Merriweather Lakehouse Reviews

I absolutely am glad i chose this vendor for my wedding. All of the catering managers were amazing! They were patient and understanding and went out of their way to provide the best experience for me ever!

The venue and flexibility was outstanding! The lake view, servers, food, and more was more than I could ever dream! Best day ever!

Having our reception here was the best decision we could have made.

When my son proposed to his girlfriend (a medical student between her first and second years), we only had three months to plan a wedding, and we needed a great location and the support of experienced wedding professionals. We found both at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel. Event Coordinator/Catering Sales Manager, Heather Johnson, listened carefully to our needs, offered excellent suggestions, and responded to all of our questions quickly by email or by phone. We found this high level of professionalism in all of the staff at the Sheraton. Tara, the Group Sales Coordinator, managed the block of rooms for our guests with flexibility, speed, and good humor. Giles, our Banquet Captain, gave his personal attention to the bride and groom during the reception. John, from the management team, and Chase, from the maintenance team, quickly repaired a "decoration disaster" in our ceremony space that could have ruined the most important moment of the entire day. In addition to the excellent service, the location on Lake Kittamaquandi was beautiful, the space in the Lakeview Ballroom easily accommodated both the ceremony and the reception for our 183 guests, and the space for the cocktail hour--a spacious lobby with floor- to- ceiling windows overlooking the lake--was a hit with our guests who could enjoy their appetizers while watching the wedding party take pictures on the outdoor patio. We enjoyed our experience with the Sheraton so much that we sent the bride and groom to the Sheraton Mountain Vista Villas in Avon, Colorado for their honeymoon. Overall--an excellent experience!

Heather Johnson was great to work with!

The staff at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel were top notch. They responded quickly to every question and went out of their way to accommodate our requests. This was the second time we used this facility for a large family event and were again extremely pleased with the results.

My wife and I viewed about 4 places before we went to the Sheraton in Columbia, md. I felt like once we saw the places we knew it was going to be our venue. They were willing to work with out crazy requests and the price was in our budget. Bebe really went out of her way to discuss all of our issues and made it the best it could possibly be. We were even able to make our rustic wedding happen in a ballroom. The cake was very good, food excellent. Our friends and family are still talking about how beautiful it was. The suite afterwards was fantastic. Highly recommend getting married here to work!

Bebe saves the day! We were very interested in using this venue for our wedding because of its great location, small venue size accommodation, and promotional package offered. unfortunately, we went through two different (unsuccessful) wedding planners upon signing the contract. they were unresponsive and weren't as aggressive in scheduling as we would like. fortunately, Bebe came and saved the day! it was a small size wedding so it literally took one meeting with Bebe (a week before the wedding) to finalize all the minute details and address any questions or concerns we had. The wedding went perfectly! The venue is very nice and the food was wonderful. The wait staff was so helpful and attentive to the needs of all our guests and the flow from course to course was very smooth. If you plan on using this venue, ask for Bebe!

We are so happy that we chose the Sheraton Columbia for our wedding venue! Bebe was amazing to work with, and the location was gorgeous. It was so convenient to have our out-of-town guests stay in the same hotel where the wedding was, and the pictures of our wedding ceremony are gorgeous, primarily because of the beauty of the waterfront view. The value of the venue is great too, it was nice to be able to book the ceremony and the reception in the same place with the catering and cake all included. Once we put the deposit down on the venue, everything for the wedding just fell into place.

Bebe Miller was very helpful throughout the entire process, and she was also available the evening of the wedding to make sure everything went as planned. She was receptive and flexible throughout all the planning, and she had some wonderful ideas for us. There are so many details to consider and we felt the staff was very experienced. The food was FABULOUS, and we were able to choose more than one option without a split entree charge. They handled all of the vendors' needs and deliveries throughout the week and during the day including decorations, gift bags, and display mementos. The banquet manager, Sandra Mendoza, was absolutely terrific in handling the meal and desserts that were delivered. She even cut and packaged desserts the night of the wedding and again the next morning for our brunch. We cannot compliment her efforts enough- she was truly wonderful. The ballroom was large enough and was very pretty overlooking the lake in the evening- even in rainy weather. The bride and groom each had their own dressing room on the day and a complimentary room in the evening. Everyone was so happy throughout the wedding and we were very pleased with the entire experience. We all would definitely recommend this wedding venue as well as the restaurant and hotel. It was a weekend to remember.

I would absolutely recommend this venue. What was unique about our wedding was that we had a smaller guest list (75) so Bebe Miller (the catering/wedding coordinator) suggested that our group was too small for the ballroom and we might be interested in using the Waterside Restaurant. The restaurant was so elegant, classy, with floor to ceiling windows along the entire wall and side - giving way to a panoramic view of the lakefront. We had our ceremony on the patio and it was absolutely picturesque! Stunning landscaping paired with verdant surroundings gave us the outdoor setting we were looking for. Bebe Miller was wonderful to work with. She was very organized and willing to try to accommodate our requests. She had great ideas and suggestions that worked with our overall vision. The food, service, and lodging was excellent. We had 4 different dinner course selections to offer (at no extra cost). Every staff member I was in contact with was 100% professional with my (now husband) and I, as well as our guests. The value of this venue is unbeatable - and you wouldn't know it looking at the quality of service you get. 100% recommend this venue, it would be very difficult to find such an elegant venue at a great price. Worth a meeting with Bebe to check it out!!! She is fantastic!!!!!

The Sheraton staff did an amazing job hosting my wedding reception. Their team involved was so helpful and attentive. They communicated extremely well, even during the event. I could not ask for a better night! I would recommend the Sheraton to anyone!

Bebe Miller was outstanding! Thanks to Bebe, our reception was simply beautiful. She has an attention to detail that cannot be matched. Bebe walked us through the planning process and gave us many suggestions that made our day even more special. Our banquet captain, Julie Hyde, was also wonderful. She made sure that all of our guests enjoyed our reception. Julie also made sure that my husband and I received personal attention on our special day. We received many compliments on the food. The chef and his team did a great job. Please note that this review is for the catering team only. The hotel reservations team need improvement. The hotel manager and Bebe had to step in when they dropped the ball.

Bebe Miller did a fantastic job planning our reception. Her attention to detail and customer service are unmatched.

Good afternoon Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Biggar:

I am writing to make you aware of my family’s sincere appreciation for the fabulous job done by the staff at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center. My daughter had her wedding ceremony and reception at this facility on September 4, 2010. She and I started plans for her wedding one year prior to this date and one of the first things we did was to reserve this hotel for her special day. We immediately began working with Bebe Miller, Director of Catering, and shortly thereafter we started working with Bethe Brekke, Senior Sales Manager. Trust me, from the start, these ladies were on their “A game” and they represented your establishment extremely well throughout the entire year. Their every action showed us that they cared about her and her special day. They showed us that they wanted to make sure her day was memorable and that she got just what she wanted. She had a vision of what she wanted her special day to be like and because of these ladies’ professionalism and expertise, we got it. They did everything within their power to make sure that the hotel delivered, either meeting or exceeding our needs. Because of the nature of the planning we spent far more time with Bebe during the year. No matter when we called, e-mailed, or wanted to meet with her, she was there. Her responses and/or recommendations were always prompt, accommodating, well thought out, and consistently showed that customers came first with her. Bottom line, Bebe and Bethe were OUTSTANDING professionals and we could not have gotten through everything we did at your facility without their guidance, support, and expertise.

Additionally, my daughter and I are extremely detailed oriented when it comes to things that are important in our lives. During the weekend of the wedding and especially the wedding day itself everything went off without a hitch. Things went so smoothly, we couldn’t believe it! We kept waiting for “it” to happen. However, there weren’t any major surprises and we never had to go to Plan B. Your staff was exceptional. In addition to Bebe and Bethe, we want to commend Alberto Trevizo, Director of Banquets; Julie Hyde, Banquet Captain; Kenny Johnson, Executive Chef; Melissa McBean, Front Office Manager; Shirlyne Joseph, Assistant Front Office Manager; Tracey Vaughn-Perfetti, Convention Services Manager; Charlotte Johnston, Sales Assistant; and Stephanie Steinberg, Catering Assistant. I also want to commend Vernon Coates, the Bellman who was on duty the night we checked into the hotel. He was very helpful and very customer focused. While not a hotel employee, we also want to commend Brett Nix, Director, Event Technology – PSAV, for his expert advice and for helping to ensure we had the ambiance my daughter expected in the ballroom during the wedding ceremony and the reception. He clearly understood what she wanted as far as the lighting was concerned, and more importantly, he delivered.

I mentioned Julie Hyde and Kenny Johnson above. However, I must single them out for a special commendation. They also get customer service. Julie attended to our every need that night and she helped make sure our guests felt special. As busy as she was, she was never flustered nor did ever stop smiling. She was superb! Kenny Johnson is outstanding! Not only was his food delicious, he also listened to us. He took time from his busy schedule to make sure he fully understood what we wanted and how we wanted it. The presentation was great and our guests truly enjoyed their meals that evening.

So, as you can see, we are happy customers. I could go on, but I won’t. I will close by simply reiterating that the Sheraton Columbia Town Center fulfilled our every need for my daughter’s wedding. The location was great, the staff was exceptional, the teamwork/partnership was superb, and our guest are still talking about that wedding. They could not get over how beautiful the ballroom was and how quickly it had been transformed from one look during the wedding ceremony to an entirely different look during the reception. Your staff worked closely with our external vendors to make this happen in less than an hour. We appreciate the teamwork.

Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Biggar, we are extremely pleased and wanted you to know this. Please pass on our heartfelt thanks to your entire staff at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center.

Bebe was fantastic. She walked us through the planning stages and made sure everything looked perfect and went smoothly. The food was delicious, the ballroom looked gorgeous, and we stayed in the penthouse suite after the wedding, which was fantastic. We chose this location because of the amount of people we needed to seat, but we were blown away by the service. 5 stars!

When my husband and I began our search for venues to host our wedding reception, we were looking for a place near the water, with a space to have an outdoor cocktail hour before the seated dinner reception, a reception room with enough space for our guests and a 10 piece band, and finally a place which would provide great food for our guests. We feel extremely fortunate to have found all of that at the Sheraton Town Center Hotel in Columbia.

Bebe Miller of the catering staff did a fantastic job helping to coordinate our wedding reception and worked with us to personalize a menu for our reception. She also helped our dads host breakfasts on the day of and day after the wedding. We gave our guests a choice of three different dinner options and found the Sheraton’s prices for seated dinner to be favorable to other comparable venues.

One of the most popular dishes that our guests chose was the filet mignon with Maryland crab cake (who doesn’t like surf and turf?). Both my husband and I have lived in Maryland for most of our lives and as a result, we are very picky when it comes to Maryland crab cakes. We were a bit concerned that the Oil Crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, which occurred less than two months before our wedding, could affect the pricing or even the availability of crab meat for the reception. Chef Kenny worked some miracles by ordering the crab from New Zealand (at no extra cost to us) and the crab cakes were delicious – lots of lump meat and very little filler! In fact, all of the food was amazing and the reception went off without a hitch thanks to all the efforts of Bebe and Chef Kenny. It was a truly memorable evening for us and all of our guests.

An amazing reception. Great food, attentive waiting staff, superb captain. Wedding plans started a year in advance and Beth was available and attentive from the start. Received calls from friends commenting on the lovely reception afterwards. Highly recommend.

The people at the Sheraton were so nice to work with! They were extremely accomodating and flexible!

Excellent location. Beatiful surroundings. Staff was very professional & personable making our son's wedding a magnificent and memorable event!

This was a great choice for a venue. We had both our ceremony and reception here which made it easy for our guests and for us. It was very affordable, the Catering Director was great to work with -- a little overloaded I think given sometimes being slightly unresponsive -- but overall wonderful to work with and I would make the same decision again.

The Sheraton Columbia Town Center was the perfect venue for our reception. Bebe was terrific in planning every detail from the cocktail reception to the last dance. She was extremely professional and flexible in incorporating our ideas and theme. Julie was terrific as our banquet manager the day of the reception. All of our guests loved the food at the cocktail hour and reception, especially the beef carving station and pasta station. They also enjoyed the sundae bar! I would highly recommend the Sheraton for a beautiful location, a great outdoor cocktail hour space, exceptional catering and reception service, and clean, modern hotel rooms for your guests.

Heather and the Sheraton were awesome. Would absolutely recommend.

It was a pleasure working with Heather Johnson. She was knowledgeable, flexible, punctual, and flexible. She really help make our daughter's wedding a lovely day. She is to be commended for her great work.

Our wedding at the Sheraton Columbia Hotel was a beautiful event that went off with hardly a glitch!

We began the planning process working with Bebe Miller. Bebe is very friendly and great to work with. She handles all of the interaction with bride, groom, parents, and in-laws very diplomatically.

Email was our primary means of communication with the hotel which was helpful, though at times I did not get responses as quickly as I may have hoped for. It also would've been helpful if more information was provided in writing, perhaps in the form of checklists so that we knew what to expect and what to plan for. Most brides have not ever done this before and I felt I could've been better prepared, particularly in the final month or two settling on final details.

A few things if you use this as your venue- there is no specific room typically reserved for the bride and groom or for the bridal party the day of the event to get ready. We ended up reserving a suite so that we had more room for hair and makeup in my room the day of the wedding. My advice is to just to ask to see the rooms when you start planning so that you have a sense for whether it'll meet your needs and whether you can reserve a suite early on in your planning.

The event was captained by Julie Hyde who was fantastic! She took care of everything we needed and made us feel quite at ease.

We also worked with Beth Brekke to plan our block of hotel rooms for out of town guests. She is a delight! She really worked with us to make sure we got the room that was right for us and that we felt like royalty on the day of the event.

Overall, the Sheraton is a beautiful venue and we had a wonderful experience there.

Bebe Miller was our coordinator and she was great. She was responsive to emails, which was very important since I had to do most of the planning out of state. We had some issues come up with double booking but she went out of her way to help accommodate. She was also nice about our budget and worked with us on the food and decor. We did a plated dinner on a Saturday evening so our costs were naturally high, but she helped to keep us on budget. In the end we were very happy we chose the Sheraton for our ceremony and reception...and the lake is beautiful. My now husband found this place because of its outdoor view. Also the wedding suite was gorgeous and they made a beautiful tray of goodies for our wedding night.

Ceremony on the outside terrace was beautiful! Surprises staff changes on the day of the wedding cause a few moments of confusion, but it all worked out.

Bebe was great! Super helpful and willing to be flexible! Very sweet and easy to get along with.

I held my wedding and reception at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center.
Everything turned out great. BeBe Miller is on top of things. I was pretty organized, but she and the staff helped pull it all together.
The guest rooms are nice. We had our event downstairs on the Terrace level. We planned to have the ceremony outside, but it was too cold. BeBe worked with me and my day of coordinator to have everything just as nice inside as it would have been outside.
The food is delicious, I would say above average for "hotel food". They really listen to what you want and try their best to accommodate your vision.
The banquet staff was also amazing the day of and provided excellent service.
One of the best things was the price. For a hotel wedding in the Baltimore/DC area, the cost per person can be reasonable. There are several meal and bar options that won't leave you broke.

Also, the cake comes with the wedding package, and the cake is from a bakery, and is delicious as well. They give you several flavors, and styles within your package. You can embellish and add more if your choose for an additional cost, but the options are so many that you really don't need to pay for the cake upgrades unless you really want to.

My only drawback was that some guests were able to find rates cheaper in the hotel outside of our block.

I highly recommend this hotel for your event.

We wanted a wedding on some water without breaking the budget when we stumbled upon the Sheraton. It was the perfect "one stop shop" and was exactly what we were looking for. We had the Ceremony on the back patio over looking the water, the reception just inside and our guests booked over 40 hotel rooms for the weekend. It was so easy for our guests having everything in the same spot, they didn't have to worry about a thing, which meant I didn't have to either!

I got married at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel on Sept 4th. We had an outdoor ceremony and a indoor reception (from 5pm-midnight overall). I loved it! The outdoor ceremony location is beautiful, our guests had a wonderful view of the lake and we took many pictures outside. The coordinator here, Bebe Miller, was super helpful throughout the whole process and gave us a lot of advice. We also had a banquet manager on the day of, Sandra, who was great and very attentive to our needs. The only reason for one star less is because we didn't opt to go with the hotel's food, not enough seasoning on the food for us BUT the hotel does allow outside catering which is great! Not many hotels allow that. And our guests had some issues with booking rooms initially but the hotel was very responsive to that and it was difficult because it was a holiday weekend. All in all, if we had to do it over, we would still have our wedding at this beautiful hotel. There aren't very many options for outdoor weddings in Maryland, ESPECIALLY, venues that have on-site lodging. This was what really convinced us that it was the right option.

Our whole family had a wonderful time at our reception. The food was great and so was the service. The staff asked us if we needed anything several times during the reception and took care of all of our requests. It was nice to have a location that was easy to get to from the ceremony. We took alot of pictures outside while our guests had cocktails. The time went by quickly but we know everyone enjoyed the food and the dancing.

The venue is outstanding with the lake view. Amanda (sales coordinator) was the best person to work with. She helped from start to end. They allowed outside catering for the wedding. Everyone loved the place and my wedding was the best day ever.
We highly recommend Sheraton Columbia town center to everyone.

Initially, we went through a few sales managers, and as a bride, I was a bit frustrated having to explain my vision for the day several times and not sure how things would be executed However, once Bebe took over, she assured me that she would handle everything and she did! She was flexible and focused on my needs. We had a great tasting and guests loved the food. The staff was great as well.

The Sheraton was a nice, local venue. The staff was very accommodating and helpful. The only thing I do recommend doing is having all communications in writing, because the coordinators are very busy and may forget certain details that you had discussed.

The catering division at The Sheraton in Columbia, MD did an excellent job!! Everything was beautiful and amazing! The scenery and hotel is very beautiful! We had our wedding outside and it was so peaceful and lovely, sunset and lakeview!

The caterering division is amazing, but the actual hotel part is another story. They lost my brother's reservations and did not even apologize and it took hours for them to do something about it. My aunt had people in the hallway in the early morning hours fist fighting infront of her door. My parents had 2 wakeup calls, one at 4Am and one at 5AM the morning of the wedding! This did not make for a good nights sleep the night before their daughter's wedding! To get the situations recitified, was like pulling teeth from the staff, and they hardly did anything to compensate. We spent over 10k on the wedding alone, and our guests probably made them another 3-4k in room stays!

A fantastic experience from start to finish! My coordinator at the Sheraton walked me through the whole process, was available to talk to me anytime, and added extra touches that made our wedding special.

I was very happy with my wedding ceremony and reception at the Sheraton Columbia Hotel. They took good care of me on my wedding day and Ellen was fabulous to work with beforehand. The room looked beautiful, staff was friendly, food was AMAZING! Even as we attend other friend's weddings, guests are comparing the food to ours! They went out of their way to make us happy and give us a great wedding experience. We did have a little bit of a problem with our rehearsal, they were supposed to set everything up for us in a different location but when we arrived they hadn't done anything and we had to set it all up ourselves. We also wished that they had provided us with someone to assist with the ceremony but I guess that's why "day of coordinators" exist. Overall, I would definetly recommend them! In fact, the hotel gave us our honeymoon suite for free, a separate guest room for the bride the night before and night of our wedding, and a free meal in their incredible restaurant for our one-year anniversary.

The Sheraton was a very nice place to have a wedding. The view and outside area was very beautiful. Unfortunately, there was some construction going on, on the other side of the lake which took away from some of the beauty. It had nothing to do with the Sheraton, they had no control over the county construction, but it still was a dissapointment. The people in charge the night of our wedding were great. They were helpful and stood up for us when the DJ caused problems. They even extended our reception by a half an hour due to these issues. The actual ballroom itself is nothing special, but with pretty table decorations and lighting it still looke nice. We did have some issues with security wrongly accussing some of the wedding party of noise complains which was annoying (we weren't even at the hotel when the complains came in, we were at the bar next store for the after party) The hotel did take half off one of their rooms for this though, which was nice. There was also a triatholon group staying at the hotel and they ended up waking up multiple guests of ours at 6am yelling and screaming before their race. Overall, I was happy with my experience and would recommend them.

The venue was beautiful, overlooking the lake. The room was huge. The food was delicious. I had a brunch with an omelet and waffle chef. Everyone raved about how simple and delicious the food were. They even provided a limo to the church for me since it was not that far away from the venue and NO one would provide limo service for me. The hotel staff treated my guests, myself, and my husband very well. Prior to the reception, the staff did not always respond quickly. However, they assured me consistently that everything would work out fine and they did. There is little room for negotiation on the menu but they did try to work with me. I would not say it was inexpensive but it was more reasonable than many of the caterers I sought with a similar menu.

It was nice for what it was worth. Considering the average wedding cost $19k we made out like bandits, but the service charge that tax on everything is ridiculous. Remember when its you wedding venues will double and triple charge for everything. Like why would 50 buffalo wings cost $300. Ask the Sheraton. The Ceremony was awesome. The setup on the lake was very nice. Definitely a memorable wedding.

I recently hosted my mother’s 75th birthday party at the Merriweather Lakehouse, and I am still deeply disappointed in the quality of food compared to the amount of money I paid. We planned a cocktail party with a heavy focus on hors d'oeuvres, but what was served was honestly humiliating for the occasion.

I paid $600 for a cheese display, and what arrived looked like a small charcuterie board I could have easily put together at home for a fraction of the cost. I also ordered 50 mini cheeseburgers at $5.50 each, expecting at least slider-sized portions. Instead, they were so tiny you could fit them on a toothpick.

The $600 cheese and spinach display was literally just a pot of cheese and spinach with some crackers — no presentation, no variety, and nothing was refreshed during the event. When I asked for an itemized list of what I ordered and paid for, my request was ignored.

I truly hope my guests still enjoyed themselves, but as the host, I left feeling embarrassed and unsatisfied. For the price I paid, I expected far more in both quality and service. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this venue for catered events.

That said, the ambiance was nice — perhaps it was just the food, or maybe the chef that day really dropped the ball.
If I ever spend that type of money again I will do a tasting.

We loved our banquet captain, but at the end of the night we were very rudely rushed out of the room. After spending that much money you would think they would give us a little bit of consideration as we were trying to get things cleaned up. The hotel staff was equally rude: yelling at us for talking in the lobby. Everything but the salad was correctly executed, but I don't think we would have our wedding here if we had to do it over again

It was a good location, but for the price paid, not very good service and they did not follow through with our requests.

THIS REVIEW IS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE WEDDING SPECIALIST ONLY. I DID NOT BOOK THE VENUE BECAUSE OF THE REASONS BELOW:

I could never get a hold of the specialist, I forgot her name it’s the blond lady. I had tried calling 5 times and 1 time she picked up the phone so I scheduled a tour of the venue. I had called before and left VM with no reply. Even filled out the online form and no response either. So after I asked to schedule the tour, I asked if she could send me more info/pricing for my party. She said she would but never did. Fast forward 5 days later I met her there and she at first kept saying “you never received my emails?” So at the end of the tour I asked if she could check my email to make sure she had it correct, she wouldn’t even write down or check but told me she probably had forgotten to email me but she would send it “right now” when I asked if she would be able to send me the info that evening. I waited and nothing from her, I gave her grace until the next day and nothing. It’s now the third day after the tour and I have decided if this is the level of communications and business she is going to provide then my special day will be ruined. I decided to move forward with a different venue.

Regarding the venue, I was taken to a small ballroom and it was dirty and ugly. The carpet looks super old and nasty and the chairs are somewhat the same (the metal kind with cushions that seem more for business meetings than weddings). She said they could cover the chairs with linens. There are no pamphlets or materials, just 5 min of her talking, during which she didn’t even discuss much unless I asked questions. This was a Thursday afternoon but felt like she was rushing and not thorough. I think first impression of the venue would be through her the “wedding specialist” but it was really bad that I would not move forward with this venue.

I just wanted to review the hotel for its accommodations separately. They were absolutely terrible in this respect. A number of reservations were lost. Key members of the bridal party were refused the group rate. The front desk had absolutely no idea what was going on and never answered questions correctly. Almost none of my party were given double beds, all king. A couple toilets stopped working and weren't fixed. Above all, they didn't seem to care at all about our difficulties.