Wedding Reception Nightmare
I want to start this off by saying I have never written a review online, for anything, anywhere in my entire life but I feel compelled to write this after the complete lack of respect we had at our we... more
I want to start this off by saying I have never written a review online, for anything, anywhere in my entire life but I feel compelled to write this after the complete lack of respect we had at our wedding reception at Best Western Premier Nicollet Inn. We choose this location and we could not have regretted our decision more. Upon check in, we quickly realized that the hotel had double booked our reception night with a Fergus Falls hockey team that was 30+ members strong. We shared bathrooms, could see each other, and were even within talking distance the entire evening. On top of this, Best Western employed a plain clothed security guard from a third-party vendor (not associated with Best Western) by the name of Tom, who single handedly was able to play judge, jury, and executioner of our wedding reception. Eventually, at around 10pm, the rowdy Fergus Falls hockey attempted to crash our reception and the groom and bride’s father then had to remove the hockey team themselves, and had to remind Tom to do his job of keeping other members of the hotel out. Tom became irate; bullying the wedding party, threatening to call the cops and kick out the bride and groom. It was at this point that the bartender, Bethany, started to cut off other members of the bride and grooms’ family, essentially cutting the entire reception off 3 hours early. No managers, no assistant managers, nobody we could talk to other than Tom and Bethany. We felt so trapped and helpless in this situation and it was truly heartbreaking. Upon speaking with Michael Goodman, the GM, he managed to only speak with Tom and Bethany, and didn’t reach out to any of the party members. We were not only disrespected by the security guard, but also management. We are disappointed that we will never get this happy moment back, and would not recommend this location to anyone. less
Go68049658901, General Manager at Best Western Premier Nicollet Inn, responded to this review
This is my second response as I spent more time investigating your comments above. I also fielded a message from the father of the bride that brought some additional details to my attention.
After spending 3+ hours reviewing surveillance video of your event, I feel we do owe additional responsibility for how the night ultimately ended. Between our lack of keeping the hockey group under control and our staff not being more engaged with your guests (instead of the security guard), we certainly had some "do differently" moments that we can learn from.
I do still believe that there was some shared responsibility in how the events needlessly escalated. With the wedding party "partying" with the hockey group one moment, and then arguing with them the next, it's hard to make sense of it. If our rules and standards were being followed, the hockey group would not have bothered your event any more than the on-site restaurant guests would have. I also still need to support my service staff when it comes to alcohol service - even if we may have been in the wrong. The bartender (personally) is the one liable in the state of MN, as well as the license holder, if there was an alcohol related accident of some type that occurs.
I do, however, apologize for not owning more of the responsibility sooner. I did not take the time to really research the interactions that occurred with all the COVID-19 details playing in the background of our business. It did appear that many of your guests had a great time, and I am glad you were able to get your event in before the crisis multiplied to where it is now.
I sent a message to your father (father of the bride) with more detail and am willing to accept further concessions for our shortcomings. Please discuss those points with him and let me know your response.
Thank you again for holding your event with us and I hope we can come to a fair solution that you can feel good about. Congratulations on your Wedding,
Michael Goodman
General Manager