Inn at Taughannock Falls Reviews

I really can’t say enough great things about the Inn at Taughannock Falls! The team here is top notch and made us feel so comfortable that we weren’t stressed at all day of! My husband and I wanted something a little different and the Inn’s response wasn’t trying to fit us into a normal wedding box it was absolutely let’s make it happen! The food here is excellent and we’ve had so many people tell us it was the best meal they’ve ever had at a wedding! They have an amazing team of preferred vendors that I just loved! It’s truthfully one of the most beautiful spots in upstate New York and the rooms are so comfortable. If you have any doubt about booking them for your event let this be your sign to go for it! They truly were worth every penny!

Words cannot express how wonderful this place is and how wonderful the staff are. They housed our entire family and bridal parties for an entire weekend and it was just magical. From start to finish, the staff at the Inn made sure we had everything we needed, checked on us constantly, did so much behind the scenes, followed up with us, made changes and accommodations to fit our every want and wish…just an incredible group of people, and an incredible place that we will remember forever.

We recently were married at this beautiful venue, choosing to host an intimate ceremony and reception for 28 guests using the "Micro Wedding" package. First, the location is truly astounding. Having been a college student in Ithaca, I was aware of the natural beauty surrounding the state park but was surprised and happy to hear that we could host our wedding ceremony outside at the lower falls. Thanks to beautiful weather, we did just that! Our photos were amazing and surrounded by vivid colors and elegant natural scenery. Our decision to have the wedding here was also made easy by the affordable and inclusive wedding package options, the one we chose included our photographer, Nicole Long who shot both engagement and wedding photos and was prompt, easily accessible, and great to work with. Second, we were put in touch with Jeannie who was our wedding coordinator/planner. Due to the fact that we live in the city, Jeannie was our on-side liasion and amazing to work with. She would schedule zoom calls, keep us on track, designed our programs for our ceremony, and even was able to wrangle some last minute props that we were able to use for our ceremony, which was a fusion of Hindu and Christian values. Jeannie is kind and supportive and does everything with a smile on her face. She was even able to organize a surprise balloon arch for me to take pictures with while my bridal party was getting ready. Third, the food was amazing! Chef Clem met with us personally during a tasting and helped us design the menu. My husband's family loves to critique food and is challenging to impress. We were able to design a unique, delicious, fresh, and individualized menu for our wedding that is far above any wedding food I have tasted, and they were raving about it! Everything from appetizers at cocktail hour right down to the combined flavors we had for our multiple tiered wedding cake was scrumptious. Fourth, we were very happy with the bar options, and were able to personalize many of the drinks and choices which added more detail to our event. The pricing of everything was reasonable and honestly within our budget and included food, drinks, cake, photography, a place to get ready, chairs, a table fit for a Pinterest Board, and kind, friendly wait staff who were lovely to all of our guests. Thank you Heather, Liz, Derek, Will, Maylin, and our golf-cart driver, Joe! You did everything with a smile on your face and everyone noticed.
The only feedback we wished could have gone smoother is the sound system. A lot of times the volume of music was either overpowering or too soft, and our plan for our dances to occur outside near a beautiful Gingko tree was foiled by the failed outdoor sound system. We ended up having our dances in the Jones room and all worked out because we were so happy with everything else, but I know my mother-in-law was a bit disappointed. Would just hope to have that fixed and checked for next time! Otherwise, this is a one-of-a-kind venue to host a wedding and we'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you so much! We love you guys :)

My wife and I got married here earlier this year, and absolutely loved every second of our experience. The team is experienced and made the planning process smooth and surprise-free. They were also very accommodating during our tasting weekend which gave us full confidence in their ability to deliver on our big day...and they absolutely did!

For the wedding weekend itself, we were able to have our close friends and family stay on site. This meant that those who are closest to us were never more than a 5 minute walk away, and made it a really positive experience for them as well. The venue itself was absolutely beautiful (both the setting for the ceremony which overlooked the lake and the tent where we had our reception) and the staff were all friendly and accommodating. We honestly would not have changed a single thing from the entire weekend and if you are considering The Inn as a wedding venue, I can assure you that you won't regret it!

We had our wedding at the Inn in June 2023, and we were so incredibly glad we chose it as our wedding venue. The new Enchantment Garden event space is beautiful, and we were sold after our first visit. We were planning our wedding long distance from NYC, but the Inn made the entire process really easy. We went up a couple times for the open house tasting and for a follow-up meeting. Tania-Lynn was our wedding planner and coordinator. She was absolutely amazing and made sure we had a seamless event. We were dealing with unpredictable rain forecasts, and Tania-Lynn was very reassuring and helped arrange a last minute tent rental to help cover our ceremony space. We were so impressed by the level of service the day of our wedding (especially the dedicated food servers who made sure we got to try all the amazing food!). Our wedding filled all of the guest rooms available and our guests were so impressed with the accommodations and beautiful scenery. We also had our after party at the Hillside residence which was the perfect space. We want to thank the incredible team at the Inn for helping make our wedding such a wonderful memory for us, our friends, and families!

Tania-lynn and the entire staff at The Inn at Taughannock were sensational!!! The incredible attention to detail, communication, and care that went into every part of our wedding was mind blowing! From help organizing our day around our guest number and weather, to the owner helping to clean seats before our ceremony, to even the waitresses helping me with my dress before walking down the aisle, every single person at Taughannock was a gem. And our guests have been raving about what amazing service they received during the reception and also how good the food was! I cannot recommend Taughannock enough. The grounds and rooms were beautiful and fully upgraded with lots of amenities. If you want a wedding location and team that pay attention to your every wish and detail this is the place 100%. We will forever be thankful to every single person there. Thank you!

I just returned from a wedding at the inn and it was the most spectacular wedding I have ever been to. If I didn't already have my venue locked down for my own wedding I would have booked this place on the spot.

Where to begin? We went out on a limb when searching for our perfect venue. The Inn's Enchantment space was still under construction when we signed our contracts, but it felt right, and I'm so glad that we took the risk. When we started working with Tania-lynn, everything fell into place perfectly. She is incredibly perceptive and understood our vision to a T. David, our server, made sure that my husband and I were fed and hydrated while we were swarmed with congratulatory hugs, and even snuck us a plate of passed hors d'oeuvres when we sat down for speeches. Shoutout to Chef Clem for making a number of dietary accommodations for quite a large guest list. I'm still dreaming about the rosemary polenta cakes and onion brulee. Tania-lynn also collaborated with my dad to hire a live wedding painter with only one day notice...an incredible surprise that we will treasure forever. Two months later all of our friends and family are still talking about how beautiful our wedding was, and it's all due to the incredible level of love and care provided by the team at the Inn. Everyone that helped make our event a reality was so warm and lovely. I feel like I've known them all for years. I'm looking forward to booking a relaxing weekend at the Inn someday to reminisce and relive the absolute magic of my wedding day.

Where do I even begin with how amazing The Inn at Taughannok Fall is. A dream wedding became a reality here.

When beginning our wedding planning journey there were a couple important things we needed in picking a venue. The first was that we wanted to be near hiking trails and a waterfall. The Inn at Taughannok Falls completely exceeded these expectations. The waterfall is SO close and absolutely gorgeous. We probably walked down to it 10 times in three days.. (not to mention the amount of times we went to the waterfall overlook, which is also very close). The next important thing for us was having plenty of accommodations for our guests because they were coming from all different areas. The Inn has gorgeous rooms and plenty of them between the four different buildings on the property. Our guests absolutely loved their rooms, the views, and the property.

The Inn property is absolutely gorgeous. When we initially visited the property the renovations were under way. When we came back to do our tasting, they were complete. And the result is absolutely stunning. The outside space around the Inn and the wedding garden/patio are beautiful and spacious. There was plenty of room to hold our 'Welcome Drinks' on Friday night. The fire pits throughout are great spots to sit and congregate. You could hang outside for hours and hours. The views from the property of Lake Cayuga are amazing. The property also has such an easy and convenient access to the park and trails of the waterfall. It's the kind of place you never want to leave!

The staff was absolutely amazing. We had originally planned to hold our ceremony outside by the small falls in the park, but rain thwarted that plan. They had back up plans in place that made everything go off perfectly. Our ceremony in the tent over looking the lake was beautiful. Everyone was so helpful and kind throughout the whole crazy weekend. I felt like we did not have to worry about a thing and everything would be under control. A very comforting feeling during such a hectic weekend. Kenzie was amazing and helped our dream wedding become a reality. All of the tiny details were attended to, right down to the type of sprinkle on our donuts! We really felt as if they heard and understood what we wanted and they made it happen.

The food was SOO delicious the whole weekend. We could tell right from the tasting that chef really understands and cares about his food so much. My husband went with the vegetarian option at the wedding and he isn't even a vegetarian! That's how good it is. They also gave us some choice in making changes and customization to the dishes on the menu. From the appetizers during cocktail hour to the dinner at the reception, everything was amazing. And the best part, we were able to do donuts instead of a wedding cake. The donuts were so good I can't say how many my husband ate! The food at a wedding is very important to us and they absolutely nailed it.

We held our cocktail hour and reception inside of the Inn. We had about 75 guests and a band. There was plenty of room for dancing! The Jones Room and the bar are great spaces for people to hangout who maybe don't like to dance. We felt like the inside had plenty of space. It was a concern of ours but it turned out to not be an issue. All the rooms provided plenty of space. And the outside porch/patio was great. There was also plenty of space for the after party in the Hillside house.

I can go on for hours about how amazing our wedding was at The Inn at Taughannok Falls. The property, the staff, the location, its all fantastic. If you are looking in the finger lakes area for a wedding venue, or really anywhere, we could not give the Inn at Taughannok Falls a higher recommendation.

I just had my wedding at the inn last week and we could not have asked for a better day. The staff is friendly and accommodating and the food is out of this world. The atmosphere was inviting, welcoming and makes us already want to go back for another stay. I would encourage everyone to go for a weekend, for a celebration like mine, or anything in between. Bravo to the Inn at Taughannock Falls!!!

Todd and I were more than pleased to have our wedding at the Inn. Everyone was pleasant and accommodating. They made us feel very special on our special day!

The Inn at Taughannock is a romantic spot for a beautiful wedding. We had a small intimate wedding with just 17 guests at the Inn. Our rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony and reception, and farewell brunch were all held at the Inn. Each event was unique and allowed our guests to experience the Inn to it's fullest. We had our rehearsal dinner in the beautiful Bommer Room, our ceremony was held outside over looking Cayuga Lake, our cocktail reception was held on the porch and our reception dinner was held in the romantic Jones Room. Our guests stayed onsite at the Hillside House while we enjoyed the romantic rooms at the Main Inn during our stay. From the time we arrived, to the time we left the staff went out of their way to make sure our events were prefect and all of our needs were met. Thank you Heather, Chef Tom, and Gigi for making our wedding events wonderful and memorable for us!! We look forward to spending our first anniversary at the Inn next year!

If you're considering planning your wedding at the Inn at Taughannock Falls, do it - this place is pure magic. I am wholeheartedly convinced that there is no venue that compares to the Enchantment garden or offers the wedding planning experience that you get at the Inn. The planners are top-notch, incredibly personable, thoughtful, detail-oriented and help bring your dream wedding to life. At the Inn, customization is limitless - a blank canvas awaits (well, if you consider a blank canvas to be gorgeous gardens, sprawling staircase, and a stunning tent). We worked with Tania-lynn who was an absolute rockstar and made our wildest dreams come to life. Every 'I" was dotted and every "T" was crossed. We didn't have a worry in the world when we walked onto the grounds on our wedding day. I can't speak more highly about the experience, staff, accommodations, and wedding day (and I've been dreaming about this day since I was a little girl!). What an honor it was to have our wedding at the Inn at Taughannock Falls. Thank you to the amazing planners and staff that made our wedding day the best day of our lives.

We planned a small 20 something casual brunch for our wedding day. I was very nervous as we hadn't tried the food yet, but it turned out to be a wonderful day. The food was fabulous. the drinks were great, and the day was beautiful. We got married in the patio on the steps with a brief , no nonsense ceremony, and then went inside for a brunch. Everyone is still talking about it a week later! Thanks to Gigi for helping us create a fantastic day.

The space and views are stunning and the staff really goes out of their way to work with you so that your day is as amazing as possible! Tania, our coordinator, went above and beyond making sure our needs were met every time, even if it meant going into the late night hours as we picked lighting colors around the venue and practiced our first dance! We were easily able to customize our wedding experience-from bar selections, to food choices, to lighting around the venue, etc. You truly feel like you have made the space your own for your special day. The food service was exceptional; quality was not lost even when cooking for a large quantity of people. The pastry chef even made a dessert for our guests from an old family recipe!

It's been about a month post-wedding and our guests continue to let us know how amazing the venue and wedding was! Highly, highly recommend this venue be considered!

I recently attended a wedding in the finger lakes area, (never been there before) at the Inn at Taughannock. The historic Victorian-style Inn has spectacular views of Lake Cayuga, easy access to the romantic Taughannock Falls and is not far from Ithaca, making transportation a breeze. But what made the visit memorable was the staff, who went the "extra mile" to make our visit special. We arrived days before the wedding party so had a chance to stay at the Inn, sample the (excellent) menu (try the Rainbow Salad) while taking a day trip to explore a selection of wineries close by. We were both taken by the charm and warmth of the Inn at Taughannock. As noted by other visitors, the grounds next to the Inn are under construction, but based on the amount of local stone masons working (!) , it looks like it’s weeks away from completion. The centrepiece of this outdoor wedding space is a truly epic outdoor fireplace – maybe 20 feet tall – built by local masons without mortar. As for the wedding itself (the ceremony was next to the waterfall), it was a great occasion, despite a bit of rain near the end. All in all, a lovely spot for both a wedding or a romantic weekend getaway!

My husband and I had our wedding at the Inn at Taughannock Falls this past October 10th, and the service and experience, especially the day of, was nothing short of superb and magical. First of all, there is something about this location and the physical space(s) it offers that is totally unique. It is quaint and historic, enhanced by natural beauty and fantastic views in every direction. Every time we look at the sneak peek photos, we can’t believe we were fortunate enough to get married in such a beautiful place.

We also need to sing the praises of the staff, especially our points-of-contact and coordinators, first Stephenie and then later Tania-lynn. We reserved our date for our micro-wedding (less than 20 people) more than a year in advance in the height of the pandemic (pre-vaccines, when we had no idea when and if we’d be able to even have the event the following year), and from our first interaction with Stephenie pre-booking it was clear the service they were offering us was going to be very personalized, accommodating, and flexible. From start to finish, they showed eagerness, creativity, and execution in making all our unique desires and visions happen.

For example, since our wedding was so small (and because we are big music buffs), instead of a DJ we curated a very personal playlist on Spotify for the day of. They worked with us to make sure their sound system could play our music exactly when and how we wanted to hear it, from the second we came back from our ceremony down at the Small Falls (GORGEOUS location to get married in, by the way), and they personally manned the controls to make sure the volume was appropriate at any given point of the night (our first dance, my father’s toast, during dinner, etc.) – and if we needed to adjust in the moment (like when my father-in-law surprised us with a song he had reimagined the lyrics to!), we could simply ask any staff member to turn it up or down, and they got right on it. They were also super flexible with our bar package since we wanted to upgrade our wines (and ended up needing to buy more than originally anticipated… it was no problem!).

Tania-lynn did a phenomenal job working with our other vendors to make sure everything was set up beautifully – better than we expected it to be, honestly. When we walked into the Jones Room for the reception dinner, it was lit up SO unbelievably beautifully that it took my breath away. The room was literally glowing, golden, twinkling, all the magic words you can think of, with beautiful place settings. That was ALL Tania-lynn: her attention to detail and making sure she delivered on our vision.

Our one and only critique is that response time over email could have been better, especially the weeks leading up to the event and when it came to resolving final invoices. But we fully appreciate that the team at the Inn, like so many others in this industry and every industry these days in the ongoing pandemic, is dealing with staffing shortages; they truly did everything they could, and everyone was wearing multiple hats all weekend (Tania-lynn was even behind the bar on our wedding day, and help set up our farewell brunch the morning after). At the end of the day, they pulled everything off without so much as a hiccup (and if there were any, it surely didn’t seem like it), and by the time we had packed up to leave the next day, all loose ends were tied up and we were sent on our way with the happiest memories we’ll always cherish.

All told, I would say the Inn at Taughannock is the premier destination in the Finger Lakes for a truly unique, intimate, personalized-to-the-smallest-detail and unforgettable micro-wedding. If we could do it again every year, we would!

With so much appreciation,
Anna & Matt Shirley

Photos: Emilee Carpenter Photography LLC

The Inn at Taughannock Falls was the perfect venue for our August 2023 wedding! Our planner, Jeannie, was the epitome of greatness and professionalism. She took our vision and truly helped us have it come to life. Our wedding day events went smoothly as well, which helped us both stay in the moment and enjoy everything around us.
Clement, the chef - oh my gosh; his creativity with flavors is out of this world, and was some of the best food we have ever had. We cannot wait to go back to have another meal of his! The event planning and catering portions, if we could we’d rate above 5. They truly are professionals, and even the event staff went above and beyond for us, even when the couple the previous night treated them poorly.
A couple of things to make note of for future couples:
- the room blocks they offer are NOT the lowest rates (as is policy for other hotels). We ended up having many of our guests cancel their reservations much closer to the wedding date, and rebooking through their website when the rates dropped significantly around the 30 day mark.
- If you want to be able to check into your room early, be sure to get it in writing and as a GUARANTEE. We thought this was the case for us, but unfortunately due to poor care of the previous wedding party and removal by the hotel management, we were unable to check in at the time we had discussed with the hotel manager. The Inn worked with us to come to a resolution, as this was a situation they had never encountered previously (2 months after our wedding).

At the end of it all, our day was absolutely magical and everything we could dream of. We cannot thank Jeannie, the day of event staff, the chef, and his kitchen staff enough for their care and execution!
-Katie and Alex

We booked our wedding at The Inn at Taughannock Falls prior to the completion of their beautiful garden. We had full faith that the space would be absolutely gorgeous. It was everything and more! Both Stephanie and Tania-lynn were wonderful to work with, even when we were not the easiest clients to work with! We are so grateful to have had this space for our wedding. Would recommend 10/10!

We were married in Oct. 2018 but selected the inn as our wedding venue over a year before. For us, this was a destination wedding, so we really tried to maximize the time we spent at the actual site. While we had a beautiful wedding day, the planning experience was very stressful and less than ideal.

The inn has a great many positives. The staff organized the logistics for our falls-side ceremony inside the state park, and it was stunning. The inn is absolutely beautiful and had the vintage Gatsby-esque vibe we were going for. We cannot sing the praises of Chef Tom enough; he is without a doubt a saving grace. His food is fantastic, and he is always willing to brainstorm new ideas and try new recipes. His food was a great value and included wine and desserts; an excellent touch. The day itself was fun and magical, with just a few minor hiccups.

We also really need to recommend Hillside House. It was a fun, convenient and attractive place to stay, easily holding both sides of the wedding party while capable of hosting various events, including our rehearsal dinner and the wedding after party. Hillside House was an expensive but well worth it option for accommodating our wedding party.

Unfortunately, many of the comments from the previously posted reviews also applied to us. We went through three wedding planners over 18 months, all but the last were very disorganized, failing to pass along any of our plans from one to the next. This resulted in going back to square one each time, having to plan our wedding anew with every new person that came in. Combined with irregular responsiveness to calls or emails made the planning process incredibly stressful.

The lack of communication about staff turnover was a constant challenge. The times we learned about staffing changes were when we would arrive at the inn demanding to speak to someone in person, a difficult task as we lived almost five hours away.

A significant point contention was the construction on site. The construction was not planned when we initially went into contract and ended up taking over the outdoor space we were supposed to use for our cocktail hour. Again, we only found out about the construction after dropping by unannounced. At the time, we were told the construction would take just a few months, wrapping up long before our wedding day. This was not what happened. Not only was the construction site an eyesore during our wedding weekend, but it also made getting to our wedding site inside the Taughannock State Park exceedingly tricky. It also led to a cramped indoor cocktail hour without the satellite bars we had planned... the indoor bar is too small for the number of guests we had.

Ironically for an inn, there were also several problems with guests trying to book rooms for our wedding weekend and never getting confirmations, or getting a confirmation and having their rooms mysteriously booked by other people. The inn did their best to rectify the situations each time, but it was frustrating having to manage booking rooms on top of trying to organize our wedding.

Overall, we hope the inn gets a far more organized and attentive wedding planning team since it could be a premiere area wedding location. Our final wedding planner was Gigi, and she was the best of the three. She tried her best, and it showed, but she was not set-up for success, having to run several things by herself and playing a lot of catchup. In summary, based on the totallity of our experiences, proceed with caution and keep your wits about you!

I had my wedding here this September, and although the wedding day was nice, I would not recommend this venue. We went through 3 poorly organized event planners in less than one year, so anytime we thought we were getting things we were not, and our actual planning to be done in the last 2 weeks. They did pull off a nice wedding day, but I can’t say it was perfect: the construction that was scheduled to be done months before our wedding was not done, and was an eye sore, the champagne flutes and place cards for us were not on the sweetheart table, and the event planner told us about how she invited a couple of Inn guests to crash our wedding because she felt badly that they had to put up with our noise (we have their photo booth to prove it!). The Inn gave us some freebies to try to make it right, and the location is stunning, but any bride knows how valuable it is to minimize the stress of planning your wedding, and then actually have the plans happen. I would not recommend having your wedding here, until they get over their “growing pains,” become more organized, and have a steady functional event planner. Be aware that they are going through a transitional stage for weddings. However, the Head Chef Tom is amazing. He even did research beforehand and made cultural foods for the wedding. Go for dinner (we loved Chef Tom!), and leave it at that.

Brides Beware. I’ve never experienced such a stressful few months while coordinating with the Taughannock staff. We visited and LOVED it. It truly is a gorgeous location. We told them that we’d take it! They sent over a blank contract and requested a $5,000 deposit. We were uncomfortable with the contract, since it did not mention anything we negotiated and had some errors. It was basically a blank contract; contracts should be protect both parties! I asked her to update the contract to reflect our discussions and she agreed. And then EVERYTHING fell apart:
- A 2 week period of no contact despite my effort and urgency,
- A new wedding planner Gigi who was rude, hung up on me, literally said “I don’t know why we are spending so much time on you”. She missed self-given deadlines, would say she would call me right back and never would, and was terrible to work with.
- I finally reached out to the manager Carl because after 3+ weeks, we’d gotten nowhere. Instead of addressing the personnel issue, he said “I reviewed your file and I have bad news for you!” and went on to tell me that the negotiated and agreed upon price per plate of $49 was incorrect and it was actually $85. This $49/plate was on the website, their brochure, and was signed off by the original wedding planner AND the chef! All in written agreements!!!!!
We were DONE. How unreliable can this be! It was so stressful and they ended up wasting 2 months of precious wedding planning time. This fun time turned out to be a nightmare.

Let me give you some costs that slowly trickled in: $5,000 for the tent rental, Apparently NOW $85/plate, ceremony chairs $4/pop, minimum of 125 people. Expensive booze. If you want to stay at the inn, there is a mandatory 2 night minimum rental and check to see if it is even available.

All-in-all, the gorgeous location is NOT worth the stress and falsification of agreed upon pricing. What a nightmare!

- L