White's Wildwood Retreat LLC — Hotel in Town of Lafayette

If you are considering White's Wildwood Retreat for a wedding or a celebration of life, think carefully. Both occasions carry enormous stress and emotion, and the last thing you need is a venue that is poorly managed and run by toxic, unfriendly people.

We hosted a celebration of life for the passing of a beloved father, husband, and respected community member. In moments like these, as in weddings, you expect at least the bare minimum of compassion, decency, and professionalism. Instead, what we got was rudeness, disorganization, and total indifference.

The owner, Betty White, was consistently unhelpful—let me tell you, she’s no “Betty White,” for those of you who know the actress. Simple questions went unanswered for long periods of time, and when we finally did get responses, they were vague or dismissive. We tried to rent tables and chairs directly from the venue, but were strung along with no clear answer. As the event approached, we learned the tables and chairs might not even be available because they were being sold. When we arranged to bring in rentals, the delivery company was ready to drop them off the day before our event. The venue flat-out refused—even though their own website listed the property as available that day. This forced us to haul everything ourselves at the worst possible time.

On top of that, the main contact, Betty White, never once met us in person. She didn’t bother to show up for the tour, didn’t check in before or after the event, and offered zero support during one of the most difficult days our family has ever faced.

The venue itself is certainly lovely, but not worth the pain of dealing with the current owners. Whether you are planning a wedding or mourning a loved one, the stress of this place will only make things harder. Do yourself a favor and...

I can’t say enough positive things about White’s Wildwood Retreat and Betty. From our very first tour to Fridays arrival for the weekend, to locking up on Sunday she was just a blessing and this place was all we could have dreamed for and more. The cabins were perfect for our bridal party to stay and get ready in, as well as an excellent space to host all our guests at for the rehearsal dinner. Betty was extremely responsive and helpful throughout the entire process- always being just a phone call or text away. We comfortable sat almost 300 guests with ample additional room. Furthermore- our guests endlessly complimented the venue. We had a lot of younger children in attendance and it was the perfect space for them to stretch their legs. Another perk was the close proximity to nearby hotels while also be tucked in the countryside! I’ve worked in the wedding industry myself for almost 10 years and have seen many venues but this tops the list by far. l really can’t say enough good things about this space and truly believe if you’re looking for the perfect place for your perfect day- your search is over. Thank you Whites Wildwood Retreat & Betty- we appreciate you more than we could ever say!...

Honestly very greedy, snake-like people. When we looked at this place for our wedding we were told the pavilion only rental was only available after labor day (we booked for August) so if we wanted our wedding there we had to book the entire retreat for the entire weekend. We paid our deposit of $500, then covid hit. My fiance and I both lost our jobs and could no longer afford this venue (over $10,000 for the whole venue). We called to cancel and were told we can only get a refund if someone else books that same weekend. Months go by and I check their website which shows me the weekend was booked for another wedding (which I'm surprised she failed to call and inform us). So I called to ask about our refund to which she says the wedding was only booked for the pavilion, not the rest of the retreat (which I'm confused why she allowed them to book only the pavilion but told us pavilion only rentals were only after labor day) so at most we would only get back "a fraction of our deposit". They make thousands and thousands of dollars a year booking weddings and they are going to be greedy over $500 instead of returning it to a family with 4 kids who needs it right now more...