Sunset Hill House

The location of this place is amazing and the food was quite impressive. Overall though, if you are to do anything with this vendor, make sure you get it in writing. Amanda, the wedding planner, is a sweetheart who really maintains a customer first attitude, but the innkeeper is a hard***, and clearly calls the shots. There were several occasions when the innkeeper stubbornly maintained that she would not provide a service without charge and/or charge us more than she originally stated and would not change that assertion until we presented written correspondence indicating that she had originally agreed to said terms. The rooms, while nice, are certainly not at the same level of quality and service as what you'd find at the Omni Mount Washington or the Mountain View Grand, although they were nearly the same price point. The staff appeared to primarily be high school and college students working their first gig catering. They were friendly and all, but I can't help but wonder how much of their after-hours party was financed by our bar tab. While they were great during the wedding, the next morning was a bit of a mess at breakfast as the staff appeared to have a worse hangover than the guests. When we had originally visited this location, they maintained that they were not a "wedding factory", and that they did a small number per year, instead maintaining themselves as a country inn that did weddings. Truth be told, in talking to the staff, every weekend was booked over the spring, summer and fall. The rooms, food, and alcohol were all priced for an captive and affluent clientele... thus, out of staters attending weddings. For a wedding factory, they were pretty good, but I think they were not quite as up-front and professional with their clients as some more established hotels.

We had our wedding at the Sunset Hill House. The wedding planner there is excellent (so friendly and a very quick problem solver), the view was insanely beautiful, and they let us express ourselves in the decorations. We had an incredible first dance in the front lawn at sunset, and everyone thought it was just magical. Plus, all in all, it was a good deal considering the way weddings go these days.However, there were a few unpalatable interactions that do leave me wincing. First, the innkeeper is a little difficult to deal with. She has some bad things to say about local vendors that stuck me as spiteful rather than professional. We also decided to have the cake baker make us a cookie tower instead of the traditional cake. This break from tradition lead to my mother being told by the innkeeper in the middle of the reception that she would have to pay a moderate fee for us to "unveil" the cookies... which to me is very unprofessional and caused a lot of unnecessary anxiety. Furthermore, we felt like the inn had a habit of "baiting and switching" on menu items. We were price sensitive and not the most traditional couple, but it was still very frustrating to be on constant guard against being duped.Altogether, the beauty of the event and the friendliness by the rest of the staff more than made up for this petty and nagging issues. I would still recommend the site, but with the warning to push for transparency from the beginning.

Below is the orginal e-mail (minus names) that I sent in response to Sunset Hill House's request to do a review on this site. Due to the fact that is has been three months and I have not heard a word from them and have done further research on Trip Advisor, I have changed my opinion on the reputation they supposedly have. I know its lengthy, but please read, I still look back on my wedding with a lot of sadness for what could have been. Definately go here for dinner, the food is amazing, just plan your event for somewhere else. We will not be returning for dinner at this point because of the lack of response. There were many issues that were also brought to my attention after I sent this e-mail, family memebers all had their rooms changed without their permission and my disabled Grandmother who I was assured would be given a ride to the ceremony from parking had to be pushed down a grassy hill by her husband in a wheelchair because no one remembered her, just to name two. Check out Trip Advisor for many more reviews. "I recieved your e-mail asking me to review my wedding on Wedding Wire. I wanted to let you know that I would prefer not to do that. We love having dinner at the Sunset Hill House, the food and staff have always been a wonderful experience, and I'm sure we will be back. However, our wedding was far from what I expected and simply left me full of regrets. That being the case, I would prefer to review my experience with you personally and leave what I believe a well earned reputation alone and not publicly say anything negative. We chose the Sunset Hill House because of a wonderful evening we had shared there. Although, when it came to my wedding day I felt it was all about how you and your staff felt things should be done and not what I wanted. I repeatedly asked that no one but our three vendors be allowed in our reception area prior to the end of the ceremony. This was completely ignored. So when I came down the stairs there was a room full of people and I was forced to wait in the hall. I should have been able to walk into that room and then my sister could have gone out to get my neices and little cousins to spread rose petals. Because I couldn't you took it upon yourself to go out and spread petals instead of clearing the room. I think you are a lovely person, but in the grand scheme of life my neices mean way more to me then you and should have thrown the petals. However, without asking you took that away from me. That is something I can not get back. Also because people were allowed in to the reception area we had people eating candy durning our ceremony. When I did walk out I was shocked to see that apparently no one had been available to let people know which side to sit on, this leads me to believe that the seats for our parents were never marked like I was told they would be or this would not have been an issue. Then there was cocktail hour and dinner. We did not recieve a single h'ors d'Oeuvres at our wedding (neither did most of our siblings or parents). None were brought to us, nor were any on our table like we had discussed. When dinner did start we were the last table to get bread, and I believe that was only because someone overheard me say something to Jason. I was also shocked that we were not the first table served. This was the first time that I have ever seen that happen. Jason had not eaten breakfast, got nothing during cocktail hour, was the groom, and we were the ones paying you, and he couldn't get his meal first. I also ate cold food because by the time we got our food other people were finishing and coming to talk to us. I have had the same meal before and what I ate on the 7th was nothing compared to what I had before because half of it I ate cold. After dinner when we cut our cake Jason and I moved the table out so we could get behind it for cutting and pictures, while staff memebers watched. Also a staff member took it upon herself to put rose petals on my cake. It looked fine, but I was shocked that someone would take it upon themself to decorate someone elses cake without asking. Again, one of those things that made me feel like it wasn't really about what I wanted, but more how you thought it should be. After our wedding I was unable to enjoy the remainer of our time at the inn because I spent a day and a half trying to get my missing items returned to me. I appreciate that you are all very laid back, I however, like to get the work part of things done so all I have left to do is relax. I was unable to pack up my things because no one could seem to give them to me. We still left with items missing. I was also bothered by the fact that it took five attempts before I had my wedding cake in the box and in my hand. I was suprised that after I asked the first time it was just brought up to the Tavern with a stack of plates and silverware so anyone could help themself. We also had a random little girl, who although very cute, should not have been running around at my wedding. I have lots of pictures that Jason's family has given me of what they believe to be a group of my cousin's kids. I can't really use any of those in albums because there is a kid at my wedding that I don't even know. Overall, I think that you should know I spent a lot of time the week after my wedding crying because I will never get this day back. We have started playing with ideas for a vow renewal so we have a chance to do this over again. Thankfully, I started getting to see some of my beautiful photographs about five days after the wedding so I can try to pretend that things were better then they really were, and my guest for the most part had a good time and we do appreciate that fact. As I said, I'm sure we will be in again for dinner at some point, your chef is wonderful, but as far as my wedding experience I don't really feel that my wishes mattered, and that is something I can't get back."

We chose Sunset Hill House because they are very flexible in all the details of the wedding day. That was truly the best part of booking here, and we don't regret it. The answer to our questions was pretty much always "Whatever you want". You will not get this kind of flexibility with other vendors. The on site coordinator had great ideas and was fantastic about calming any stresses. It is pricey, but worth it if you have dreamed of this day your whole life. Our guests felt like they were treated like royalty. Some of the negatives included many problems with room booking and billing. There seemed to be one person that worked the front desk that consistently gave out wrong information to our guests and messed up on reservations. Stressful, but it did all work out in the end. Another negative, the coordinator was fabulous, however she had way too many responsibilities to take on herself, so some small details were forgotten. Overall, we had a wonderful wedding day and we are happy with choosing the Sunset Hill House.

Frankly, our wedding was handled perfectly; and we ADORE Amanda Blakslee. If the ratings were based solely on my pleasure with Amanda, I would give the review 6 stars! But there were constant logistical issues - which could have and was attempted to be corrected quickly by Amanda - that took precious time and joy out of the process. Namely, issues with my brother Peter. I explained to Amanda from the very beginning that the greatest priority for me throughout the whole wedding process was the happiness of Peter. Sadly, he was involved in a very time-intensive project prior to the event and did not appreciate the constant harassment of Sunset Hill House, whose representatives claimed he did not pay, then claimed that he no longer had a room, then claimed that he could not have the room he initially booked TEN MONTHS prior to the event. For him to finally approach me, the bride, regarding the mistakes was a huge step on his part; because he did not want to dampen my day. However, he was so overwhelmed and disgusted by the establishment's negligence that he felt he had no alternative.My recommendation for future weddings would be for all staff members, including the owners, to refrain from any involvement with the wedding party - unless specifically requested by the parties involved.Other than, everyone at the inn were warm and helpful, kind and responsive, efficient and impressive. I especially enjoyed the foods prepared by the chef. Please let everyone know that we loved our stay and look forward to spending future anniversaries at the establishment. I apologize for the negative aspects of our experience, but I wanted to prevent any future mishaps to ruin an otherwise perfect event.Thank you.

Everything was fabulous about our wedding. Our wedding coordinator, provided by the Sunset Hill House was the only reason I, as a bride, was sane that day. Everything was fantastic, the view, the way they welcomed our dog into the hotel and ceremony, the food was BEYOND fantastic. My only complaint was that comparatively, there were details around the hotel itself that were shabby - but more recent visits have shown that their improvements since our wedding have well exceeded our expectations

Our wedding at Sunset Hill House was fantastic. The location and views are breathtaking and really added to the day. The service the night of the wedding was swift and very professional. The deck worked out great for seating 160 guests and it was very comfortable and spacious. Some things to know for other brides: at times it was tough getting in touch with the wedding planner as she only works part time. In the end, I can't imagine being married anywhere else. I would highly recommend this venue to brides and grooms looking for a location where they can really hunker down for the whole weekend and celebrate their wedding at a great inn!

OUTSTANDING! We got married on June 6,2009, and our weekend could not have gone any better. Starting for the rehearsal dinner. Food was ontime, excellent quality, the staff was pleasant and attentive to the guests. The wedding day itself surpassed my expectations. Any thing I had asked for was done. Amanda, the wedding coordinator, was a wonderful. She was always visible, and availble for anything and everything. She worked hard, but made things seem so easy. Everything went so smoothly. Evryoe should get married here! I keep hearing from our guest, that our wedding was the best they had ever attended! What more could you ask for?

Amanda was absolutely wonderful in arranging our wedding and dealt with every one of my frantic calls and emails with the utmost professionalism. I always felt much calmer after talking to her. I would recommend the Sunset Hill House to anyone wants to have their wedding at a beautiful mountain location.

Nancy Henderson is amazing! She was the first person to ask me what I wanted on my wedding day - every other place told me "ceremony at 6, cocktails 6:30-7:30... blah blah blah - not Nancy! She's super flexible, the food is amazing, wine list is spectacular, VIEWS are to die for! Definitely wake up to see the sunrise over the mountains, it's a treat - as is sunset and everything in between. I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful 28 room inn, they will bend over backwards to make it work!