We had our wedding at the Saranac Waterfront Lodge on 06/25/22. Christine and the rest of the staff at the hotel were excellent the entire weekend! They were kind, attentive and very professional. The food was delicious. Definitely recommend booking the Governor's Suite! It was perfect for the girls to get ready in the day of. It has two walk out balconies with views of the lake. The layout of the hotel worked out really well for transitioning from one event to the next. The adjoining doors from the ballroom to the Boathouse Pub was a nice bonus for us for the after party. It made it an easy transition. They are a newer venue but they were able to answer all of our questions and were extremely accommodating to any requests we had. Highly recommend having your wedding here! We had a blast!

We got married at Saranac Waterfront Lodge on 7/27/24. We had a great experience and really loved having a "one stop shop" where we could have our ceremony, reception, and after party, while being steps away from our hotel rooms. We also loved being able to customize our weekend to fit exactly what we had in mind. SWL was so flexible with us - placing individualized welcome bags in hotel rooms for our guests, and setting up a welcome party the night before instead of a traditional rehearsal dinner. I did not have a wedding planner, but between Alisha at SWL and my florist (shoutout to Hannah at Gypsy Blooms Floral), I didn't have to worry an ounce on our wedding day about setting up/decor/scheduling/etc. Alisha did an amazing job helping us out while Christine was away at her own wedding. We truly felt like we were in good hands and everything went off without a hitch. Our only issue (which was always addressed and dealt with promptly by Christine) was booking hotel rooms. Our guests often struggled to book rooms, either being told the rooms were completely booked or not getting their discounts applied for their stay, so the majority of them ended up contacting us which became a little stressful. BUT this was dealt with professionally and Christine was always quick to help our guests personally make their reservations. All in all, super super super happy with our choice in venue!! We received sooo many compliments from our guests about everything and anything - the hotel, the food, the views, the staff - everyone is still talking about it months later. We had an amazing time and can't wait to come back for anniversary trips in the future!

Sadly, I don't know where to begin with this venue. Saranac Waterfront Lodge has a lot of potential as a premier wedding destination, but the staff, especially the senior sales manager in charge of weddings, simply do not stick to contractual agreements or do as promised. Although we had a lovely day, I can honestly say that if it weren't for our family and friends pulling the event together, it would have been a disaster.

Here is a list of reasons why:
**The venue does not stick to the contracted deposit schedule. There is no warning or invoice sent before deposits are taken out. We had two major billing issues: 1. We were billed one month later and over $2000 more than contracted for on our second deposit. 2. Our final payment was for the incorrect amount. It took one week just to get an invoice (that was promised pre-wedding) and one month to remedy the amount, only because we took it to our credit card company.
**The food served was not the same as we had at our tasting. It was cold and disproportionately cooked. We paid extra for lobster bisque, and not a single bowl was served warm.
**Neither the ceremony or reception area were set-up at the promised time. Because of this, our florist was put hours behind schedule and had to recruit family members in order to finish decorating before the ceremony.
**The venue broke our guest book. Guests witnessed it happen, but the venue never apologized or offered to replace it.
**Reception swapped welcome bags with another wedding for multiple guests. When it was brought to their attention, they responded 'welcome bags are stupid' even though the offer to hand them out is contracted with the venue.
**The ballroom is VERY dark. I inquired about lighting with both our DJ and sales manager multiple times and was told it would be well lit. It was not. Our guests had to use flashlights on their phones in order to see the dessert and coffee table. Candid photos on phones are not possible. The DJ played a game midway through the evening and had to turn on the full fluorescents, so guests could see the bride and groom.

Above, though lengthy, are only highlights of our issues. It is important to note that should you have an issue, reception are instructed to lie on the phone so that management can remain unresponsive. I do think it speaks volumes that there have been many weddings at this venue and only one review so far. Venues can not rely on a picturesque setting alone. Unless there is a turnover in staff, I am sad to say that I strongly do not recommend Saranac Waterfront Lodge.