Cuyama Buckhorn

ish exceed our expectations. The setting was rustic but modern and clean - we also loved how remote it was. The food was incredible, fresh, tasty and great quality (and we’re a bunch of fussy eaters) - the coffee was also delicious. We did a sound bath on the Friday night on the lawn, chilled by the pool in the day and went for hikes near by. The ceremony was done outside & we had drinks dinner in the outside garden before the disco in the back room behind the bar. We loved all of the different areas because they made the place feel spacious and unique. The staff went above and beyond to help us, all of our friends absolutely loved it and we can’t wait to go back! It's such a short direct route to LA which makes it feel very easy to get to.

ckhorn. New Cuyama was already a special place for us and after spending the afternoon at the recently renovated Buckhorn, we just knew it felt right. We reached out to the team and ended up working with them to plan our special day. As it turned out, we were actually their very first wedding! Some may have seen this as a red flag, but we saw it as an opportunity and I’m so glad we did. Truthfully, we would never have been able to plan such an amazing weekend if it weren’t for the brilliant Savannah Fox, the Marketing & Operations Manager at the Buckhorn. She worked with us on every last detail of the wedding and really went above and beyond, basically acting as our planner. Just a little background info – there are about 21 rooms at the Buckhorn and very few other places to stay in the area so this venue is really meant for intimate gatherings/smaller weddings. We had a total of 53 guests and a few stayed at the nearby Cuyama Oaks Ranch (glamping in yurts). When it came down to it, the entire Buckhorn team was incredibly flexible and accommodating. From the food to the deserts, they did it all and pretty much had everything we needed on site. The only outside vendors we hired were a DJ and a photographer! We already loved the aesthetic of the Buckhorn, so our vision was pretty much already intact and we didn’t need much outside decor or anything. We went for a summer camp kind of vibe and booked the entire hotel for the weekend so it really felt like a magical escape for all our friends and family.  They truly catered to our every need throughout the process, but what really makes this team stand out is how they kept our vision alive and the weekend feeling magical despite some unfortunate weather. On the day of our wedding, it SNOWED early in the morning, hailed, and then rained. Our original plan was to have our ceremony and dinner outdoors and the venue was well-equipped with tons of heating lamps, fire pits, etc. so we figured dinner outside would be fine. Everything was set and then it began raining right before the ceremony. The General Manager, Paul Patino literally carried a pool umbrella over my dad and I as we walked to the aisle. Talk about above and beyond!!! Magically, it stopped raining just in time for the ceremony to remain outside, but it was pretty cold so the entire Buckhorn team rallied together to breakdown the already set up dinner outdoors and transition it inside. They managed to move the dinner in a matter of about 15 minutes and it looked just as beautiful inside as it did outside. I should also mention that if you’re coming from a city like Los Angeles or Santa Barbara, this venue was much more affordable and accommodating than any others I looked into. They handled all of the details so well and included things most other venues would not have. From the amazing food to the aesthetic, to the wonderful, wonderful staff, I could not recommend this venue more. If you have your wedding here, you are guaranteed to have the most incredible memories and photographs. The Buckhorn is truly an experience and the owners and staff are some of the friendliest, most amazing people in hospitality I have ever met. If you want a small, spirited, BEAUTIFUL wedding with desert valley vibes, this is the place for you.

in the future. Buckhorn is a very stylish and comfortable hotel. The pool is gigantic, big hot tub, sauna, well decorated rooms, fires all around the property, complimentary s'mores kits, etc. I loved coming to this place as a normal hotel guest. For a wedding, I would not recommend them. For context, I was the bride. Our wedding venue (Blue Sky Center, who are amazing btw) was right next door to Buckhorn so we contacted Buckhorn about having our guests stay at their hotel for our wedding. Just to do a group reservation of all of their 21 rooms for our wedding guests (no events or anything actually happening at the hotel) they wanted to do a two night minimum and charge us a $90 *per person* food and beverage minimum *per day*. I travel a lot for work with large groups, we do group hotel reservations all the time and I have never heard of a hotel imposing a food and beverage minimum. If we were holding the wedding there, that makes sense. But just to lock out the rooms to let our guests sleep there after our wedding, to charge a fee like that was unconventional and came off as a wedding tax to me. To be clear, the kitchen and bar was still to remain open to the public. This wasn't a lock out of the entire hotel or anything complicated. We ended up having to move the wedding date to the weekday so they would agree to reduce the F&B minimum to $45 a person per day. The menu items aren't even expensive enough for people to reach that type of minimum and they had no solutions to offer us for how our guests were expected to fulfill that type of minimum. But it was the hotel closest to the venue and it was nice so we begrudgingly accepted the contract as they weren't willing to budge any further. Their restaurant and bar also closes around 7pm so the time frame in which our guests could spend money at the hotel was very limited. To fulfill our F&B minimum we ended up having them cater the wedding. For an all vegan menu consisting of vegetables and tofu, it ended up costing $100 per person with no drinks or add ons. The price was extremely high especially for the costs of the ingredients. When we added tofu to the menu they charged $5 per person just for tofu. The food arrived cold even though they were next door to the venue and they charged a large amount for a delivery fee. Despite being cold, I will say the food was good. The day after the wedding, we asked for a late check out as we had a lot to move out (again, we were the bride and groom) and the hotel refused to give us even an extra hour to check out. I was really shocked by that. We ended up leaving 30 mins after check out and they charged us and our friends who were helping us unpack a $50 late check out fee. None of us were notified of this fee, they snuck it in our folio but never sent us an invoice for anything. I think they were hoping we wouldn't notice. Ultimately they ended up waiving the late check out, but I really felt burned by the whole experience. We brought tens of thousands of dollars of business to their hotel and they couldn't even give us an extra hour to check out, and charged us for being 30 mins late to leave. Overall I'm disappointed by the experience with the hotel. Maybe their policies will work for some people but it was not working for us.