Five Willows

The place itself is beautiful, which makes the air conditioning problem especially disappointing. On a 90° day, it was unreliable, and no one could get cold air into the right areas. That kept what could have been a fantastic venue from earning five stars.

Even with the problems, everyone had a great time, and the venue really is beautiful. It was a hot weekend, though, and one of the AC compressors failed, leaving a whole floor without air conditioning. The elevator doors wouldn't open, so I assume it wasn't working. It would've been useful for reaching the third-floor rooms.

The property is pretty, but it needs much better care. We stayed in Hickory, and at $200 a night the room felt like a cold basement. The blinds were dirty, the furniture was old and cheap, and the room seemed like an afterthought. Getting the booking sorted out was stressful and unprofessional, and the stay wasn't any better. It was hard, maybe impossible, to reach anyone by phone, and email communication wasn't great either. A week before our stay, my wife called about checking in late. They first said we had no reservation, which panicked us, then pressured us to book again. We waited, and they eventually "found" our original booking in their online system. The wedding party also had an ordeal booking the house, but I'll leave that for them to review.

The place looks nice, but it could be prettier with some effort. There were no curtains on the windows, the elevator was broken, and breakfast was cold and limited. The raised bed was far too soft. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone over 40.