Hillside Gardens & Event Center — Restaurant in Colorado Springs

As much as I wish I could give Hillside a good review, I just can’t. The property is beautiful and views are fantastic. But the good stops around there. When we first started planning over a year ago and chose the venue, we only dealt with the owner. Everything seemed very laid back; I think our contract was only a one page agreement about the whole day. Then, at the beginning of the year, we get an email from their new coordinator who said she would be in touch once a month to help out. That was the only email we ever got from her, other than COVID updates. She was very difficult to get a hold of and get answers from. We considered using her as our wedding planner but when she said she wouldn’t help set up decorations it seemed pointless and we went with someone else (who was fantastic!). As we got closer to the day we scheduled our 30 day walk through. This was the first time all my vendors were meeting to see the space and we were going to go over everything. The owner was there and told us there was allegedly a miscommunication and we only had 15 minutes for a walk through. The venue coordinator knows a 30 day walk through takes more time and it definitely seemed like she dropped the ball and tried to put it on us, which was frustrating. Also during this time, we had to create our own seating chart for covid restrictions, even though the venue was very particular pre-covid and gave us options to choose from. We also had to supply all non-alcoholic drinks, including water, because they said they could not dispense with covid. Even though it’s a bar and they had all of that available! Prior to covid, everything was supplied (or so we were told when asked, because the one page contract didn’t explicitly say that). And! We had to provide our own ice but they didn’t have any place we could store the ice during the event. Not a big deal, but they never once went out of their way to make our day easier and only added to the stressors. Our wedding day eventually came. Unlike a lot of the other reviews, I didn’t really see the owner lurking around, or at least I didn’t notice. I did see him approach my husband near the end of the night to allegedly tell him people were getting too drunk and what would we do—it’s a bar, cut them off! We ended up having an open bar since we had a smaller guest list and were saving some money. We were told beer/wine cost one thing and cocktails another. So we go to pay at the end of the night and imagine our surprise when the total was nearly TRIPLE what we were expecting! We asked to see a list and were shown just random numbers written down. By this point, it was the end of the night, we were exhausted, and frankly after all of the other events we had to deal with, I didn’t want argue anymore. Looking back we feel totally scammed. Whether they were selling doubles and triples all night, or top shelf, I don’t know. But there is no way every person at our wedding who was drinking was actually asking for top shelf triple drinks. A lot of unfortunate events happened. Our wedding was still wonderful but it’s a shame that it was made more difficult by people who are in the wedding business and should be making things easier and as transparent as possible for us. As beautiful as the space is, you need to know what you’ll be...

I’ve had two types of experiences here in the past few days, and the latter is why I’m giving Hillside Gardens only three stars. The first experience was wonderful, we came here as a group of friends for a Wednesday night concert and enjoyed every minute of it. I kept thinking that I should bring my kids (4 & 7) to see the beautiful gardens. They really enjoy plants since we have so many at home and I wanted to show them the plant igloo. So for my second experience here a friend and I brought our kids during the week early in the day, and we bought them little juice boxes at the cafe and walked around where we could. They apparently close off most of the gardens during the day, so we were pretty limited in where we could go. Then this one woman working there kept coming to wherever we were walking or sitting and kept telling the kids they can’t do this or can’t touch that. She was upset when they were looking in the mulch on the ground saying they’d “make a mess”, didn’t want them to touch the many water fountains and would yell across the whole place at them to get their hands out of the water, sternly scolded them for walking on the bowling balls thing, and eventually came after my son (4) because he walked behind some potted plants. I had said I would get him and she was already marching over saying, “kids can’t be back there!” And it was literally just some overpriced potted plants on a dirt mound and we were heading to a covered plant section to see if we wanted to buy anything in there. Thanks to her, we did not. I finally looked at her and said we were fine and I’ve got him and she said “this isn’t a place for kids!” And I just looked at her and said, “wow, okay…” I guess that’s why they sell kids juice boxes at the cafe? 🙄 So, I would come back with friends for a concert on a random Wednesday night maybe, but outside of that feature the bathrooms are so hot and the whole area/building they’re in smells like urine. The gardens are mostly all closed off during the day and some staff members are quite hostile, and I would use that term for this woman,...

There’s a certain kind of magic you don’t find on brochures. It’s not curated or sterile it’s the kind that hums with soul. That’s what Hillside Gardens feels like. A little wild. A little weird. Utterly alive.

Their summer Wednesday concert series is pure alchemy: golden light, laughter, music threading through garden paths, and strangers becoming friends over picnic tables and craft cocktails. It’s enchantment by the bottle, with just enough grit to keep it grounded.

The whole place is like a sunkissed fairytale in the best possible way. Think: • A cactus-dome tequila bar that feels like a mirage with good taste • A vintage camper waiting to moonlight as the world’s most charming cocktail lounge • Colorful metal art and mismatched chairs that say “come as you are” • And yes, an art installation made entirely of bowling balls that feels oddly profound after a second drink

Every corner feels like the blend of a wild idea and skilled artistry. It’s imaginative and grounded. That makes all the difference.

Even the gift shop made me want to spend money I don’t have. The kind of place where everything feels handpicked by your favorite gay aunt who travels a lot and knows things.

And the staff? Sweet, sparkly, and clearly in love with the whole thing. The energy isn’t corporate. It’s collaborative. Like you’ve walked into someone’s dream and they’re letting you stay for a while.

Hillside is still becoming and that’s part of the seduction. It’s not pretending to be perfect, it’s letting itself be seen in full color.

If you’re looking for a wedding venue, a night out, or just somewhere to remember what it feels like to be moved, Hillside might just be your place.

Especially if you like your magic a little sun-dappled, a little queer, and...