My fiance and I are currently in the process of locating a wedding ceremony and reception venue. We came across the Victorian Veranda Country Inn (Lawrence, KS) through a google search and were immediately impressed! The pictures looked beautiful and the owner Robert was very quick at responding to our inquiries (both phone and e-mail). We even drove an hour and a half away to visit the venue. Again, we were very impressed. Beautiful property, gorgeous house.

There were a few things we were willing to overlook, such as the location being fairly out of the way, 3-4 dogs roaming all over the grounds, and various work projects going on. However, when my fiance and I got home we discovered a few very unpleasant reviews. We therefore VERY politely inquired with some legitimate concerns via e-mail to Robert. Our questions included concerns about the animals disrupting our stay/ceremony/reception, possible overcharges (we're on a modest budget), adequate power for a small reception of 40 people, whether the owners will be present during our event, and a request for a few references. Let me assure you, our e-mail was very polite. We even complimented them on our how beautiful their property was.

We received a response the next day. The response had a rude undertone, with comments such as:

"We do plan to be present on our property. In ten years we were gone
for one wedding because a friend of mine's daughter was getting
married, and we attended. There is always the chance a faimily or
close friend emerency would arise. My wife's mother does have cancer."

"As far as references, we are having a wedding this weekend and I
suggest that you come and visit at that time. If you are truley
interested I will give you references at that time."

It was then mentioned at the end of the e-mail that my fiance and I seem to have a lot of concerns and that maybe they weren't the venue for us. The question about overcharges was completely ignored and not answered.

I realize those responses aren't entirely rude, but I felt as if we were shunned for voicing our concerns. We didn't mean to imply that they weren't capable owners. And we know emergencies pop up, that's totally understandable. Also, not providing references upfront unless we're REALLY interested is a poor business practice. Any good business would be happy to answer concerns, squash any poor reviews, and provide references.

It really is a shame this had to happen. We left completely excited about our dream country wedding; however, poor customer service is unacceptable for such an important day in our lives.

Needless to say, I would suggest if you are really interested in renting this property, you may want to keep your mouth shut and hope for the best.

Where to begin? My husband and I were married in October of 2006 at the inn. We had our reception in the barn and the power went out so many times that we finally had to unplug many of our items, such as the coffee maker,margarita maker and so forth. We had previously disscussed items that would be needing power and were assured that it would be just fine. My father in law and brother had to find the fuse box to get everything turned back on due to the fact that my wedding coordinater was unable to find the owners. We later found out that they had left the properety and gone to dinner!! After the ceremony we were supposed to go on a carriage ride but were told at the last minute that it was broken down!! I was very upset but after I looked at the carriage and noticed that it had a pile of cat hair all over the seat I was relieved that my dress wouldn't be ruined. Beverly was extremely rude to the children in my wedding party and had asked if they had to stay overnight in the inn. At the morning breakfast she skipped over them and had to be told to serve them. She also had very unfriendly animals on the property such as a cat who clawed anyone who came near it and dogs who ran freely outside. When my mother and I first checked out the inn we were so impressed. Beverly had mums around the house and everything looked as though it was nicely taken care of. She assured us that she always kept the property decorated for each season, and that it would look the same for us on our wedding day...needless to say it did not. All the mums were dead from lack of water and the yard had leaves and mud all over. It was a mess. Later we heard a rumor that the inn had closed and thought that maybe that was why beverly was so careless on our speacial day. My mother in law found that the inn is still up and running last week so my husband and I decided that we must warn anyone who is looking into this place for any reason what so ever. Please beware don't make the same mistake we did.

My husband requested the chocolate and champagne getaway package for our 5th anniversary. We had to checkout after two hours because of the cat dandruff. We have stayed in another B & B that had a cat and it was not a problem.

I stayed here for 3 nights last spring because all the hotels I normally would have stayed at in Lawrence were sold out. The inn is lovely, the room I stayed in was large and quite comfortable, great breakfast and friendly owners.

However, be aware that the train tracks are right down the street from the inn, which is located on a farm near the Kansas River. Trains run constantly--all day, all night, like every 10 minutes another freight train barrels by with it's horns blaring. Even though the inn is not on the tracks and down the road less than a quarter mile, the noise is very noticeable no matter what part of the house you are in, and sleeping can be a problem.

They also, when I stayed, had a cat there that was very friendly but also clawed me and drew blood when I was petting it during breakfast.