok, just go get another one." Their open bar is charged per drink, not a flat rate, so we ended up paying for an unknown number of extra drinks.

Several guests received the wrong meals, in spite of my handmade place cards being written on (even though I had clearly indicated the meal choice on the card already, and they were approved by Larry). Larry blamed that on our guests who didn't pick up their cards - so the servers just asked guests what they wanted to eat. This would be fine, but they only make the exact number of meals you request. So - if you request 4 vegetarian meals and someone with beef changes their mind, one of your vegetarians is going to get stuck either with no meal or eating the beef. Some guests who DID pick up their cards still got the wrong meal (and one meal was lost for a period of time). We also paid an extra $2 per person for upgraded salads, which weren't served (we did get a refund for those).

BOTTOM LINE: If you're looking for a spectacularly beautiful place to get married, with good food and strong drinks AND you're strong enough to stand up for what you want, you request that they make extra meals, tell your guests not to put their drinks down - this is the place for you.

Lastly, Larry asks guests outright to write Yelp reviews. I called the Inn to find out why the above problems happened so I could write a positive review (maybe a server or a cook was out sick, or they had a bunch of new hires, or a million other acceptable reasons) and was treated to a very unprofessional voicemail from Larry in which he accepted NO responsibility and in which I was treated with blatant disrespect. My husband called to speak with him and ask what he would be doing to rectify the situation and Larry said he would call back on the weekend - we...

My husband and I had been going for years, always the July 4th week. There was a few times when all the rooms weren’t booked and the former owner, Larry would invite us to stay an extra night if we wanted to. Because of Covid we missed the last couple of years. This year we decided things should be safe enough to go back. What a disappointment that Larry and Phelp’s had sold the Inn. Anyway we checked in July 3, 2022 and were scheduled to stay until the 8th or 9th. Sadly the morning of July 4th I received a phone call, my sister had passed away in her sleep. Obviously we had to get home. There was no one at the desk and I didn’t have time to try to find someone. I scribbled a quick note on the check-in sheet about my sisters death and left it in the original key envelope along with the key. The new owners didn’t bother to acknowledge our sudden departure, made no attempt to contact us, and clearly weren’t concerned. When I could, I sent an email and inquired about a possible partial refund/credit towards a future stay. While the email did contain a note of condolence, they claim they never received my note and the cancellation policy was clear. AND they said there was only two records of us staying at in Inn. Had they asked for my husband’s name and email, they would have seen we were regular customers the week of July 4th. I can honestly say, if it was Larry and Phelps, we would have been given a credit and would be welcomed back when ready.||The “renovation” is also a huge disappointment. It’s a bunch of dining tables squeezed in to get as many diners as possible. No plants, no hanging flowers, and no comfortable seating for just hanging out on the porch with a cocktail made by Jack and just enjoying the lake views. The front room has had the baby-grand piano removed, how sad. My husband would always bring his tuning wrench and touch up the piano, and then play for as long as he wanted. The other guests enjoyed the entertainment. I can honestly say, the Inn will never be the same and I’ll never be going back. Clearly the new owners lack compassion for unusual circumstances for cutting your long awaited vacation short. We also lost money paid for a dinner cruise on Winnie. It really would have been nice to have a little more than a condolence email that I considered insincere, it was more about keeping all the...