Rosario Resort Reviews

Rosario resort is the perfect venue for creating lifelong memories of an amazing wedding weekend. Our daughter and son-in-law were married at Rosario in July 2018 and it was an outstanding experience. The resort is small enough that you really feel like it’s your place for the weekend and large enough to provide many opportunities for recreation in addition to the wedding festivities.

The Point Lawn was a stunning venue for the wedding ceremony, but the beach house lawn would also have been beautiful. A huge added plus is the wonderful back up venue that the music room provides. There’s no need to obsessively look at your Weather Channel app to see if it’s going to rain because you will have a lovely indoor option if needed. In addition to the absolutely spectacular setting, the ability to settle in for an entire wedding weekend provides everyone the opportunity to connect, play, and enjoy each other. If you’re weighing whether or not to have a wedding in town or weekend at Rosario, there really is no contest.

Prospective couples/families might notice that the Beach House reception area is a bit dated and could use a remodel. However, in the capable hands of Veronica from Orcas Events and Cindy from The Nest floral design, this space can be transformed into an elegant venue. The bank of glass windows looking out on the bay provide a stunning view and the deck is the perfect place to enjoy a warm summer evening if you’d like to step away from the music and the dancing.

The staff at Rosario resort are exceptional. We felt like they were truly excited to be part of our celebration and made every effort to help us all feel special. Rationally, we know that Rosario is having weddings continuously through the summer, but the hospitality of the resort was so exceptional we felt like our event was the most special wedding of the season. The bride and groom had the wedding of their dreams and our guests loved their experience. We highly recommend Rosario!

Our wedding at Rosario Resort was an absolute dream. We got engaged in February 2015 and wanted to get married in the immediate summer or fall. We were lucky that Rosario had an opening, and since they do everything in-house, pulling off a 5 month engagement was no problem.

1. Rosario's event coordinators, Lori Fast and Jolene Versailles, are the ideal team. They maintained excellent communication throughout the planning process, answered questions, worked with requests, were well organized, and are genuinely nice people that we enjoyed being around. We have already been back to Rosario for breakfast and couldn't be there without saying hi to them. The same can be said for the rest of their wedding staff (Keali setting up and managing the reception, Denny being a great bartender).

2. The location is GORGEOUS. Orcas Island is a special place to begin with and the resort just enhances it. The ceremony site overlooking the Salish Sea and Cascade Bay is one of the most beautiful there is.

3. They provide linens, tables, chairs for both ceremony and reception, everything for dining. We didn't have to coordinate any additional rentals.

4. The food is delicious and they have a great selection of beverages. Many guests keep telling us how much they liked the food and drinks (especially the bubbly rose). We wanted a particular local beer on tap and they worked with us to make that happen.

5. They were up front about the cost of everything prior to us booking the venue, stuck with the budget, and didn't have hidden costs.

6. It's was perfect for our guests relax at the spa or pools, go on adventures, and disconnect. Since most of our guests stayed at the resort, driving or arranging transportation to and from the wedding was not an issue.

We felt so relaxed our wedding weekend at Rosario Resort because of the entire staff and this amazing locale. We honestly wouldn't change a single moment and would recommend this venue to any couple in a heartbeat.

Rosario Resort is the perfect wedding venue. It is a blend of beautiful views, great accommodations, great food, the Moran Mansion, history, boat moorage, pools, spa, lovely grounds, Island time, and a great staff. One wedding per weekend at this venue increases its appeal as the wedding party, family and friends enjoyed a wedding and a vacation.

Our daughter and son-in-law were married there in July of 2015. The whole experience exceeded our expectations. The Point Lawn for the wedding was spectacular and the Beach House with its own Chef for the reception was perfect. The hors d'oeuvres , dinner, and wine were exceptional. We highly recommend the band "Wingmen" for a great evening of music and dancing.

The staff, especially Jolene, Lori, and Keali attended to our every detail and need. They were exceptionally organized, timely, receptive, available, genuine and friendly. Working with them from the time we booked Rosario until the final details after the wedding was seamless.

A daughter's wedding is such an incredibly special moment in your life and when everything around you works for this memorable day, it increases the joy and makes the whole experience enjoyable.

Thank you Rosario,
Father and Mother of The Bride

Absolute perfection is the only way to describe how great of a wedding venue and vacation location Rosario is! We could not have been happier to host our wedding there two weeks ago. The staff is absolutely incredible, the venue's beauty is unparalleled, and they went out of their way to make it a unique event and to ensure our family and friends felt welcome! Jolene and Lori were quick to respond to all my questions during the planning process, and they also went out of their way to make sure everything ran smoothly and felt special for us as a couple. I am a picky food person, and they made the most amazing seafood buffet and pasta bar right on the beach. All our guests were raving that it was the best wedding food they have ever had! We are so glad we chose Rosario, and could not shower them with enough kind words to describe how wonderful they were!

Rosario resort is absolutely stunning, and the whole team was FANTASTIC to work with. Jolene and her team were very professional, responsive, kind, and flexible. They were willing to work with us on many details, and the food was incredible! Even if you don't end up getting married here, you must visit.

Jolene was a pleasure to work with! we held our ceremony at this beautiful location on a Thursday afternoon and it was perfect! The chairs were set up early and there was no party after us, so we were free to take our time and take as many photos as possible. She replied quickly and professionally to my emails and phone calls, also.

Absolutely one of the most stunning and memorable places to have a wedding. They accomodated us on the Rehearsal Dinner, provided great rooms for our guests all in the same building and had everything set up to a "T". Thank you so much for helping make our day perfection!

Rosario Resort has so much going for it, but the stress of dealing with the staff makes it really not worth it. The resort is located on beautiful Orcas Island, but it is just a pretty face with no substance behind it. I had problems from the very beginning and I was very close to canceling our wedding there even though we would have lost a $1,000 deposit. It started off with problems with the staff not responding to my emails, which was followed by me getting incorrect information from several staff members, which then led me to be labeled as a "difficult" bride when I tried to straighten things out and get my facts straight. They canceled an appointment with me at the last minute that I had planned months in advance and while they gave me reassurances the week before my wedding that they were going to be 100% focused on my wedding, they didn't respond to my emails or phone calls that I left starting on Monday until late on Thursday night when I was frantically trying to get everything organized. Thankfully, a good friend of mine stepped in and pulled off the wedding plans I had so carefully laid out for the Rosario Resort staff. The wait staff went to her for her all their instructions rather than to the manager on duty who obviously wasn't briefed about the details I planned.

To add insult to injury, two and a half months after the wedding I'm still having to deal with their messes. They billed my photographers for a night they didn't stay and when I tried to correct the error their Director of Catering "accidentally" sent me an email that stated how horrible she thought I was and how miserable my husband was. Ironically, I had thought this individual was one of the more professional members of the staff, but I was apparently mistaken. After getting the nasty email they then sent letters to all my guests who stayed at the resort stating that they accidentally billed our account for one night of our guests' rooms in error and that they have to bill another night on the credit cards on file. I know we weren't accidentally billed for 20 guest nights because I would have noticed a surprise $2,500 charge. They shouldn't have lied to my guests to correct their error, but that is how they do things. I honestly don't know how to get to the bottom of figuring our how to deal with these letters now that I have vowed never to deal with Rosario Resort again. I feel like I'm letting my guests down...

It is a beautiful place to get married, but the management staff is a nightmare which caused me many sleepless nights. If you really want to get married there, hire a wedding planner to deal with the staff and make sure he or she is there on the day of the wedding to make sure that the catering/wait staff know what's supposed to happen. Don't fall victim to their pleas to hire someone from the island either. Many people from Seattle are more than willing to make the trip to Orcas Island for a small fee if any.