The Goodwin Hotel

, predatory pricing, and critical failures. The hotel’s focus on exploitative fees, rather than delivering the top-tier service it advertises, left us heartbroken and out nearly $2,000. I strongly advise against choosing this venue for a wedding or any significant event, as the stress and embarrassment we endured far outweighed the appeal of the hotel’s aesthetically pleasing rooms. We reserved 56 rooms for our 125 wedding guests, securing nearly the entire hotel, which led us to expect prioritized service and seamless coordination. Instead, we encountered a pattern of excessive charges that showed the hotel cared more about profit than guest experience. They charged an outrageous $30 per welcome bag to deliver them to guests’ rooms. We declined this fee and were assured by staff that the bags would be distributed at check-in at no cost. This promise was not kept: out of approximately 60 welcome bags, each costing us about $100 to assemble, only 41 were distributed. This left 19 bags undelivered, resulting in a financial loss of roughly $1,900 and the embarrassment of nearly one-third of our guests missing their carefully prepared gifts. This level of disorganization is unacceptable for a hotel claiming to be Hartford’s premier venue. Additionally, despite booking 56 rooms, we were charged $500 to use an unoccupied room for three hours for hair and makeup. This room was not in use by other guests, making the fee feel like a blatant money grab. These charges underscored the hotel’s priority to maximize revenue over providing the exceptional service expected of a top-tier establishment. The hotel’s infrastructure and staffing issues further highlighted their lack of commitment to guest satisfaction. With only two elevators for guest use and no dedicated service elevator, staff and guests competed for access, leading to wait times of nearly 10 minutes during peak periods. This was especially inconvenient for guests managing wedding attire and luggage. The hotel also had just three luggage carts for the entire property—an inadequate number for a venue hosting a large event with 125 guests. The bellman often didn’t know where the carts were, as many guests kept them in their rooms due to the shortage. New arrivals were forced to carry bags up one by one in the overcrowded elevators, causing significant delays and inconvenience. For a hotel claiming to be Hartford’s best, this setup is shockingly subpar and more akin to a three-star establishment. The most devastating failure was the hotel’s inability to manage guest check-ins, which directly impacted our wedding ceremony. Due to one housekeeper falling ill, room turnover was severely delayed, leaving about 25% of our guests (roughly 31 out of 125) stuck in the lobby, unable to check in until close to 5:00 PM. To accommodate these guests, we delayed our ceremony by 45 minutes, hoping everyone could attend. Despite this effort, about 31 guests still missed the ceremony entirely due to the hotel’s mismanagement. This delay also cost us nearly an hour of our reception time, an irreplaceable loss that diminished our celebration. The hotel’s failure to have contingency plans for such a foreseeable staffing issue was inexcusable and left us devastated by the absence of so many loved ones during our ceremony. After raising these concerns with management, they reimbursed us for the three rooms I personally paid for—a minor gesture given the magnitude of the issues. They also claimed to have discounted some guests’ rooms, but I cannot verify this, and it does little to offset the financial and emotional toll. While the rooms are visually appealing, the hotel’s operations are marked by poor planning, inadequate resources, and a clear prioritization of profit over guest experience. The Goodwin Hotel’s mismanagement—from the mishandling of our welcome bags to the elevator and luggage cart shortages to the check-in disaster caused by a single housekeeper’s absence—resulted in nearly $2,000 in losses and profound heartache. Couples deserve a venue that treats their special day with the professionalism and care it merits, and The Goodwin, with its focus on nickel-and-diming rather than delivering top-tier service, falls woefully short. Avoid this hotel to spare yourself the frustration, financial loss, and devastation we experienced.

ts for the bridal luncheon and rehearsal dinner within easy walking distance), the brunch was divine, and the hotel was very accommodating (in particular I wanted to be able to watch Father of the Bride with my bridesmaids while getting ready, so they made sure to have a DVD player available). The only reason I take away one star is because we did have some issues with the room block (people being told the room block was full when it wasn’t, booking the wrong number of nights for multiple guests, and not correctly tying some reservations to our room block). The Goodwin was very responsive to fix the issues, but did require some oversight. So my only recommendation is you really review your room block about a week before it expires, so you have an opportunity to address things if necessary.

my requests and always what more could they do to help us. It really meant a lot! We were also able to coordinate a super yummy breakfast of breakfast sandwiches and fun donuts delivered to our bridal suite the morning of so we were all happily fed without anyone needing to do anything. I highly recommend them for anything hotel related ever! Thank you for everything!

sive, and helped think through all the details. Our out-of-town guests raved about the hotel, and the after-party and day-after breakfast were phenomenal - they even let us store the flowers from the wedding the night before and then put them out on the tables for breakfast. Wonderful hotel, great staff - we strongly recommend them!