RIVERSIDE HOTEL

as we met her we knew right away the Riverside was going to be our Wedding venue. Loma greeted us with the biggest smile and open arms and right away just made us feel like we were the first Bride & Groom that she has ever met, which was huge for us, because we were both coming in from NYC and wanted to make sure if we were going to have a “destination wedding” we wanted all of our family & friends to feel just as important as us. And that is exactly what happened. Our Wedding weekend was magical from start to end. All our guest flew/drove down from NY, NJ, WA, and even TX and they all have been ranting and raving over how prefect their stay was and how beautiful our wedding was and thought the food was delicious. Every vendor that we hired through Riverside ( Eddie B, for DJ/Photo/Video- Lina Portnoy , our day of wedding coordinator to Kiss The Make-up for all hair and makeup for the bridal team) to every staff member at the hotel(valet, all F&B outlets, FD team, & Daniela A) made sure our day was perfect. Loma, Lina and Daniela guided us and the bridal team throughout the whole day to make sure every detail that we wanted was in place and made sure our special day ran smooth, and even held up the rain!!We cannot Thank you all enough for what you all have done for us at the Riverside Hotel, we can not wait to go back.

g ever!

k you enough for all the detail. The guests love the location of the hotel - so centrally located with so much to do. The service was great and I appreciate all Martine did to help with the group rates and continuous changes in room assignements. Heiko, you have a great team! Thanks.

e placed in rooms that were smaller and more outdated than most modern hotels. Rachel, our catering sales manager, went above and beyond helping us plan our special day. Although her title only mentions catering, she essentially acted as a built-in wedding planner. Rachel's attention to detail and passion for her work were more than we could have ever asked for. Not only did she work to ensure we had the most delicious food, but also the best vendors and a seamless/stress-free wedding day! Her communication with us as the bride and groom as well as our vendors was exceptional and far exceeded our expectations. The booking of the hotel block proved to be more stressful than I would've hoped. Unfortunately, the staff member assigned to our hotel block booking only worked 3 days a week and was somewhat difficult to get in touch with. In addition, the front desk did not work in conjunction with her. However, the valet/bellhops and the wait staff/bar tenders were incredibly attentive and kind. 5/5 service in that department! We were disappointed by the alcohol selection for the open bar and had to upgrade to the top-shelf package to get drinkable alcohol. The food served at the wedding was delicious! There was immense attention to detail concerning food sensitivities and allergies. Chef Sabrina, the head chef of the bakery, created a gorgeous custom gluten-free cake to accommodate my (the bride) celiac. *Photos to come!*

ce overlooking the New River while the sun was setting. Absolutely gorgeous! Make sure to secure your date and wedding suite early to maximize your experience.

as executed to perfection. Riverside Hotel is a family owned business, and you feel like part of the family when you have your wedding there. Things that really impressed me throughout the process included: 1.) Backup plan for inclement weather included. One nice touch that the Riverside did for us was bring out beautiful clear fire heat lamps for our cocktail hour because it was a little chilly that night. This is just one example of a little detail I never thought of or discussed: It just happened. 2.) The planning team is phenomenal. It was so nice to meet the team leads before hand so you didn't feel like there were strangers at your wedding. Now that the wedding is over, it feels so special to have dinner at one of the Riverside's excellent restaurants. Its been two months since my wedding and my guests are still telling me it was the best wedding they've ever been to. I highly recommend you check this venue out!

y of, the venue staff were so helpful and friendly, and really made us feel special. The patio by the river is a stunning ceremony location, and we held our cocktail hour and dinner/dancing on the 8th floor terrace. Our guests raved about the cocktail hour appetizers, and the food at dinner was really good too! Overall... we had an amazing night. I wish we could re-live it over and over again!

uiding us on site for the ceremony and reception, she has made the process so much fun and simple for us, she answers any questions I may have. I can tell she really loves what she does and is very passionate about helping couples manifest their special day. This was the easiest and best decision for me to pick this gem for my wedding! The venue is so beautiful and has a historic, tropical elegance to it which matches mine and my Fiancé's style, as we both grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, this is close to home for us. I am super excited to have my wedding here and looking forward to leaving another happy review afterwards! Thank you Rachel for all your help and everything you do! :)

essence of all South Florida as to offer was a stunning backdrop for our ceremony. Our cocktain hour on the 8th floor terrace gave us sweeping views of all West towards the sunset, over port everglades, out to the Ocean and North up the coast. Our photos of friends and family from this terrace are amazing! Our guests had a great time with the ballroom opening to the terrace for the event. The entire staff was wonderful. Loma Grant, the Riverside's Event Manager, was alwasy positive, friendly, professional and responsive to all my requests and outreaches. This gave me confidence throughout my planning process. The event went off 'without a hitch' as she coordinated all the Riverside staff internally so each part of the event ran smoothly. We had our cake designed by the Riverside bakery and that alleviated working with a third party vendor for the cake. It was also delicious! Our guests who flew into town did not need a car (they Ubered from the airport). They could not want anything more than all Las Olas has to offer, the Riverside's pool and all other hotel restaurants and amenities. It was a fun, wonderful and perfect event.

w. I very much like working with the Riverside staff. From my view it looked like staff members enjoy their work, and some had almost as good a time as the guests. Dan Paulish, Ph.D. Dr. D.J. Paulish Entertainment, LLC

lorious 12th-floor suite just a few days after our wedding!? We could start by saying the entire process was first class. Loma and her team truly made us feel like we were the only couple getting married. I can’t stress that enough… they made us feel totally special. This includes prompt communication (including on weekends) when questions/concerns arose, to wonderfully-executed lead-up events like the food tasting and rehearsal dinner. Throughout the entire process we felt like VIPs. It felt like we were the first and only couple to get married at the Riverside Hotel. The entire staff was very attentive and willing to work with us to help bring our vision to life. We felt at ease. Finally, on the big day, every aspect/detail was executed perfectly. Special shout-outs to Thiago and Loma. Thiago’s entire team helped us bring to life a beautiful rehearsal dinner with custom seating to accommodate our family members ranging from an 9-year-old to an 84-year-old. The food was incredible… and this was the most common feedback we got from our guests… the food! – it was just so delicious! Also, our wedding cake was amazing. Thank you to the head Pastry Chef, Sabrina Courtemanche, who happily customized our cake to accommodate multiple tiers and flavors. Loma worked closely with us from the very first day we toured the hotel and throughout, and even past, our wedding weekend. For us, this was a 14-month span. Loma answered every single question we had, and provided the guidance and advice when some of our ideas were – for lack of a better word – a bit lackluster! She is a true expert at her craft… and our wedding benefitted greatly from her attentiveness and expertise. The building itself is full of interesting history and south Florida charm. Our guests loved it and really enjoyed the premium location right on Las Olas Blvd. They had plenty to do! It felt like we used the entire hotel for our wedding weekend, which was extremely convenient for our guests. We used the Boathouse Restaurant (perfect place for our families to meet!), The Wild Sea restaurant (fantastic!), the 8th-floor outdoor terrace (stunning views!), the 8th-floor main wedding venue (perfect for our 135 guests!), Preston’s Lobby Bar (partied late into the night here!), the Lyon Vintage Pub (had our first meal alone as a married couple here!) and of course our amazing suite on the 12th floor with an incredible balcony overlooking the entire city. This building was truly perfect for us. Hopefully, this review helped illustrate just how pleasant it was to work with the Riverside team. How they made us feel special and took care of all our concerns so we could focus on each other. How creative the culinary team is… and how delicious the food will be. How charming the building itself is…how many different venues/locations there are within. How amazing the location is. Most importantly, how the entire team comes together on the day of to pull off a perfect wedding. It was all we could have asked for, plus more. Thank you, Riverside! J + N

It was the perfect venue for us

the skyline terrace that over looked the Fort Lauderdale Las Olas New River. We had the traditional ballroom but also our guests had the option of stepping outside to the massive balcony during the reception as well! All of the guests raved about the delicious food, drinks and ambiance of the entire evening! Our marketing director Loma Grant was on top of everything! Even when it was her birthday on our big day she was around and made sure everything was set up and looked like perfection! Talk about going above & beyond! We wouldn’t change one thing about our night! If we did change anything it would be that the night could last forever! Thank you Loma and her team at Riverside for letting us borrow your space and for making our vision of our wedding day come to life! We will remember this day forever!

r every single question you may have (my parents and I had a lot!) and has the most welcome, open and funny personality! We had post wedding blues partly because spending time talking with Loma and the rest of the staff at Riverside about wedding details had come to a close. My in-laws hosted the rehearsal at Wild Sea on Las Olas (part of Riverside collection) and we hosted our Bon Voyage Breakfast on the Skyline Terrace. The service, quality and atmosphere at each event was incredible- you experience the family owned essence of Riverside at each event. Most of our guests were out of town and made a vacation out of our wedding and loved being right on Las Olas. They loved staying at Riverside with the convenience of the water taxi stop, pool and bars and restaurants that are part of the hotel and the kindness of the staff throughout their stay. This is not a hotel where your guests are stuck in four walls during their stay and during your reception. The day of the wedding was truly everything I had envisioned. We had our cocktail hour on the Skyline Terrace and reception in the Himmarshee Ballroom. I asked Loma if we could keep a bar outside and doors open for access to the Terrace and I am so glad we did. Guests who wanted to take in the city and River views, take pictures or smoke a cigar from cocktail hour did just that and it was nice to have an indoor/outdoor setup in Florida! We even led one of our Greek dance lines outside throughout the whole terrace! I am still getting compliments on the food! We chose the duet of roasted chicken breast and pan seared diver scallops with the grits and tasso cream sauce and the grilled 12 oz New York strip steak with Yukon gold hash with slab bacon and house made steak sauce. First of all, the portions were outrageous, you have never seen this much as a wedding entree I promise you. Guests continue to rave about the portion, presentation, perfect temperature and impeccable flavors. Chef Brian even made sure to add the colorful vegetables we loved that were plated at our tasting. The salad was not your usual and the cucumber slices wrapped around the rest of the salad was such an elegant visual touch. The amuse bouche was also out of this world- where else can you choose Cap n' Crunch chicken and waffles as one of your five choices? Guests continued to be thrilled with the food during dessert. We chose red velvet cake/cream cheese filling with fresh raspberries and lemon cake with key lime buttercream. Guests were so impressed with how moist, fresh and flavorful it was. We can't wait to eat our top tier for our anniversary! Chef Sabrina's design was perfect! Special thank you to the whole Riverside team and especially Loma, Aldo and Finn. You will all be a part of our day when we look back on it. Everyone involved in planning and all the guests had nothing but positive words. Loma makes you feel like family and made our day outstanding! The setup was incredible (see pic of me during the reveal), all the food and cake were unlike any other wedding and the atmosphere created by the whole staff is such a huge bonus and makes a big difference in the planning process and outcome of your day; Loma even left us a card and some treats in our suite which was so special. So much thanks to everyone at Riverside Hotel!

and we are so grateful she was guiding us. We needed a lot of help! Everything turned out absolutely beautiful. We heard nothing but compliments about everything. From the valet, to our guest rooms, to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, of course the wedding and reception, and even breakfast on Sunday. Everything was perfect and everyone loved the Riverside Hotel. Thank you so very much Loma and the Riverside Hotel team. You made our wedding very special!

of our questions in detail. Throughout the year leading up to the wedding, she was always available. Loma was well versed on our timeline for the day and she helped execute our vision beautifully. We've received several compliments from the guests about the beautiful venue and the attentive staff. It is clear that Riverside is accustomed to hosting events - our event was beautiful and extremely professional on their end. The wait staff was stellar and all of the food options were delicious. If you are looking for a signature Fort Lauderdale wedding, Riverside is the place to be.

ed to raise prices after we signed a contract with them. I am SO HAPPY that we switched to the Riverside Hotel for our wedding!! Their customer service was excellent. I was so stressed out when I had to switch venues at first; however, Loma Grant answered all of my questions and put me at ease. I had so many questions and Loma answered them quickly and effectively. She is so kind, funny, efficient, and helpful! The venue has beautiful views of the river and downtown Fort Lauderdale. We had our ceremony/cocktail hour on the Skyline Terrace followed by our reception in the Himmarshee ballroom and we loved it! The catering and hotel staff did a fantastic job as well! Our food/cake tasting for the wedding felt like we were at a 5 star restaurant! The wedding cake made by Sabrina was exactly how I wanted it to look like and it was delicious. Our food made by the chef (Brian) was so appetizing. The servers and catering team made our wedding run so smoothly that I had no complaints. When we arrived at the Hotel, the staff and valet made sure to accommodate all of our needs and our guests. My husband and I had an early check in, which was nice! Guests who attended the wedding that didn't stay at the hotel were offered complimentary valet parking, which is a perk in downtown Fort Lauderdale since parking isn't free. It was a lovely stay and we will definitely go back to stay in the future. Loma went above and beyond to make our wedding day as worry-free as possible even when there were things out of our control. She did a great job of making our wedding vision come to life. Thank you Loma and all of the staff from the Riverside Hotel for our amazing wedding day!! - Moya and Chris :-)

ve our amazing day!!! I would highly recommend this venue for any wedding, party or just to celebrate. It is located in the Heart of Downtown Fort Lauderdale. It is a stunning venue with some of the best views in town. If you are looking for a venue in fort lauderdale this is the spot!!! Thank you very much for making our day very special!! The riverside staff and Hotel will always be apart of our family!!!! We love you Scott and Stephanie

relax. By the day of our wedding, everyone was there helping us float through the day and that made us really soak in the entire day. The venue was sooooo beautiful, and our guest continue telling us how much fun they had, how unique and memorable the venue was, and just all around what a great wedding it was. The Riverside Hotel holds an extra special place in our hearts forever. I can barely put to words how truly AMAZING every single thing was for us, especially during the nerve-wracking time leading up to it! We had our rehearsal dinner at the Wild Sea Oyster, and I will reccomend this for everyone- keeping everything all in one place was such a great idea. Also the food and the cake was OUTSTANDING! Chef Brian and Chef Sabrina made every bite amazing.

there on March 12. Loma is the event coordinator there and we worked closely with her. She is absolutely incredible. My day wouldn’t have been as structured, organized, and perfect without her. During the year of planning, she was extremely helpful answering all of our questions, answered no matter what time of day (or night) it was. She was extremely organized and attentive to detail. She remembered small details that I didn’t even remember. On the day of the wedding, she came to the room to say hello, she gathered everyone together and had us ready to walk down the aisle. I can’t say enough good things about Loma. The banquet manager, Jerome, was also amazing on the day of the wedding ensuring the service and food was great. And it was. This venue was perfect in every aspect. Customer service, food, location (right on the Inter coastal). Absolute perfection.

ssionate about marriage and it shows in her execution of a beautiful wedding day. I recommend the skyline terrace and himmarashee ballroom for the perfect flow from ceremony to cocktail hour to dinner. Everything is located on the 8th floor so guests can be comfortable and not worry about using the elevator or stairs for duration of your special day.

and was a true blessing from the sky! She went above and beyond, they worked so closely with us and were so kind and accommodating! We had to switch our buffet station to a plated meal and let me tell you the food was AMAZING! The food tasting was wonderful, Loma had set up an entire private room for us all decorated. She was so responsive and professional. Despite our guest count changing and us loosing guests due to COVID she was so quick to bounce back and forth and help us with everything. She would answer my calls, emails, texts even super late at night. It stormed the day of our wedding and they had to move our entire cocktail hour inside, they did such an amazing job I had no idea everuthing they had to do and it was just so beautifully decorated that guests had no idea it was a last minute change. Everyone was so sweet and so helpful. We had a BLAST, Loma took care of everything and she even wrote us a card that she left in our suite with champagne, strawberry covered chocolate and roses. Chef Sabrina made us an absolutely GORGEOUS and DELICIOUS CAKE and the Chef was just amazing, everyone enjoyed all the food. The location is AMAZING, and the picture spots inside and around the hotel are stunning. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS VENUE! Thank you to all the staff, thank you so Chef Sabrina and thank you to Loma for EVERYTHING.

dinator, and she was beyond helpful. She was responsive, and was able to answer all of our questions. She made the whole process so smooth, we are very grateful for all of her help. We had the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dinner reception at the hotel. The staff at the hotel was AMAZING, from the front desk, to our server Tami, to the valet and bellhops. The whole weekend we were made to feel like royalty. Tami was personable, friendly and on point all night long. Our cake and cookie wedding favors were made by the incredible pastry chef, Sabrina, and it was by far the best desserts I have ever had. The hotel itself was so beautiful, and you really can’t beat the location in downtown Fort Lauderdale, on the river. We highly recommended the Riverside Hotel!

a real treasure! Can't say enough good things about this place.

t and she followed through on every detail from the first day we met while we were looking for a venue for our wedding. She provided a wealth of information for various vendors and services. In addition the pastry chef for the Riverside, Sabrina Courtemanche, made our wedding cake exactly as we wanted it, it was not only beautiful but absolutely delicious. Katie Plachter Donahue, Group Sales Manager, was extremely helpful in coordinating the block of rooms for our out of town guests staying at the hotel for the wedding. Last but not least the staff that serviced our wedding reception was efficient, helpful, friendly and professional, making our guests feel important and comfortable. We can not express our gratitude and appreciation enough to everyone at the Riverside Hotel, in making our wedding unforgettable.

an amazing job and the food was absolutely delicious. Would definitely have another event at The Riverside hotel.

eel everything we imagined could be achieved. He made this crazy wedding period bearable for us with his professionalism and extreme kindness. He helped us all the way up to our special day. Katie Donahue was also wonderful keeping us up to date on our wedding room block status and was always a pleasure to speak with. Yamila was a wonderful staff member on our actual wedding day at Wild Sea, she made sure we had everything we needed and had a beautiful personality. There were other staff members during our Wedding Memorial Day Weekend that were helpful making our stay and all of our guests stay, so perfect and fun! Thank You Riverside Hotel😊🤵🏻👰🏻

unch! The team at the hotel did a wonderful job and all of our guests raved about the experience. The food throughout the entire weekend was amazing! We have been secretly hoping some of our guests choose to get married here as well so we can attend for the food!

the Himarshee ballroom and it was set up very nicely. The food was great, the cake was DELICIOUS, and all of our guests had so much fun! We planned this as a destination wedding as we live in Philadelphia, PA and had around 120 guests in attendance and I felt like the venue was just right for our group's needs. I cannot say enough good things about the event manager, Cathy, making it so easy to plan the wedding from a distance and how she facilitated the actual day of the wedding going so well. Thank you Cathy & The Riverside Hotel for making our wedding just as perfect as we had imagined!

classic feel is everything I wanted for my big day. Cathy and her team were absolutely amazing to work with! The food was absolutely delicious and had our guests talking for weeks after the wedding! I couldn't imagine having our wedding anywhere else. I wish we could do it all over again! Thank you for everything Cathy and the team at the Riverside!!!! XO

stic, the decor was beautiful and best of all my family and guests had a wonderful time.

wntown and the river from the patio balcony and the food was great. We never had to wait for a drink or an appetizer, they were well stocked and staffed. The coordinators were helpful and patient in the planning period. I had very little to worry about because they did so much. We had our ceremony outside, next to the New River and it was a perfect day. Our reception was in the ballroom up on the eighth floor. The room was the perfect size for my 80 guests. It can accommodate much more with the adjoining rooms. We chose to do the food stations, which was a big hit! It allowed everyone to chooses what they want and covered everyone's individual needs. The food was great. The staff payed great attention to my husband and myself the whole time. They even went out of their way for a few guests without even being asked. With the location right in the heart of Downtown Fort Lauderdale, many of our guests stayed at the beautiful venue as well. We enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurants, bars, and shops before and after the wedding. Overall, we could not have a better location!

ay. We spent a year planning but our wedding unfolded as if we had spent two weeks. The coordinator I had worked with for a year was absent the night of our wedding and replaced with an assistant who had no idea how I had envisioned my wedding. My guest book was lost and I was not told until the cocktail hour was over.. I had dropped all of my decor and accessories for the wedding the night before with a checklist, if it was missing it should have been discovered that morning so that we could have found a replacement. There was another wedding reception going on that night and it was very obvious. This was disappointing as we were sold on the idea we would be the only event. Even when we checked in there was no mention of even a "congratulations". For the price you pay at the Riverside, I expected much more or even just a friendly welcome. Friends had ordered us strawberries and champagne for the morning after the wedding that never arrived. When we notified the front desk we were met with an extremely rude "oh well". The entire wedding was so disorganized from our agreed upon timeline that our photographer left before we were able to cut the cake. Disappointed is an understated word, I had planned our wedding for over a year and it seemed to fall apart because our coordinator was nowhere to be found. In hindsight, I would not have gotten married here if I knew the customer service was going to be so poor throughout the weekend.

rofessional & personable. We felt like the most important couple in the world whether we were talking to the front desk, valet, room attendants, bellmen or detailing the event with our wonderful Catering Manager, Barbara Lane. The Banquet staff paid attention to detail and pampered our guests. Every time I drive by the Riverside a happy, grateful tear comes to my eye. Thank you Riverside!

he whole experience from beginning to end was unprofessional and made for a stressful event. The rooms are mediocre at best, definitely not worth 240 a night. The rooms were dusty and bathrooms were moldy. My "provided" wedding coordinator seemed to be extremely inexperienced. It took months to get a response back from sent emails and left messages just to set up a time and date for rehearsal, then two days before my wedding I had sent her an email trying to get a hold of her, so I could bring the items to be used at the ceremony, only to get an automatic response that she would be out of the office until the following week. When I called to inquire about it I was told that they would have to pull up my file to see what was going on. After that was finally settled, the day before the wedding, I had an issue with the new coordinator rushing is through our rehearsal. Again, another unprofessional and inexperienced person handling a big event. We also had an issue with the front desk handing out, or lack thereof, the welcome boxes to our guests. Before any of that we had issues with our room block, reservations kept telling my guests there was either no room block or room block was full, when neither of those scenarios were true. Then they charged me for 3 days of parking when we only had our car there 1 night! The whole experience was unsettling and heart breaking to deal with during what is supposed to be the best time in our lives. If I could give anyone one word of advice it would be to stay far away from this hotel for your stay and/or venue.