I had really high hopes for this venue since my hometown is Champaign-Urbana, and was excited to see that it was within my total wedding budget. I had heard and read great reviews, and even was impressed when talking with their preferred catere...r. I was so sure I'd go with Events at Refinery. ...Then came my on-site visit/tour.
Apartments are upstairs, and someone was moving in that day so furniture was spread throughout the lobby. Also, a child activity center is on the same floor and smelled liked a dirty diaper, and I was surprised a bit to see the venue was set up to be a multi-purpose gym room when I arrived. I knew the Refinery was a gym, but was hoping the floors would be at least buffed or cleaned before setting up an event. I sat there and saw a crew move machinery out and set up tables without cleaning the floor. I'm really hoping they cleaned it after table set up, but I didn't stay that long.
I could have lived with the above, since the owner made it clear the moving in/dirty diaper situation was not normal. However, my fiancee and I sat in front of their office 15 minutes before our set time and they never acknowledged us. 5 minutes past our appointment, I asked if the person who made our appointment was there, and she was, but she only came out to get us then. The brochure she gave to me was the exact same thing as was emailed to me beforehand, and then I was instructed to look up photos of the venue online myself. (I was a little surprised by this since at other venues I've had people show me different room lay out possibilities and pictures.) We got about a 5 minute tour of the room. The total was still under my budget... but only $1000 cheaper than another venue that would provide more bells and whistles with a lot more professionalism, venue privacy, and service. Part of the reason it got expensive is because $1200 is the bar minimum, and since I have a small party and a morning/brunch reception, hitting $1200 wasn't possible for me. Additionally, when I asked about mimosas for a brunch, I was suggested to provide beer instead. It just wasn't a good fit for what we wanted.
Both my fiancee and I drove from out of town (2+ hours), so we were disappointed that 95% of the information we received was already given to us online or we were told to look online.
However, I still think the venue could be beautiful, and if the venue and location is what people want, I do think the staff can get the job done. They did care about getting things ready, and were just as upset about the diaper/furniture issues.