Great Pines Reviews

I can not say enough about the fantastic experience we had with Great Pines as our wedding venue. For weddings they ask that you book all the rooms onsite for the entire weekend, so we got the whole resort to ourselves without outside interruptions. The resort was a beautiful location for all of our guests with great views and lots of activities in the area to choose from. The onsite wedding coordinator, Hannah, was there every step of the way to help us finalize decisions and customize the wedding for what we were looking for. She also kept in constant communication (even on maternity leave) to keep us up to date on current COVID restrictions and how they would be handling them. The days before the wedding we were very concerned about the weather, but the staff helped to coordinate multiple options that still fit my vision for the special day. After the wedding, the most frequent compliments I got were in regards to the venue staff being so helpful and professional during the reception.

My only advice would be to skip working directly with the front desk for any guest reservations and go directly through the wedding coordinator. We had multiple hickups that could have been avoided if we just went through her the majority of the time.

In a nutshell everything was perfect. Great Pines met all our accommodations we wanted. Lake view, hotel and bar, lake access, space for tent, help with planning...ETC. We had many friends and family tell us it was the best wedding they've ever been too.

I don't even know where to begin - this place is unreal. Brita, Devlin, and Hannah know what makes the Adirondacks so special, and they package it up and help you create the most beautiful wedding of your dreams. I was married this September and everything was perfection. The food, staff, vibes, property, and accommodations all exceeded expectations and then some. Don't pass up the after party in the lean-to, it was my FAVORITE part of the whole night. All of my guests reiterated many times that is was the best wedding they have ever been to, and there are so many reasons for that. The effort Great Pines puts into your special day is unmatched. You won't get a run-of-the-mill wedding factory type of experience, everything is so personal which makes it extra special. If you can dream it, they can make it happen. No detail is forgotten - I added some pictures so you can see the dreamy-ness for yourself. You can't go wrong with Great Pines - get your Pintrest board ready!!

Britta, Hannah, Devlin and their incredible staff blew us away for our wedding weekend getaway this past October. I continue to get compliments on how amazing the wedding was, the accommodations and the ambiance matched with the picture perfect views. And the food was to die for, all of the guests raved about it and still to do so. The dinner and the brunch was incredible, the chef prepared everything perfect. The staff made us and our guest staying on property feel like family the entire weekend. Their team has created something truly amazing and they exceeded our expectations. I cannot recommend Great Pines, Britta and her team enough.

From the moment my partner and I arrived, until the time we departed, Great Pines was incredible in every way. I cannot stress enough the professionalism and amount of care each of the team members puts into everything they do. The venue itself is beautiful, with locations of the dock overlooking beautiful 4th lake (where we had our ceremony) to the great room and dining room, every space was clean, well appointment, and comfortable. The food from the chef blew all of our guests away. We had a wonderful raw fish bar with cocktail hour which was presented throughout the great room and a family-style dinner with quality dishes that some of family have never had an opportunity to experience. We had a fun reception with simple colored lighting in the dining room for dancing and a great bone-fire overlooking the lake which just capped our perfect wedding. Everything was more than we could have ever dreamed of and wedding venues in our home of NYC paled in comparison to the value and experience we had with Great Pines. We cannot recommend Great Pines highly enough!

Where to even begin- I cannot say enough about what an amazing experience we had having our wedding at Great Pines. Eddie and I had the pleasure of watching Great Pines evolve from the start of construction to its completion, and it's truly amazing what Britta and Devlin did to transform the property into the perfect place for a wedding celebration!! The tent where we had our reception was beautiful- from the view of the lake to the details and lighting in the tent, it and was all breathtaking! The staff did a PHENOMENAL job, to the point where many guests went out of their way to tell us about it. All of the wait and bar staff were so attentive and kept everything running smoothly. The food was also outstanding- everyone raved about it. I have been to a lot of to weddings and have never heard so many people so happy with their dinners! Chef is incredible, you really can't get food like that anywhere else in the the Old Forge area. We are so grateful to Britta and Devlin for what a wonderful job they did every step of the to way up to our wedding day. They are down-to-earth, great people and truly made us feel more like old friends than customers.

This is the perfect venue for a small and intimate ceremony, reception, and family get away. Although Great Pines can meet the needs of larger weddings, I felt that if you are looking for quality time spent with the ones that you truly care about being there for your special day (and weekend!), this is the perfect location. It is beautiful and extremely versatile. With many different ways and spots around the property to have your ceremony and reception, Great Pines can fit your exact need! There is no need to bring in a lot of decoration, as Great Pines is already such a beautiful venue. I would highly recommend Great Pines on Fourth Lake in Old Forge, NY, as a prime wedding location for your dream Adirondack wedding!

Sigh, this place has so much potential. Now that the dust has settled I figured writing a review would help others avoid unnecessary stress.

After I paid in full ahead of time ($2000~), the management/team seemed to no longer be interested in accommodating our small wedding. Their "inclusive" package is mislabeling. When we had toured the "resort" we asked about decorating the area we rented for the wedding and Hannah (the wedding planner) said, "of course!" Come to find out two days before the wedding, we weren't allowed to decorate until we were WITHIN THE HOUR of our time of the ceremony. Which meant we could only decorate the ceremony area and get married in that same hour. I asked if we can decorate earlier in the day and their wedding planner claims that decorating would "scare" other guests away from enjoying the "resort." It was a back and fourth between what I couldn't do because "x, y,z" and at some point their wedding planner suggested I was being pressured to do more and reminded me that " you only paid for the small wedding package versus booking the whole venue" and proceeds to tell me that "I don't think that's not what you want for your wedding." Not to mention, she implied I should have booked the whole venue if I wanted to decorate ahead of time. All I wanted was to decorate the ceremony area ahead of time so I could get dressed and ready for my wedding. I even suggested if I wrote a sign to let guest know they could enjoy the decorations but the management didn't want to be liable if anything broke. Then the wedding planner sent me a "kind reminder" that our contract states the time, insulting my intelligence because I "can't read." NO WHERE in the contract explicitly states that I was supposed to decorate and get married in the same hour of the ceremony time, I've included their "all inclusive package" screenshot for reference. (I read and handled multi million dollar contracts for work, I have read many contracts that are clear in disclosing information that pertinent to a customer.)

Wedding day comes rolling around, we decided to not deal with the wedding planner and move the ceremony elsewhere. We kept the dinner at this venue. By the way, the "resort" was not busy on our wedding day. They could have easily let us decorate ahead of time but they did not want to deal with us. Food was ok. I would give this place 1 star but the food made up for the experience we had. We also booked two nights at their hotel, we found spiders in the bathroom and the sink was not cleaned. Not to mention they claim to offer military discount but after reminding them twice but they never adjusted our bill.

Perhaps they should rename their place as Mediocre Pines Motel and restaurant. If you made this far, in reading my review I hope you will consider going else where for your big day because no one deserves to be treated like trash on their wedding day.