Azalea Inn & Gardens

I feel I need to update my review written on 5/31/2015. It has gotten worse. I wrote a similar, actually more thoughtful review on Trip Advisor. The Inn replied with a nothing but lies and personal attacks. They portray me as some sort of bridezilla rather than simply apologize for their ineptitude. I'm not even remotely close to what she says about me. The seamstress who custom designed my wedding dress called me the anti-bridezilla. Even my photographer, Beanna Rendon, posted our pics to her fb page and said how I was the happiest bride she's worked with. Yet the Inn infers that I'm inconsiderate, irresponsible and should simply be happy with whatever happened because I found someone to make me his wife (I'm not exaggerating. Feel free to look it up.) The worst thing about this lie filled response was the fact that she attacked me as an irresponsible parent. I sat on the edge of the pool with my toes on the first step and I had my baby on my lap. Apparently this means I'm risking her life because she didn't have a life jacket on. Gasp! Upon further reading of all of the negative reviews of the Azalea Inn I found that she responds with personal attacks and blames all guests that aren't happy with their stay. In one review it says they are family friendly and in the next it says they are a respite from work and children. They simply can't have it both ways. We were treated like we didn't belong there because we have a baby. We wouldn't have spent over $3000 for a four night's stay had we known we would be ostracized for bringing our child. Anyone who reviews them poorly is told to see all of the great reviews as evidence that they are wrong and the Inn is infallible. I don't care how many positive reviews there are. My experience was horrible. Not because I'm unable to be pleased. Not because I'm a bad parent. Not because I'm at fault. It's because they are dishonest and unethical. Please find somewhere else to have your wedding. There are far too many beautiful places in Savannah to trust with your special day. Don't make the same mistake I did. You will be blamed for it.

I'm conflicted as I write this review. The Inn itself is gorgeous and the wedding planner Shannon was very attentive as we pieced together the details of my destination elopement. I added a lot of things to their basic package and spared no expense in doing so. They made every arrangement for me. I didn't have to lift a finger. However, I now wish I had because there were a few things that went wrong. I upgraded the basic bouquet of roses to one of succulents and wildflowers. It was beautiful. However, I made it clear that I'm not a fan of roses and I ordered a dozen hair clips. Not only were they roses, but some were a hot pink color. They didn't match our colours (I had sent swatches) and they didn't match the bouquet. It was very strange. I had requested dinner reservations be made and asked for their recommendation. Shannon set us up with an amazing restaurant in their private cellar room. We were absolutely happy with this. I bring it up only because another staff member at the inn had asked where we were going and when I told her she proceeded to tell me how we won't like it and rattled off several other places she felt were more fitting. It was nerve racking after being set with our plans for months to second guess it. After all, it's a day every woman wants to be perfect. We rented a villa with 2 bedrooms because we had our 2 daughters with us, 19 years and 1 year. We thought the Inn was child friendly, but anytime I brought the baby into the main house, the staff continuously shushed her. I understand the need to keep it quiet, but even when she was just babbling quietly or laughing at the resident dog I felt like her presence was a serious issue. Had we known she wasn't welcomed, we would have chosen another place to stay. It made me profoundly uncomfortable. In addition, she wasn't allowed in the pool. Big bummer. The officiant they set up for my ceremony was personable but clearly had his own agenda. We married at Forsyth Park. I didn't want to be in front of the fountain. The photographer and I located a beautiful spot where the fountain wouldn't be in my ceremony pictures. The officiant insisted he stand in front of it and that his body would block it. He literally grabbed me and pulled me to where he determined I needed to be. He asked us a half dozen times to tag him on social media and even handed out business cards with all of his screen names. I now have several hundred dollars worth of pictures that I don't like and I absolutely will not be tagging him. And here's where we get to the reason I give them 2 stars. They ruined my wedding night. We reserved the honeymoon suite for the wedding night and the girls were to stay in the villa. They didn't tell us that we needed a different access code to enter the inn after hours. We returned from dinner ready to enjoy our first night together as husband and wife only to find that we were locked out. We called the emergency number and spoke to an answering service. We were told we would receive a call back. That call never came. Shannon blamed the answering service and the other patrons who may have locked the back door. She missed the call from the service and nobody followed up. We spent our wedding night in the villa with a baby that woke up the minute she heard her mommy crying, desperately trying to figure out how to salvage the evening. It was heart breaking. I've never been so disappointed in my life. I wouldn't wish that on any bride.