The Historic Water Street Inn - Stillwater

was amazing..etc Thank you!

and enjoyable! From our first tour of the venue to the final send-off, we felt completely supported and confident that our day would be everything we envisioned—and it truly was!

e and beyond to make our day seamless, beautiful, and stress-free.

check out Charlie's while you stay too!

c, and I wouldn’t change a single thing. If you’re getting married, BOOK HERE ASAP!

ooms were beautiful, and the whole venue had the most romantic vibe. We couldn’t have asked for a better place to celebrate our big day. If you’re looking for the perfect wedding spot, this is it!

e our big day. The charm and character of the historic building combined with the breathtaking views of the St. Croix River made for a stunning setting that was truly magical. The team at Water Street Inn was incredible every step of the way.

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ort of magical, and we’re so thankful to the entire team for making our celebration so special!

service. We were able to customize our experience to fit our vision perfectly, and the staff made sure every detail was handled with care.

views of the St. Croix River provided the perfect backdrop for our special day. The team at Water Street Inn went above and beyond to make sure everything was flawless, from the elegant ceremony space to the gorgeous reception setup.

iews of the St. Croix River. The venue itself is charming and historic, offering a perfect blend of rustic elegance and modern amenities. Highly recommend!

ail was perfect. The venue itself is stunning, with its historic charm and breathtaking views of the St. Croix River—it created the most romantic setting for our big day.

h our indecisiveness'. The service and food was absolutely delicious and our guests enjoyed themselves! I would recommend this venue and its right on the St, Croix River!

y offered overlooked the St. Croix River and was perfect for what we needed. Dinner was very good and the attention we received was just what we requested. Samantha was very easy to work with and we had no complaints. It was less than a month between our initial contact and the wedding. They were able to work with our schedule and comply with all our needs. Thanks! Kathy and David

ly embraced our non-traditional ideas regarding food and the banquet room set up. We got so many compliments on our food, the bartenders were fantastic, and the building and patio provided our guests with perfect spots to mingle and dance the night away! We are so grateful we chose Water Street Inn!

t. Croix River, which created a beautiful and romantic backdrop. The staff was incredibly attentive, ensuring every detail was seamless and guests felt welcomed. The reception was held in a beautifully decorated room with a warm, intimate feel, and the food was fantastic—each course was perfectly prepared, and the Old Fashioneds from Charlie's Irish Pub were a highlight! From start to finish, it was an unforgettable experience, and I can't recommend the Water Street Inn enough as a wedding venue. It’s truly a hidden gem in Stillwater!

guests had a great time.

g that they will be there to help with whatever you need. I am only 2 months into my wedding planning, so the only real concerns there were was the menu, the floor layout, and the room block. Working with Julie was awesome, at first, until I stopped hearing from her. When I asked questions about the floor plans it would take her weeks to respond, when I had food questions, she never knew the answers and never connected me with someone who would know. But the real issues didn’t start until the room block. As someone with a majority of guests coming from out of town, rooms are a huge concern. To start off, the rooms are so old, so its not like the $300/night price tag is reasonable. But it was the lack of service that really upset us. When my guests called to book rooms, the front desk was so condescending and rude that one of my bridesmaids was literally close to tears because of how rude they were when she was asking questions. But let’s let the price and the front office staff go - after seeing reviews that people had experiences where random people were blocked into the rooms they booked for their wedding, I was determined to see my rooming list. The main issue was that I was not able to know which of my guests had booked rooms inside my block. When I asked Julie to send me my list, she sent an email stating it was “against the law” to give me that information. As someone who has been in the industry for 5 years, I was shocked. I picked up the phone to call and she changed her story to “against company policy”. In all of the hotels I have worked in, I have never heard of a hotel not being able to give a rooming list to the bride/contract signer. This is when the entire process went downhill. We were transferred to the “Hotel Manager” who is actually just the front desk manager, Alex, who was impossible to work with. When stating that I would likea rooming list, he just said no, and when I stated that we may need to look somewhere else if we couldn’t get this figured out he said “let me start onthat cancellation process for you”. I thought it couldn’t get any worse. Until my Mom was finally able to get aholdof the owner, Chuck. Let me tell you, never in our lives have we dealt with someone so horrible. He started telling us that we were the rude ones and that we were calling the front desk names and making the associates cry? When would we have even had time to do something so terrible? We could barely get ahold ofanyone! After more research, I saw that he was on TripAdvisor, publicly attacking a bride who posted a negative review in regard to her wedding. And this man is a city council member?! Here’smy advice to you, Chuck - as people stop traveling and having events, and more and more hotels shut down, I would try using the golden rule and treating others how you would like to be treated. It is the first and foremost rule of hospitality, and your associates would learn a lot from following in those footsteps. Your reviews would probably improve as well. Here’smy advice to anyone thinking about a wedding here, don’t do it. It only took me two months of dealing with these people to know that it wasn’t worth the stress.

t knowing how much we would pay for food left me stressed for a whole year. This was a decision made by the owner of the Water Street. Water Street advertises that an event coordinator is included when you book a wedding. The coordinator we dealt with was Julie Rademacher, who had two jobs: event and sales manager. I don’t have the best things to say about Julie, so I will just say - it was super stressful from signing the contract to the wedding day. If you’re in love with the location like we were, consider hiring a wedding planner & day-of coordinator. We had many great vendors who handled COVID, communication, pricing, and contracting differently from this venue. The main issue is customer service and unfortunately this is an issue from the top-down. There’s other venues out there if you want a stress-free day.

were so helpful. Georgene seems to be at the root of recent bad reviews and she is no longer with the venue. We worked with Julie once Georgene was no longer there and communication between us was fine. There were some unexpected circumstances that arose two weeks before the big day which led to Christy stepping in for Julie and she did an amazing job. We had various, last-minute requests for the day of the wedding that were all accommodated for. I do agree that the room situation is a total cluster. If you have a DJ, you need to have the six St. Croix Suite rooms above the ballroom booked under your block, and you are responsible for paying for any of those rooms that don't get booked by your guests. Several months before the wedding, my mother had booked a St. Croix Suite for the Friday night and Saturday night of our wedding. We found out about two months before the wedding the St. Croix Suite she had booked as actually on the third floor and not above the ballroom as requested. When she asked about this, they told her there was a wedding going on there Friday night, and those rooms were a part of that party's block. There for SURE was not a wedding the Friday night before ours because we hosted our rehearsal in the ballroom that night :). You NEED to keep an eye on the St. Croix Suites because they seem to find any excuse/lie not to put people in there. They also seem to put their most expensive rooms under your block, and fail to tell your guests that there are cheaper rooms outside of the block. Overall, the rooms are honestly not worthy of their price tags. They're outdated, moldy smelling, and practically every room in this hotel has a piece of furniture/decoration that has been super glued back together. The new bridal suite is quite nice though with vanity space for ~three people to get hair/makeup done. I had about 10 people in there at once and it didn't feel too crammed. Housekeeping was also able to make their way through the suite during the day so it was nice and clean for the night of our wedding (they even left some champagne on the table for us). The ballroom space smelled overwhelmingly stale/moldy, but otherwise it looked really nice with the extra drapery and we had plenty of room for our roughly 200 guest count. Once the party was in full swing, you didn't really notice the smell, and that was the general feedback I heard from our guests. The private patio was a nice feature to have as well. With having to flip the room from our ceremony to our reception, it was a great spot for our guests to mingle. As for the construction, it was incredibly unsettling to see that they were two months behind schedule and nowhere near finished when I showed up for my final consultation. However the only effect it had on our day was that some of our guests who were staying at the hotel couldn't find parking in their napkin sized lot because construction equipment was parked there. It really wasn't a big deal. So unless you were planning on taking photos with the new addition, or you're super particular about an exterior aesthetic that your guests won't even see much of, I'm not sure why you'd complain about it… If the rooms were updated and the booking process for a block wasn't so shady, there would be more stars given.

a BBB complaint. They also failed to mention they were doing construction during our wedding. We did not find out about the construction until our final consult. SAVE YOURSELF THE HEADACHE

mely more stressful by Georgene the wedding coordinator here. She started out nice and then once we signed the contract she was a different person. She would not respond to questions, unless it involved her charging us for more money, she would play dumb when we would confront her on issues, she charged our card for the remaining balance a month before the wedding with no notice to us, and so much more. By the end I didn't believe a thing she told us and did everything I could not to have to talk to her the day of the wedding as my patience was gone with her. Also, you are on the hook for the 12 rooms above the wedding reception area, which is understandable since booking the wedding hall is free. However, when our guests called and tried to book one of our rooms, they were told they were full or put in a room that wasn't ours. So basically we had to try to monitor what rooms were booked and TRY to get ahold of Georgene to confirm people were in the correct rooms. She would also talk about other staff members and customers in front of us which was completely disrespectful and made us think she probably did the same to us after we left. So if you can handle a sneaky, untrustworthy, non responsive person to help you coordinate your wedding then this is the place for you. Otherwise, look elsewhere!

. ever. It was an absolute nightmare. Georgian, the wedding planner, was incredibly manipulative, hostile, and clueless throughout the entire process. She will sprinkle in some "on her best behavior" during the introduction/contract signing and when you come into to pay her thousands. There was zero communication between Georgian and the hotel booking staff the ENTIRE time. We had people end up booking rooms across town because the hotel staff would continue to tell our guests that they were totally booked, but they absolutely were not yet. They also would book guests to the wrong kinds of rooms or not book them at all. There was a ton of confusion on their end... I had several guests ask us why the hotel staff seemed so confused and unprofessional. We would call and try to resolve the issue with the hotel staff, and they would direct us to talk to Georgian the next time she is in the office. Georgian would continue to either deflect or play dumb. It was really a toss-up whether she would decide to play clueless or if she decided to push the blame... I'd say that problem alone resulted in my wife continuing to try to resolve the issue with Georgian about 3 - 4 times. The hotel staff was reportedly rude to our guests during check-in. I had a family member tell me that they acted like they were inconveniencing them when they asked them what time they could check in their $300+ suite. Keep in my mind, AFTER check in hours, the staff told my family member that, "I have no estimate for your check-in. I have no idea when the rooms will be ready for anyone. They are still cleaning and they're not ready." The kitchen staff had several mistakes. They continued to serve desserts that they weren't supposed to be served (instead of serving them later in the night as a snack - as instructed). Again, another miscommunication between the "complimentary wedding planner" and the kitchen staff. Also, one of the bridesmaids who was crying couldn't get a key to her room that she paid for with her own credit card because the front desk staff said the room wasn't in her name. Keep in mind, the room was in the bridesmaid's mother's name (who has the same last name as her and had already checked in). You'll be required to purchase six, $300 plus wedding suites. You can have your guests purchase them though. The staff will have ZERO idea how to do it when your guests call in to book them. It was beyond embarrassing. You'll figure out after signing the contract that there are lot of caveats to having free range with decorating, desserts, etc. You'll be required to go with their lighting person, they will charge your DJ extra money if they don't remove all their equipment the night of, charge you for any booze not consumed (and you cannot take it home), etc. It was insane the amount of hidden costs that weren't disclosed during the contract. There was soo much dysfunction, blatant lying, and poor customer service. Find another venue that isn't going to make a high-stress plan worse. Water Street Inn is expensive, dysfunctional, and will forever go down as the worst customer service I have ever had all around. Having my wife in tears after every interaction with the wedding planner was horrible!

se the actual location is breathtaking, right on the river and the lift bridge in Stillwater creates the most fantastic views for your guests/pictures. The food tasted fantastic, I got so many compliments on the stuffed chicken and the pork that had some sort of delicious apple chutney sauce. The wait staff was amazing! However, I feel I need to give this 3 stars is due to some added stress that incurred the week of my wedding and the venue's event coordinator. Georgene, the event coordinator, was very friendly and super knowledgeable when we booked the venue but as we got farther into the process she was impossible to reach. I would wait far too long for email responses (most of which didn't actually answer my questions) and then she started only actually responding to my husband and not me. Also, the week of my wedding I received a phone call about another wedding whose ceremony was supposed to be outside at 1 pm and it was supposed to rain that day. I was asked if this wedding party would be allowed to use my ceremony space for their own ceremony 1pm ceremony (my ceremony did not start til 5 pm). I was caught so off guard and felt like I was being told and not actually asked if this was okay. Four days before my wedding is not an appropriate time to call the bride out of the blue and "ask" me this question. I don't remember the full contents of the phone call just that I didn't feel like I had a choice. I was promised that they would be in and out, not be allowed to bring any of their own decorations, and that it would be almost as if they were never there. Well, needless to say this did not happen. Not only did they bring in their own decor, they left it behind and I was told my own bridal party had to remove the decor and trash they left behind and remove the lingering people. Also, they didn't just use my space for a ceremony, they were also allowed a social hour. I was never asked, nor had I ever okay-d a social hour for this other random bridal party. I already was stressed about them using my ceremony space and interrupting our time needed for decor set up and pictures, and then they were allowed a social hour without even consulting me, the bride who booked this venue 14 months in advance and paid a lot of money for this to be my space? So unprofessional. The only actual Water Street employee who cared enough to talk to me was the night manager Michael, who came and apologized to me after the reception. This scenario added so much unnecessary and unwanted stress to myself on a day where I was just supposed to relax and enjoy. Just a note to them, if you are ever going to drop a bomb of a "question" like that on the bride, do it via email so she has time to think before she responds, after 14 months of wedding planning stress brides are lucky to still be functional much less handle that situation. And beware when you book this venue that you are responsible to fill 5 rooms, all at $329 a piece, that is not easy to do. If you want a venue that is going to respond to your messages right away, this is not the experience I had. They have been willing to compensate us for the added stress of having the other bridal party invade my space, but it was still not the experience I was hoping for.

guests in the ballroom, some guests in the hallway where the bar area was or some guests outside on the patio. I was also disappointed in the taste of the food. When we did our taste testing - the food we tried was delicious! The food that we were given the day of was dry and did not taste very flavorful. I also had a few special requests for where I would like what and the requests were ignored. Items were in completely different areas of where they should have been placed and items weren't out on display as they should have been. Our guests complained about how expensive the rooms were which I don't blame them! I wouldn't want to pay around $300 a night either. Another complaint was parking. We had some guests come straight from the ceremony and left because they couldn't find any available parking. Side note: Anyone can walk through the hallway and bathrooms are for all guests - at the end of the night, a random drunk person walked through and mentioned that there was a beautiful wedding going on - stated they wanted to ruin it and purposely left a mess in and on one of the bathroom toilets. I don't know who does something like that! I would recommend to have a certain area blocked off for the wedding party/guests for what is paid for the event.

lison to book here, I asked her if she would be there through our whole wedding. She seemed shocked and said of course! Then, 1-2 months prior to our wedding, I emailed Allison a question and got back my answer with a "by the way, I'm leaving and my last day is next week". I was shocked, disappointed, and stressed by this change of events. Our new go to associate was Georgene. Georgene was enjoyable to work with, as well. She had a go getter attitude but was a little tough to reach at times before the wedding. As far as the Water Street itself, I was floored at how beautiful it looked all dolled up for our wedding. Changing out the room went well and we did not have to break down any tables to access the dance floor. The location was GREAT and my guests barely wanted to come inside from the sundeck. We had the bridal room which was perfect for getting ready as the open space overlooked the river and let in a lot of natural light. Those were the highlights of it as a wedding venue. Some of the areas I was not impressed with was the bar. At one point, my dad gave the bartender a reminder that the bar was closed during dinner. When I spoke with the bartender, he told me "You've hit $1000. Your dad cut it off. You're done!". And when I tried to ask more questions, he literally threw his hands in the air and said he had no idea. Why in the world would he not offer to help or find out more info for us? I started dinner extremely stressed that the bar tender had no idea what was going on or what our budget was. We did not only have $1000 but he was going to just shut it down. Also, it took about 30 minutes into dinner for our head table to get our wine. Additionally, the food was prepared differently than when we had tasted it and it came out cold. Luckily I sent a bridesmaid after Georgene who solved the bar situation. Last note, please give our thanks to Krista the server! She was AMAZING! At the end of the night she refused to let us clean and actually seemed happy to help clean and organize our stuff. She collected all of our decorations and put them nicely on a table for us to get the next morning. Seriously she deserves some major recognition!

el of the hotel was great fit for our vintage themed wedding, the staff was friendly, and the Event Director, Allison Young, was absolutely fabulous! Allison was there was every step of the way for planning our wedding, and was always on top of things. She should have had another title of Wedding Planner, because she was so helpful and had great recommendations and tips for us. She also had everything planned so that in case we couldn't have our wedding outside at the Lowell Park Gazebo, that we could easily move it indoors to the ballroom at the Water Street Inn. All of the staff was always willing to go the extra mile to ensure that our wedding was successful and that all the guests were comfortable. The wedding party, among others, enjoyed having the pub located right in the hotel, and the bartenders at the pub were friendly and accommodating. We had so many compliments about how great the food was, including salads, steak, chicken and walleye. Overall, the venue was beautiful, accommodating, and charming with great food, a wonderful staff, and fabulous view of the St. Croix River. We couldn't give the Water Street Inn anything less than 5 stars, and we would recommend this venue to anyone looking to get married in Stillwater, MN!!

e we had hoped for. The rooms are so unique and the entire hotel has so much charm. Makes for great photos! Allison was absolutely wonderful to work with. She was so accommodating, friendly, and helpful! She was on top of things which allowed me to relax a bit more on my wedding day. I highly recommend!!

ith the rehearsal dinner when no one in our group had a clue where to start. Allison was friendly and you can tell she really enjoys her job. The hotel is a beautiful location for pictures and the rooms are lovely with a jacuzzi tub in each room. The ceremony and reception went smoothly and I would definitely recommend the Water Street Inn and Allison to my friends and family!

id have a few problems with room reservations being mixed up, but Allison helped us solve most of them.

t a year and 3 months before our wedding day. We initially booked with Michelle, who was great, but she ended up leaving the company about 6 months later. Then, we worked with Tracey Jo, who was ok. But she seemed like she was just in it for the money, didn't really spend much time with us, wasn't invested, and took forever to respond to simple questions. 1 month before our wedding, I was notified that she was no longer with the company, and our new coordinator was Robin. Things seemed to be going better and were on the right track. Until the day of the wedding. What a mess! The ceremony chairs we ordered never showed up (turns out Tracey Jo had canceled them for some reason). The Inn was nice enough to let us borrow their chairs, only 10 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, but made all my groomsmen carry them out. During the reception we only had 1 bartender, and it took about 30 minutes to get 1 drink, he was so slow and didn't seem to know what he was doing. The dinner was so unorganized. Weeks before, I had got in contact to figure the best way to let the servers know of which guest had what, and we had decided on an xcel sheet that I provided, that told who was at each table and who had what, and total and kind of entrees at each table (took me hours). They did not go by table numbers, just random (served our first 3 tables last; which were our parents and closest friends), and kept asking people what they ordered, which most people didn't remember. And if someone was away getting a drink or something, they were skipped. Some tables didn't get their food for 45 minutes! And some tables didn't even get bread. My MOH and I went up to a male server because we hadn't gotten our food, and his reply was "Yeah. You weren't there" in a very rude manner. When I talked to Robyn, she said they were like 20 steaks over, and I wanted to be like, yeah, because you asked what everyone ordered and they didn't remember. Besides the mess, the food was delicous. And they did compt some wine for the chair mistake. I had called the day after because I had some wedding cards that were missing and had some problems with the room (the night before, my bridesmaids and I all took freezing cold showers because the water heater wasn't working) and our maid never came to clean up the next day (my mom had the room the night of the wedding) and wanted the bed sheets to be changed and things cleaned a little bit. I left a message with the front desk to have Robyn reach out to me when she was free, and have yet to get a response. It would have been nice to receive a phone call, or even and email to follow up and apologize. But nothing. We're pretty easy to please. Not everything about our wedding venue was negative. It is beautiful, was set up nicely, huge dance floor and patio. This place holds so much meaning for us, that we still loved our wedding day. And from other reviews, it sounds like we were the only ones who got a lot of screw ups. Just make sure to communicate with your coordinator and make sure all the little things are reconfirmed.

er which is scenic and makes for some nice pictures. When you rent the ballroom you also get the foyer and outside deck with is awesome for the cocktail hour and so people can mingle while the DJ is playing which was important to me. The room was beautiful and the service was fantastic. I worked with Allison (who is just awesome!) and she made everything great even though I had some special requests. She was on top of everything which meant I had absolutely nothing to worry about on wedding day! The food, which is provided by Waterstreet is also delicious and the options they provide I thought were pretty decent. Would definitely recommend Allison and this venue to anyone!

her states, most had never been to Minnesota. The Water Street Inn was a fantastic place to have our reception. The food there turned out AMAZING!! We decided on the steak, chicken, and walleye-every steak was cooked perfectly, the chicken was great, and the walleye was fantastic. My husband and I are real "foodies", so we were really stressed about the food not turning out well, especially since wedding food really isn't that great. We are still getting complements on the food. The wedding coordinator, Tracy, was so easy to work with and very helpful, especially on our big day. The rooms are clean, comfortable, and the staff was welcoming and accommodating. The view of the river and outdoor patio seating was perfect for our large guest list. Also, the overall price for having a reception at the Water Street Inn is very reasonable and affordable. We are truly happy with our decision to have our reception at the Water Street Inn, we had the best time and so did our guests!!

and everyone said we threw the best party ever... The best part...we did almost nothing and they took care of all of it! I would highly recommend having your wedding there... We couldn't be happier about how it turned out!! PS We did have a groupon for our wedding reception there...we hadn't ever been there before we bought the groupon and it was the best thing we did in planning our wedding!

and it was. They have since changed coordinators since my wedding, and I believe had we had a different coordinator things would have gone differently. We originally had a cocktail hour scheduled, we were done with our pictures early the coordinator suggested we start dinner early... The food from the tasting is not what was served on the day of our wedding I was very disappointed. Then after the meal was done or what I thought was done, I went to talk to guest that were still waiting for their food. Then this year we were talking about weddings and I heard that the guest that were waiting for their food received cold food. Had I known about this right after the wedding I would have complained to management however you don't always find thing out right away. So I love the location and the venue. Hopefully the service is better under the new coordinator.

arty. You can also add them as a part of your room block to cut costs a bit. Michelle was great to work with, and the rest of the staff was great as well. We got many compliments on the food at the reception, and comments about what a great time everyone had. Many guests also enjoyed the private patio overlooking the St. Croix River!

wedding planners within a year. At times it was hard to get a hold of someone to anwser our questions. Overall, the food was wonderful and it turned out great. I really enjoyed having the outdoor patio for the guests.

in the same place and local estabilshments right next door. The wedding coordinator Michelle, is awesome, she did a fanstatic job and it was wonderful to work with her!

ked, and was not seasoned or prepared anything like our taste-testing (which had been great) - Bartender did not let guests know beer was hosted. When a guest inquired, he said, "We're not obligated to inform guests about what is being hosted." - DJ (contracted from an outside agency) had to tell the wait staff to clear the dance floor; when the still didn't, he started clearing and hauling out tables and chairs himself. He also swept the dance floor. - Catering manager was unprofessional, unreliable, and made several simple paperwork mistakes that made big differences to us (including our contract was written three times with wrong names and dates - Bride had to edit it every time and send it back to her). Room numbers got switched even after they were proofed via email and in person with the manager. We specifically told her NOT to put the bride's parents in the suite next to the bridal suite. We gave her the names of the people to put there instead. When we got to our rooms that night after the reception, the bride's parents were right next door. Nobody wants to be next door to their parents on their wedding night!!! - When sent the final, itemized bill after the wedding (via email), it was attached to an email that had nothing in it except the auto signature of the catering manager (no "Thank you for your business" or "I hope your day was perfect" or even a "Here is the itemized, final bill.") Very poor customer service - who sends an invoice without saying thank you for your business??? - We tried to meet with the owner right away to address our concerns, but he told us that he was too busy preparing to go on vacation that he was unable to meet with us until after he returned. We scheduled an appointment to meet with him the following week, but he cancelled on us that day as well. - When we finally met, he made indirect comments alluding that the bride's parents were liars and that we were lying and that his staff "wouldn't do/say those things." - When we told him our dissatisfaction that he was unwilling to meet with us sooner, he said, "My own time is my own time." Poor customer service! We would expect that any owner of such an establishment would want to clear things up quickly so as to be sure their customers are happy and there is less opportunity for bad word of mouth/publicity. - Owner & Manager were both very rude and unprofessional. Both need to attend trainings on CUSTOMER SERVICE AND SATISFACTION... DO NOT BOOK THIS PLACE FOR EVENTS! IT IS NOT WORTH THE HASSLE!