Saint Clements Castle & Marina

1931 Portland-Cobalt Rd, Portland, CT 06480, USA

Address:	1931 Portland-Cobalt Rd, Portland, CT 06480, USA
Phone:	+1 860-342-0593
Site:	saintclementscastle.com
Rating:	4.6

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

Rachel

I was debating if I wanted to write a review for St. Clements Castle over the past few months. St. Clements Castle was the most beautiful venue we toured and stood out the most to my husband and I. We had our wedding on October 30th, 2016. I can say my planning experience with Jake, the wedding event planner, was incredible! He went above and beyond to make sure everything was set in place. We really wish we had Jake as our coordinator during the day of our wedding!! Our day of coordinator was Danielle. I arrive to the venue and head up to the bridal suite. We were expecting rain for our wedding day but it looked like the rain was holding off. While I am getting dressed and ready in the suite Danielle greeted me and said we should move the ceremony from the garden to under the car port, which was fine but my husband and I wanted to wait to see what the weather would be like since we had some time before the ceremony started. Danielle came up 2 more times to follow to say it was going to rain, finally it started raining so of course we moved the ceremony spot. We had no problem doing that but we spent tons of money on our flowers and decorations that were left in the original ceremony spot getting drenched and ruined! We didnt even get to use them! Instead we see the employees packing up the chairs in the garden instead of moving our decorations to the new ceremony spot! Oh well, we cant change that. The ceremony is starting and we have no idea where Danielle is. It was so hectic no one knew where to go or what was going on. When Danielle came back she still didnt coordinate anything it was a complete mess!! After the ceremony my husband and I starting taking pictures with our photographers. In the middle of our pictures Danielle came out and said we needed to come inside or else she was going to push the start of the reception back. My photographer looked at the time and corrected her and said we were 30 mintues before schedule. She told him he was right and walked away. After pictures we head inside and notice some of our decorations were not set up inside, such as the guest book. Then the reception starts and Danielle is no where to be found. We did have an employee Victoria who stood by my husband and I the whole night just in case if we needed anything, which we were so thankful for. Finally we get to serving dinner. Jake and I had gone over what the buffet would look like. It would be the 3 table stations set up in a row where everyone could see them. For some reason the 3 tables were separated and each table was in a corner of the room. No one knew that we had 3 diffrent stations because you would have to walk all the way across the room to get a different food. Our whole planning experience was pleasant and we were so happy to have our wedding at St. Clements. Our day is still very memorable but wish they werent as many mistakes.

Vanessa Rae

I had very high hopes for this place as a wedding venue. It is breath taking in person. I would have giving them a 5 star review if they didnt give private tours during our ceremony and reception. They did not have our permission to give private tours in the areas we rented during our time. Saint Clements Castle is in breach of contract. Jacob (staff member at Saint Clements Castle) gave private tours to couples during our ceremony and reception. My husband and I were having pictures taken in one of the rooms we had rented and here comes Jacob with a couple walking right past us, then goes into the room next to us, shows off our reception hall right next to our guests at the wedding favor table and then walks the couple outside. He also walked around in multiple other areas during our time. A wedding is a private day with the bride, groom, family members and invited guests only, NO ONE ELSE. This has made my husband and I very uncomfortable to have had our important day at Saint Clements Castle. We have since contacted management at the Castle but the only thing Jacob, Alison (manager) and the director have done is denied the tours were ever given. Many of our guests and hired photographers have all said to us they even noticed the tours. They even mentioned what the couples were wearing. One more thing happened and this was at end of our time. The staff rushed us out to the point where some of our wedding gifts were broken by them throwing everything quickly together. The rest of our wedding cake was tossed into a box, thrown in the back of our limo by the staff. The wedding cake box ended up getting knocked over and fell on top of the grooms wedding attire and my wedding dress. This could have been avoided if they communicated with us. We could have told our DJ to make an announcement to our guests and wedding party that it was time to start heading out. We were very kind and polite the entire time we were there and so were our guests. We didnt deserve to be treated the way that we were. The only thing they have shown us is their lack of compassion, disrespect and lack of tact for two people trying to have a pleasant and stress free wedding. If you have your wedding here, please make sure you communicate with them about private tours during your time there. Not everyone likes their privacy being invaded and if you are one of those people you might want to tell them how you feel before you book your wedding. Also, make sure this is stated in your contract.

John Williams

Beautiful Venue. Very friendly staff. The food however was another story. The apps were probably the highlight. Probably because they looked as though they were bought in the frozen section of the supermarket. However, the sauce for the crab cakes had a thick ring of old yellow mayonnaise around the top of the bowl? Clearly it was being reused from a previous party. Not trying to be picky, but that was nasty. The pasta was alright, but nothing special. The salad basically looked as though someone dumped a pile of premixed greens on the plate. Normally, its just a salad and no big deal. But, I couldnt help but notice the large amount of old wilted slimy lettuce mixed in. I figured this would be a good time to save my appetite for the main course. And then there was the main course. The mashed potatoes were good. No really, they were. Then again, it was mashed potatoes. The vegetables were blah at best. The filet was, how can I put this, overcooked (absolutely no pink), and cold? How in the world do you,... you know what, never mind. I hope it was just an off night for the kitchen staff. Judging by some of the other reviews, this might just be the case. Overall, it was a great time in an absolutely stunning atmosphere. But if you go, you might want to consider filling up at a local diner before you get there.

Elizabeth Stever

We went to the Valentines Dinner dance and were not only disappointed but felt deceived. When ordering the tickets at $108 each we were told the dinner was Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail. It also included Premium open bar. At $108/person it was expected for that price. When we got to the castle we learned that the dinner was changed to filet mignon and baked stuffed shrimp. Really, you couldnt find 200 lobster tails? When we went to the bar my husband ordered crown royal and seven. We were told crown royal was the ultimate premium bar. Hard to believe that Johnny Walker Black Scotch (which is more expensive than crown royal) was on the bar but wouldnt serve Crown Royal. The worst part, when dinner came the waitress said here is your (HALF) of Filet and baked stuff shrimp. To make more money they cut the Filets in half...REALLY? at that price they already cut out the lobster tail now they are cutting the Filets in half. Do not attend these special functions as you will be sucked in by attending the castle and then be deceived by their cut backs when they know you have no choice.