Kelham Hall, Newark, Nottinghamshire

The venue is stunning and the service superb. Special thanks to Izzy at the wedding we attended this weekend for her attention to detail and willingness to ensure we were happy at all times. Everyone had an absolutely wonderful time in this gorgeous place.

My friend and I had a FABULOUS visit to The Renaissance at Kelham Hall. Agents were exceptionally generous with their time and gave us a truly enjoyable tour of this exquisite and grand venue as well as a stylish buggy ride around the extensive gardens. The sweeping carpets of snowdrops in the gardens were spectacular and particularly memorable as we have never seen snowdrops on that scale before.

This unique Victorian Stately Home designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott is an impressive example of his architecture which is similar to and predates his famous St Pancras hotel and Station in London.

It is no wonder that Kelham Hall is one of the leading Stately Homes in Nottingham and is a coveted destination for Luxury Weddings and Events. We were amazed by the wide range of stunning rooms available for hire catering for small gatherings, business meetings and private dining all the way up to huge rooms like the Great Hall which can cater for weddings and events for over 500 people.

We had a totally delicious tea prepared by the chef  while we were there which comprised of sandwiches, scones, miniature apple crumbles, tarte tatins, lemon possets and chocolate brownies prepared by him the exceptionally talented Executive Chef. My friend who is a scone connoisseur said the scones were the best she had ever eaten anywhere in the world and she has had a lot of cream teas!

The huge vaulted ceilings and enormous windows in the Music room where we had tea were both breathtaking. Yet despite the fact that this magnificent room was spacious and grand, it also had a warm and cosy feel to it. A particularly memorable moment was standing in the fireplace in the Music Room and looking up to see ancient graffiti in Latin dating from when the Hall was occupied by monks for 70 years.

We were so impressed by this unique and very special venue that my friend booked it for her wedding on the spot without even checking with her husband to be first!

We cannot thank all the warm, helpful and friendly staff at Kelham Hall for making our visit so welcoming and memorable. You exceeded our expectations and we are two very fussy opinionated customers so that was no easy feat!

We could really feel that the staff at The Renaissance at Kelham Hall are passionate about this venue and genuinely want to exceed your expectations and make your event as stress free, memorable and special as possible. In particularly we would like to thank the chef and staff for an unforgettable experience.

We now cannot wait for the Wedding!

Kelham Hall has a stunning interior. We enjoyed a glass of wine in the beautiful lounge. The service was excellent and we were treated like royalty. The hall has a stunning concert room for large events. The whole place is most impressive.

Visited December 2016

Staff poor attitude and were looking for a fight spoilt every thing no help at all after money given

This is a beautiful venue and our decorators and caterers did a superb job. However, the management of the venue and the wedding planner were awful and worked with the attitude of "we have your money so tough!"

Prior to the wedding, we had met with Becky (co-ordinator) to agree final arrangements. The Monday before the wedding (which was on Saturday) we were told that we had no rooms to get changed and we (bride and groom) would have to share with the campers, meaning we had to arrange a hotel at short notice and extra cost.

During the week leading to the wedding, we were then that we would have to use square tables - as we had round lazy susans we had to argue to get the round tables we had discussed since day one. We were also told we could use the ice cream cart, but again told that this had been booked for a year - this was a lie as we had discussed the hire of this on the Monday when we had gone down to finalise arrangements.

On the day of the wedding, the wedding co-ordinator was nowhere to be seen and spent the entire event at the other wedding boked on the same day (this was obviously the one they had decided to focus on). When our guests arrived, they were ushered to the balcony area and squashed up there as the discussion to keep the flow of people moving had been ignored/not set up. The caterers complained about the how unhelpful and rude the staff were. However, our discussion about being able to set up a bar at the venue (this was due to be a free bar) was denied on the day! My sister who was overseeing arrangements for us arrived at the venue to be told that the bar - which we were always told we could set up - was not going to be allowed as this never had been discussed. We had taken pictures of where this could be set up and discussed numerous times. The manager on duty was rude, arrogant, ignorant and as unhelpful as he could possibly be, even telling us to take our guests to the pub across the road. We had to put a card behind the bar to pay for the drinks for our guests, who then complained about flat beer and being told that they would not be served after the drink had been poured and thrown down the drain. The manager was an absolute disgrace; and even tried to be rude to us when we asked for the bar to be closed saying we would have to pay a fee!! This was a private event!

The disabled toilets (only ones with baby changing facilities) were loocked for no reason, and the workers refused to open them for guests, until we had a word with them. They had no reason or excuse for doing so, or why they took over 20 minutes to respond. Please bear in mind, the polite request to unlock the door was ignored but the "abrupt" conversation provided results!

The venue is gorgeous but the poor management and even worse customer service skills were a huge let down and I seriously think anyone considering this venue in August should consider changing with campers, lack of co-ordination, and being prepared to have to deal with a small minded 'team' who change their minds and lie about what is available and what is not. Such a shame because it is gorgeous, but if you want a stree free day which follows a well discussed and planned plan, then do NOT use this venue with poor customer service;, missing co-ordinators/management; and a determnation to ruin the wedding

Would not recommend this venue for a wedding reception. We were served poor quality food and the service was awful. The director admitted we we're let down but refused to refund any of the pre paid bill and still not had a receipt for the money we paid. The wedding was over a year ago. Definitely not worth the money paid and spoiled the wedding day.

I, along with many other customers, am incredibly unhappy with the new direction that Kelham Hall has taken since ownership has changed hands. Despite expressing this dis-satisfaction directly, the only action that the owners have taken is to delete complaints from their Facebook page and block users who dare challenge how they organise events or question the prices they charge. They have also removed the comment or review tool due to continued negative comments. This is whilst getting employees, suppliers, and family to post positive comments.

For the benefit of all those who have also had their comments deleted on the Facebook page, this is a summary of the recent bonfire night which the owners have worked so hard to cover up:

- bonfire created from trees chopped down from the woodland

- expensive at £4 per person

- under five minutes of fireworks which were positioned behind trees so couldnt be clearly viewed

- one catering van charging £2 per hot dog which led to queues of two hours for food

- hot drinks choice was a vending machine tea or hot chocolate

- no parking management which led to hours of queues and difficulties exiting

- started and finished late so many with children had to leave before fireworks began

Since changing ownership, the Park has become a caravan site which I can't imagine any bride-to-be would want to see as they drive into what was a stunning venue. Add to the fact that some campers choose to avoid the inadequate wash facilities by using the woodland and you can start to see why it's ratings are taking a drastic nose dive. Its luxurious golf cart tour for the bridal party must take about three minutes to do a lap and takes advantage of the widened pathways which go over where natural wild flowers used to grow.

Once free public facilities, such as the tennis courts, are now £2.50 per hour, per person. The Council can take some responsibility for this but it doesn't excuse the extortionate price.

The ultimate insult is the lasting damage that has been caused to wildlife and woodland. Protectected trees have been cut down not to mention young saplings planted by schoolchildren only a year or so before. Grassland designated as areas to encourage rare butterflies has been mown down and even used for a large bonfire - which largely consisted of the protected trees that had been cut down. My fear is that the owner will give up trying to make a go of the business after a year or so and leave the hall empty and the grounds absolutely ruined.

Ultimately, I hope this review saves some people and allows the voicing of opinions which are being deleted by the owners in other public forums. Removing the right for customers to question the service they have received perfectly illustrates what type of 'company' this is and the integrity of the people behind it. This was a much-loved local landmark - it's devastating to see it being destroyed.

Had a perfect day - staff were brilliant, attentive but discreet & made us feel very comfortable. Nothing was too much trouble.

Food was absolutely superb - beautifully presented, very hot and tasted wonderful.

Would definitely recommend it :).

Everything was first class - from the initial enquiry to the wedding day. Couldn't have asked for more for my wedding. The venue was gorgeous - absolutely perfect. Thank you!

We had our wedding at Kelham Hall in August, i'd always loved the venue and the building was definately a winner on the day.

We hired the the music room for our wedding breakfast and the carriage court for the evening. we had 80 guests and we felt both rooms worked well for these numbers.

The food was well presented and delicious for the wedding breakfast- we went in the day before and set up and Kelham Hall accomodated all the little extras we had thought of, with no problems.

In the evening we chose to have bacon butties and chips, which were a real hit, there was PLENTY of food.

If i had to pick at anything, there were a few occasions where suppliers and myself found that the telephone just rang- but they always came back to you.

We had a great day and the grounds really added to the day, allowing some beautiful photo shots both inside the building and outside too. We felt the veune was value for money- some of the other venues were priced well over what Kelham Hall charged.