The Ridges Resort And Marina, Ascend Hotel Collection — Hotel in Hayesville

It's a beautiful place but if you are planning to have a wedding DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!! Because whatever was promised to you in the contract will be dishonored. The organizer/sales rap or however they call her there, Andi, she was horrible. She will do anything to sign you up, promise you stuff that she does not have the intention to provide and then right before the wedding or at the wedding you will realize that. Apparently, she does that a lot, as lots of the employees of the place mentioned that to me personally. This is her method and the management don't care. Just a few of what she did at my sister's wedding: The contract stated that the drinks will be unlimited (yes the couple indeed paid for it A LOT OF MONEY) and at some point, they stopped providing the alcohol beverages that they were supposed to provide and slowly stopped completely. They used our catering's non-alcoholic beverages to serve us and not their own. (basically stealing) All alcoholic beverages were supposed to be served in glass cups. They provided it in plastic cups (!) on a wedding! The couple paid extra for having the party to go on from 11 pm till 12 am. At 11 pm sharp, Andi shut down the party (again wedding party that we paid extra for) and on top of everything, she decided to call the cops just in case! ( I was next to her drinking water when she asked the waiter to call 911, while she is cleaning the bar station) When I asked her why is she doing it, her answer was "just because", at no point, anyone threatens her, yes we were upset, can you imagine that on your wedding day? But we didn't let her ruin our celebration. So we continue to do other things that were planned in the evening.

They also agreed and signed in the contract, that after the party they will have access to the pool which she shut close at 10 pm in purpose. Apparently, the management asked her if she is sure about it. Her answer was: "Yes, close it".

So we didn't get to the pool as was agreed on the contract. She dishonored the contract and stated that the couple will not receive table covers or napkins on the wedding day (She let the couple know few days before the wedding (wherein the word have you heard of this?) now they had to deal with renting table cloth and napkins. Who does that to a couple before the wedding? I was a maid of honor and my job was taking care of the bride. So the resort was supposed to provide snacks and food for the bride on the wedding day while she was getting ready. The food was supposed to delivered to her room at 10:30 am, and Andy knew that she is leaving at 12 pm for the shooting. The food was delivered at 11:45 am! After calling her and her providing us some excuses and lying that the food is actually there! While it wasn't.

By the way, she does not answer the phone once you sign up and she states that she works better over texts (which she doesn't by the way). When we arrived at the resort, a day before they gave my sister, the bridal suite a room facing a parking lot (!), while the contract stated a lake view. My sister and her husband signed up with Andi 6 month in advance and she knew what is in the contract and still she did whatever she wants, eventually the front desk lady Sam was really nice and helped us to get the room after getting stressed. It almost felt like Andi is being racist and Antisemitic, toward us and she did everything in her power to ruin it for my sister and her husband. Again and again, the employees of the place keep telling us that they know that's how she operates and there is nothing we can do. Some even mentioned that the only way we can act will be to take a legal approach since the management will take her side no matter what she did. We felt hopeless and helpless. This was only a short version of the events and what the couple had to deal with right before the wedding and at the wedding. Suing will be next but I wanted to warm people out and not to deal with this place, especially not with Andi and not on...

A disappointing experience. Very poor value given the high price and absence of information about "resort" amenities. Great location but a rather strange interior grey/dark grey color scheme in the rooms/hallways. The front desk person treated us like we were checking into a Motel 6 for the night with zero information about the resort beyond how to get to our rooms (and there was no information in the rooms either). This is a newly renovated property that is clearly still getting its act together, but I certainly couldn't recommend them based on our experience.

We had two reservation/billing issues. We had paid extra for a lake view room but were given a room with a view of the parking lot (the price difference has now been refunded). We were also double-billed for the (wildly overpriced) room, which took two days of phone calls to resolve, with the hotel pointing fingers at Chase/Expedia, and claiming that a note in our account said to bill us directly for the room (!?!). That left a bad taste in my mouth. (They double-billed us by charging the card we gave at check-in even though we had pre-paid with credit card points through Chase Ultimate Rewards in a booking made two months prior. The manager, Sam, says she really dislikes third-party bookings, but that's hardly our fault).

They have a lovely location & grounds, and (mostly) very friendly staff. But the "resort" part seems more aspirational than reality, as we were told nothing at check-in about any of the amenities (or anything at all beyond how to get to our room) and there is no information in the rooms about any of the amenities available, including basics like breakfast or housekeeping, etc. We arrived on the day of the grand opening of their new restaurant, which featured a party with live music, but were told nothing about it and only learned of it from the local newspaper. We were never even told how to get to the restaurant, and no maps of the resort were made available to guests.

The facilities are generally nice, with fire pits, a floating patio on the lake, and a nearby marina/water park. However, despite the seasonal 80-degree weather and their adjoining water park being open, the pool was closed.

The main lodge has an impressive great room/lobby with a HUGE fireplace and animal heads--including a moose head (!?)--mounted on the walls. It honestly seems more suited to Alaska than North Georgia, but it does seem pretty swanky. But the rooms and hallways of the main lodge are very peculiar--it appeared to have recently been repainted with contrasting colors of grey and dark grey paint and carpets. This was such an odd color scheme for a "resort" that it was honestly somewhat unnerving. Between that and a strangely large gap between the doors and the door frames in each of the rooms, it all seemed a bit ominous, like something out of a David Lynch movie. (It also appeared that our door had previously been kicked in at some point.) However, the bed was quite comfortable and the in-room air conditioner kept the temperature quite cool.

Overall, this experience would have been barely acceptable at half the price, but was a terrible value at the "resort" price we paid on a Saturday night. I'm a bit sick over how much we paid for such a lousy experience, even though it was "just" paid for with (many) credit...

Was raised over in hayesville, currently reside in Michigan. That being said. This was the greatest experience I have ever had with a resort/hotel/motel/....nothing else. The customer service was phenomenal, absolutely coming back. Every day, every single day. Found something new to do or checkout based of the staffs suggestions. The staff was great with my little ones. Very friendly and made it feel like I had stopped at a 5 star lodge far away from home, even though I was obviously around the corner from my childhood. Place is peaceful, extremely clean, great view/beautiful scenery, best best best. If you come through the area please so you and yours a fantastic favor. Stay with the resort.

P.s. Tell them the...