My husband and I toured Harborside to host our wedding, cocktail hour, and reception for 75 guests during the pandemic. The last time we had been to/stayed at the property it was an outdated Best Western. But since the National Harbor had arrived to the area we noticed that the property was now renovated and that’s what made us take a look into Harborside, to see what’s new now. And baby, we fell in love as soon as we walked through their doors! From the beginning, Nina, our on-site coordinator, was warm, friendly, knowledgable, helpful and responsive in every way. We became friends instantly as she made me feel comfortable and safe with her as my point of contact. Any concerns we had she addressed quickly with either myself or my planner.

During our visit to have our tasting, we randomly got a chance to meet the owners and even they were AMAZING to interact with. Connecting with the head chef was a great experience for us too! My husband is a foodie and it made his day for us to sit with the chef and Nina to create our menu. And when I say the kitchen staff got everything spot on and it all was delicious, they seriously went beyond!!

It’s definitely a family vibe amongst the staff and it’s felt strongly. We really loved that about the energy there! Shout out to Raya for being the most amazing front desk rep I’ve ever encountered!!!! I witnessed her 1st hand handle a very very unruly guest during our check-out. Not for once did Raya break her respectful nature or the representation of Haborside Hotel as an employee!!! Had it been me I would not have been so composed or respectful. She seriously deserves a raise or outstanding team member perks asap!

Our guests traveled in from different parts of the country and they all mentioned to me how great the booking/check-in experience was, how nice the room accommodations were, and how DELICIOUS our menu was! And we 100% agreed with them! Every meal, drink, and dessert I had from their restaurant, PORTUM, was soooo good!! I highly recommend the shrimp & grits as I ate that dish 3 times during our 2 night stay. Heck, I even ordered it to go at checkout for my husband and me to take home! Our guests continue to compliment how great the food was as well LOL!

My 1bedroom suite was sanitized and well-appointed. We had a crazy hiccup happen at 11:45pm the night before my wedding. Our beautiful bathroom’s sliding door fell off the track and at the same time my tub began to leak while my daughter was in the shower. An eventful night that DIDN'T add any stress to my already existing “night before the wedding nerves”. Why? Because with one phone call to the front desk, security was at my door with a new room key and a bellhop cart to help us move to a new suite. My two young daughters, my sister, and I were moved to a new room and I was kindly comped for the inconvenience. A 1 service! So grateful for how easily the staff made that transition for us.

Our wedding day at Harborside Hotel went as planned, perfect! So perfect that I made it my business to go back downstairs after everything was over, in my gown, to personally thank our event’s staff members who set up and broke down our tables, chairs, dance floor, stage, served at the bar, cooked and served our food. They were ALL AMAZING and I just had to personally let them know! Even as I write this review I’m moved in my emotions just thinking about how perfect Nina, Natasha, Raya, the staff, and Harborside as our event space were perfect for us. We’re grateful for everything and would refer everyone to have their wedding/event at the Harborside Hotel.

Thank you again, Nina and The Harborside Staff!
Ivory & Peter

We booked Harborside as our venue back in February 2020 –BEFORE everything shut down due to COVID-19. We chose this place because it hadall the accommodations we were looking for: location (close to DCA airport,minutes away from the church), lodging, catering, and free parking. Given the pricesfor the National Harbor/Washington DC area, we found the value to be a steal. Our original wedding size was around 220 and ourvenue/catering budget to be $15K. To our delight, our initial quote for roomrental, catering, and bar service was right around $13K. We were all set until everything shut down due to COVID March 2020.
Like many other couples, we weren’t sure what would come ofour wedding in November. By July, we decided to scale back our guest list to50 people. We remained in close communication with the director of catering at Harborside, Nina Salahadin, who was always excellent at keeping an open line of communication with us about the county guidelines that impacted our reception. 

Harborside was very accommodating of our needs due to the COVID restrictions. They allowed us to decorate the ballroom the day before our actual wedding and even helped us add additional decorations, such as uplighting and bevelled mirrors for the table centerpieces. We had to set up the day before because our wedding was at 11am and our reception at 1p, and without hiring an event coordinator or party decorator, Friday would have been the ideal day and time.I stayed the night in their H-loft, which is a beautiful luxury suite with modern decor, a king size bed, living room, walk-in closet, and reading room space. I used it the following morning to have my and my bridal party's hair done. I definitely enjoyed my stay despite the pre-wedding jitters. 

One minor thing we were wary about leading up to the big day was the food because we weren't able to have a tasting beforehand, again due to the pandemic. We had ribeye steaks and teriyaki salmon for our menu and even asked catering to bake our wedding cake in lieu of other desserts. We based our confidence in the food off of our delicious Valentine's Day date at the hotel's adjacent restaurant, Portum. We knew that we enjoyed that meal and that's why we were comfortable keeping our reception at Harborside. Chef did not disappoint! All of our guests were very pleased with their meals and the red velvet cake was absolutely delicious. We only wish we could have taken some of the cake, but couldn't because of food servicing regulations. 

Every course of the event ran smoothly and our guests had nothing but good things to say. Although our wedding was not what we originally planned due to the pandemic, our special day at the Harborside was so memorable with no issues at all. I would definitely recommend considering Harborside for your wedding and even for other events!