Where do I start? My daughter got married this past weekend at the Forest House Lodge, and as some of the other reviewers have said, the experience was an absolute dream come true. Since the majority of the bride's family lives out of state, we availed ourselves of the Princess package and stayed from Thursday through Sunday.
The main floor of the lodge is beautifully appointed, and guests are dazzled when they come in through the front doors and can see all the way through the lobby and wedding-reception areas to the glass doors going out to a lovely balcony overlooking a tranquil flagstone patio in the rear of the lodge. There is a cozy library with stone fireplace on the main floor for reading, sitting, or playing board games. A grand piano is available for playing on the main floor as well. A long fully stocked bar is situated to the right of the lobby, and is filled with hats of every type. For our rehearsal dinner we had a Mad Hatter party, and everyone who was staying at the lodge from the oldest to youngest donned a hat to their liking, and we had quite a lively dinner.
The 28 guest rooms located on the top floor of the lodge are all very unique and charming, with various configurations which allow parents and children to stay together in adjoining rooms, couples to have a room, singles to share rooms, large suites for families and the bride and groom, etc. Some rooms have private baths, some have shared baths, and there are four other full baths located in the hallways, well stocked with towels and personal amenities.
The lower floor of the lodge is a recently renovated enormous game room, with a pool table, ping-pong table, air hockey, video games, guitar hero, poker table, etc etc, as well as a beautiful bridal salon with two professional styling chairs, four additional stools with lighted mirrors, lots of velvet chaise lounges, two bathrooms, etc. There is also a new groomsmen salon for the guys to get ready in.
The beauty of having three floors in the lodge is that the main floor serves as a buffer between the upstairs guest rooms and the lower-level game room, which makes for a quiet and restful room experience throughout the day and night..
The service by the hotel staff was absolutely sublime. I have traveled extensively and stayed in five-star hotels around the world, and the service at the lodge was on par with that. The staff is available for your every need, yet remain quietly in the background. There are lovely touches like Ghiradelli chocolates in every room, as well as the lobby. Coffee, tea and bottled water are always available. My family said they felt like royalty.
The food was exceptional. We were fed all day long, including late-night hot snacks. My daughter adheres to a strict gluten-free diet, and the chef could not have been more informed and accommodating. The kitchen kept all of her food separated throughout the stay, and even made a separate small gluten-free wedding cake to match the large cake. The lodge was responsive to the needs of our group , and every single meal was delicious and more than met our expectations.
The actual wedding site is located about a mile up the road from the lodge, and I was a bit concerned about transporting folks there and back, as well as newly arriving guests not knowing where the site was, but there was no need to worry because the lodge staff were at the front door giving directions, and everyone got there with no problem. There were additional staff at the site handling the parking. The site is utterly breathtaking, and the extended families of the bride and groom stayed after the ceremony for group photos.
I can say with absolute certainty that you would not find anyone who attended this event who did not have the time of their lives. I cannot tell you how many times people told me that this was the best wedding they had ever been to, and it was the staff at the lodge who made it happen. Brett, Kathryn, Laura, Julie, Trevor, Patrick, Monica, and all the rest of the employess who made this the most memorable event ever, thank you from our entire family.
Dianne Coughlin
Roseville, California
- Forest Hotel Foresthill
