Surfside on the Lake Reviews

Nikki and her team are absolutely incredible! From the very beginning, they made the entire planning process so easy and stress-free. Surfside is the perfect wedding venue, the breathtaking views, amazing food, and exceptional staff made our day everything we dreamed of and more.
Every detail was handled flawlessly, and the team went above and beyond to make sure everything ran smoothly. We truly couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day. If you’re looking for a venue with outstanding service, beautiful scenery, and delicious food, we can’t recommend Surfside enough!

To start - this review is long overdue! Our wedding was September 21, 2024.

From our first meeting with Mark and Nikki we knew that we wanted to work with them to plan our wedding. They were fun, knowledgeable about the industry, and attentive to our wants and needs. We were sold on having our wedding at Surfside before we even toured the property.
Overview:
We had just shy of 100 guests. The ceremony was at 4:00 pm on the two-tiered deck overlooking the lake. We provided the "arch" for the ceremony, however there was one available for us to use if we wanted to. Our cocktail hour was on the Club Hamilton deck. Our reception was held inside Club Hamilton and ended at 10:00 pm. We chose to do a custom wedding package rather than selecting to use one of the preset options.
Custom Package:
Our dinner was a buffet, which consisted of a taco and fajita bar, "his" (fish) and "hers" (Greek) prepared tacos, and an expanded salad bar. Gluten-free and dairy-free options were available. For the cocktail hour we had 4 stationary Hors D'oeuvres. We also chose to have a late-night potato bar. Almost a year later, our guests are still talking about how good the food at our wedding was.
For alcohol, our package included a champagne toast with raspberries, and 4 hours of open beer and wine. Open beer and wine began with the cocktail hour. We also set up a separate tab at the bar for our wedding party, so they did not have to pay for any of their drinks.
Other details:
Club Hamilton was remodeled during the Winter before our wedding (new carpet, fresh paint, etc.) so it looked fantastic. The table linens, chair covers, chargers, and all the dishes were all provided by Surfside. We were able to chose the colors of our table clothes, napkins and chargers.
We checked in on Friday and checked out on Sunday. Saturday night (wedding night) was complimentary. Our room was a master lake-view suite, which as it sounds - looked over the lake. It was also conveniently located directly above Club Hamilton. Most of our wedding party also stayed at the property Friday to Sunday, and there was a reduced-rate room block. Since the majority of our guests are local to the Lake George Area, few guests actually stayed at Surfside with us.
Our rehearsal was Friday afternoon. We opted to have our rehearsal dinner offsite at a favorite local restaurant.
Saturday morning we were granted access to Club Hamilton first thing to begin decorating and set up. Mark offered to be there as early as we needed to unlock the room for us. Mark, Nikki, and other property staff did the room set up based on the seating chart they had us complete, and helped with decorating. My amazing mother did our flowers (as well as our cake and cupcakes), and was able to go in and build our centerpieces on each table, design the flowers on side tables, and build our cake and cupcake display before joining me and my bridesmaids to get ready.
There was a room available for the bridal party to get ready, with plenty of tables for hair and makeup. The room also had a fridge and kitchenette. Once I headed to get ready, I did not have to leave the get ready room for anything (except to use the bathroom located right outside the room). Mark and Nikki handled everything with getting our vendors set and ready. When it was time for the ceremony, my bridal party lead me down to the waiting area and made sure that my groom didn't see me in advance. The groom and groomsmen got dressed and ready in our suite.
After the ceremony, we gathered briefly on the upper pool deck with our wedding party while our guests relocated to the Club Hamilton deck. While we waited, we had drinks brought down to us - Mark and Nikki had taken drink orders for the wedding party before the ceremony, so there was no delay. The ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception moved flawlessly. After the reception ended, we left Club Hamilton and Mark, Nikki, and the staff broke everything down, boxed up our left over cake and cupcakes, and put all of our decorations back into the bins that they came in. We picked up all of the boxed decorations the next morning. Our checkout was seamless.

Our experience working with Mark, Nikki, and Surfside on the Lake was beyond fantastic. We would absolutely recommend using this venue!!

Mark and Nikki were amazing hosts. Super nice & flexible. Provided amazing services and turned our dreams into reality with the stunning view of Lake George.

Mark & Nicole we’re awesome to deal with, no pressure from either. Super helpful with planning/ideas & understanding our vision of what we were looking for. Communication via email & phone calls was constant on everything.
The crew had everything set up for the outdoor wedding in a flash & well oiled machine.
The food was just fantastic, 6 months later we are still getting compliments on how great the food was from the appetizers (especially the huge scallops & jumbo shrimp) to all the main courses we offered.
Everyone had a great time & raves about the facility.

First of all, THANK YOU to Mark Dawson and his partner for the most memorable weekend for us and our guests at the Surfside on the Lake for our Weekend Wedding Extravaganza!! My husband and I met with Mark in 2019 to discuss our vision and unfortunately had to put the plans on hold due to Covid. Fast forward to 2023, we returned to meet with Mark again and he remembered us, and all of the details we had discussed 4 years earlier. As this was a destination wedding for us, we wanted to plan activities for our guests for the entire weekend, not just the day of the wedding. Mark came through on EVERY detail, and even allowed us to move our Friday Welcome Party, which was scheduled on the beach and was not part of the wedding package, inside due to inclement weather. Mark did not hesitate in helping us out, and did so without any additional cost… WOW! Our outside ceremony and reception was simply perfect! Mark and his partner set up our spaces just as envisioned, and we rocked the village all night long with a party we and our guests will be reminiscing about for years to come! Thank you again, the professionalism and desire to make our wedding day (weekend) was off the charts!
-Eric and Krysten Solomon

My husband Sammy and I had our ceremony and reception at the Surfside. When I tell you it exceeded my expectations, that would be an understatement. Mark kept communication with me the entire time, asking all of the questions I needed answered and kept me accountable when it came to making timely decisions about the wedding.
The coordination on the rehearsal night and day of wedding was so appreciated.
They made sure everything ran smoothly. The venue itself is stunning. As a local my whole life I was so grateful to get married on the lake. The views were stunning, the reception space was beautiful and updated and the food was delicious. I have nothing bad to say! The best day of my life, I wish we could do it all again.

Mark and Nikki went above and beyond to make this the most memorable day for my daughter and son in law. Leading up to the day-In person visits, zoom calls, phone calls, emails, answered tons of questions, had Alexa and Matt’s vision in mind always. Wedding weekend-Worked well with all the vendors, able to pivot due to weather, took care of all set up of DIY items, kept the schedule on point. Food was excellent at rehearsal dinner, cocktail hour, main course, late night snack and morning after breakfast. Cake was phenomenal. (raspberry/almond). Beautiful location. Lots of options.

My husband and I had our wedding here on 10/12/2024. From the moment we initially met with Mark and Nikky, we knew we made the right choice. Yes the grounds are beautiful and the ceremony in front of the lake was breathtaking but what makes this venue stand out are the wedding coordinators, Mark and Nikky. Extremely responsive and knowledgeable yes, friendly and easy to work with yes - but the dedication they give towards making sure your wedding day is perfect is just amazing. On the day of the wedding, they were everywhere, making sure decorations were perfect, responding to every inquiry and handling every detail with ease and professionalism. Aside from all of this, as if this wasn't enough, they are just so personable. I left feeling like I had just made two friends, they went above and beyond for us and our families and without a doubt enhanced our wedding beyond what we even hoped for. Go here for your wedding, book well in advance because they fill up fast, and you will see what I mean. Mark and Nikky - a thousand thanks to both of you, you made everything perfect and were an absolute joy to work with.
Jeni and Phil

My husband and I just got married at Surfside on 6/29/24. We cannot say enough good things about Mark, Nikki, and their team! It really is the perfect venue - The reception area had just been renovated and was beautiful. The outdoor ceremony space is gorgeous but, it was pouring rain at the time of our ceremony. Not to worry though, Mark made the indoor ceremony space look classy and beautiful! If he could have controlled the weather, he would have done it for us. He was a joy to work with and he and Nikki really bent over backwards to make our day run smoothly.

We also enjoyed staying a couple of nights at Surfside after the wedding. We enjoyed the amenities, particularly the included beach and kayaks! It was the perfect way to unwind after the chaos of a wedding!

A couple other specific things we really liked: The bar in the reception area is conveniently located in a private corner, which was perfect for our party (half of them drank, half did not). The "getting ready" room for the girls was spacious and available very early in the day. I loved the sweetheart table backdrop - it comes with lights! The food was also fantastic - one of our groomsmen is a DJ and has attended many weddings and he said it was some of the best food he'd ever had! Also, we did a lot of research in to venues in the Lake George-Saratoga area and this really was one of the most cost effective spaces.

My husband I wanted a destination wedding to our favorite place and came upon Surfside and I am so so glad we did. The personal service from Mark and Nicole was top notch, everyone working at Surfside for my 4 day stay was incredible. It's unbelievably clean, the food is delicious and the grounds are perfect.

Excellent venue for our welcome event the night before the wedding! Absolutely gorgeous views of the lake - unbeatable! Staff was fantastic and helped make the event be exactly what we were hoping for.

My wife and I had our wedding at Surfside on the Lake on 9/16/23 and our overall experience there was excellent. The staff there was extremely helpful and very accommodating to all our needs. All the planning , decor, and arrangements were left in there hands, everything was on point and to our expectations. We had the day of our dreams. Our family will be returning here as regulars yearly.

Both Mark and Sami were amazing to work with. The months leading up to the wedding they were available to answer any questions we had. On the day of the wedding they were running around and making sure everything was absolutely perfect. They helped set up decorations and were just amazing overall to work with. Not only were they amazing, but the venue itself is breathtaking! We got married in May on the deck overlooking the beautiful lake George. It was perfect!

Mark and Nikki are absolutely amazing! They made our wedding perfect! Mark is punctual and returns every call and email promptly. The food was fabulous! All of our guests have been raving about it for days. They accommodated all of our guests for the weekend. Spacious room for the bridal party to get ready with a great brunch. I highly recommend you having your wedding at Surfside on the Lake! Best venue in Lake George!!!

I had a destination wedding here on 9/16/23 of 120 guests. There are not enough words to express the appreciation I have for all the staff at Surfside . They were so accommodating, so caring and extremely patient to all my friends and family. Mark and Nikki were amazing, I had a bridal party of 24 and with their help made it all work smooth. I put all my trust in Mark to plan and coordinate my whole wedding because I was so overwhelmed and incapable of even knowing where to begin. Mark told me all I have to do is pretty much just show up with our attire and he would genuinely take care of everything else. Let me say , he did not disappoint at all. Every idea, every thought and every fine detail , through his enormous, caring heart, his unbelievable talent , and being a Jack of many, many trades made my wedding the most beautiful day I ever could have dreamed of and more. He worked overtime with us , answered every question, returned every call even when he was off, late night or even sick in bed, he was there for us every step of the way . The day was picture perfect. Not only did I gain the best day of my life , I gained a friend.

Got married this September and it was absolutely perfect. Mark and Nikki were able to pull off our last minute wedding. We had about 80 guests and got married on site. We had our reception in their Club Hamilton room. It has a nice lake view. The chef did a great job with our food. We opted for a buffet since we didn’t have enough time to gather what everyone wanted to eat. Mark and Nikki gave us some recommendations on vendors and how we can pull together some simple wedding decorations. They had chargers in house and were nice enough to let us use them. They really went above and beyond to make this all happen. We are so glad we stopped in and booked! Thank you to all the staff that made our wedding day possible!

We got married by the lake . The view was pretty and it was a very nice day. Surfside helped us book vendors which was nice since we didn’t know who to pick. The waitresses were nice and the food was great. Kevin made good drinks. You will not be sorry if you book your wedding here !!

Surfside on the Lake was phenomenal. We were married on the deck that has a beautiful view of Lake George and the mountains. Sami and Mark are amazing. They worked so hard to make our Wedding a dream come true. They were available day and night to answer any questions we had regarding our wedding. Not only were Sami and Mark great, but the Bar Manager, Nikki was also wonderful. Donna and I can not thank them enough. The head chef at Surfside is also amazing. Our guests are still raving about how great all the food was. Every member of the kitchen staff was so friendly to our guests and us as well. The one thing that amazed me the day of the wedding is how much Sami took charge and kept both myself and Donna calm prior to our ceremony. Also, prior to and following the ceremony, Mark, Sami and Nikki took care of any/all issues that arose so I didn't have to stress or worry about a thing. I can't thank them enough.

I could have never known when I began this journey that Mark and Sami (and the staff of Surfside) would become so much more than wedding planners to us. They’re our family. From our very first meeting to the final details, these two amazing humans made our wedding day everything we could have dreamed of and more. They made the cabana rooftop bar look like paradise and the process leading up to our special day was so easy and fun. We gave our input and they made our dreams a reality. I can not say enough good things and I will forever be indebted to Mark, Sami and Surfside for making our wedding a day/night we will truly never forget!

From the tour of the property, to contract signing, to the day of the event, everything was absolutely perfect! Mark and Sam went above and beyond to make my day perfect. They far exceeded all the expectations I had. The property was immaculate, the service was top notch, and the set up was just as I had envisioned it to be. The food was phenomenal and so was the presentation. I am so happy I chose Surfside to host my wedding. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a beautiful venue with fun and professional staff!

My husband and I just had our wedding at the Surfside on the Lake this past Friday, 9/3/21. I’m a CT bride, but grew up vacationing in the Lake George area. When my husband and I decided on a small intimate ceremony with just 23 of our closest friends and loved ones, I knew it had to be a small destination wedding on the Queen of American lakes.
I cannot say enough wonderful things about the venue in general, and about Mark and Sami in particular. From the second I decided to book my wedding date with them, they were attentive to my every need, and were in constant contact about next steps and what they needed from me.
We had a small intimate ceremony on the deck overlooking the Lake, and could not have asked for a more beautiful location to declare our love for one another. Our reception was out on the newly built Club Hamilton deck, and it was absolutely breathtaking. The deck affords you a nice view of the pool, all the way down to the lake. This is where Mark and Sami really shined. With just a few simple reference photos they were able to turn the space into a beautifully elegant embodiment of my vision. They even did my bouquet and centerpieces!
Everyone enjoyed the food. We did a plated dinner and decided to serve the Prime Rib, Panko Herb Crusted Cod and the Veggie Lasagna with the Cheesecake for dessert. And for a snack later in the reception, we had a nacho bar complete with cheese fondue fountain.
We did a room block with the hotel for the weekend. There are lots of different rooms available at different price points, which ensures that guests on any budget will have no trouble getting a room. Every room I went into was nice and clean. The resort itself has tons of amenities like a beautiful pool, kayak or paddle boats for guest use, and of course an amazing Lakefront beach. Guests will never want for things to do if they’re spending a night or two on property. And the hotel is in the center of Lake George, walking distance from everything, which is a plus in a town that’s majority street parking.
Both Mark and Sami were super attentive to any request or questions I had. If I emailed or called I always got a timely response. I never had to call or email multiple times to track them down. They really were an absolute dream to work with. They executed my vision better than I ever could’ve dreamed, and they’re such friendly and pleasant people that you can tell from the day you meet them you’re in the best of hands. I have heard from every one of my 23 guests that joined us for the weekend, and everyone has said how beautiful the wedding was, and how much fun they had. If you’re looking to book a wedding in the heart of Lake George, look no further. The place is gorgeous, reasonable, and Mark and Sami will make sure that your day turns out to be whatever you want it to be!

I became very ill . They helped decorate my hall. Literally dragged me from room to my hair and make up specialist . I came down with a virus , and they did everything above and beyond to make the day perfect . They surprised me with a chuppa! The ceremony space was gorgeous as was the hall . Food amazing . They did special meals for kids and the vegetarians. I couldn’t attend my own reception, they were at my room Checking on me , and stayed made my guests feel welcome . Mark was on top of everything from start to finish . Sam helped me get dressed because I couldn’t even stand properly . The wedding March was perfect . Everyone was told when to go . I couldn’t imagine better coordinators and a better hall . All my guests have called me and said how amazing everything was . At midnight they even came to check on me . If you want perfection Surfside is the place to have your wedding ! We are going back next month to Surfside for a weekend getaway . Even though I missed a lot , I saw all the attention to detail . They, are honest , hardworking people . I appreciate everything they did . Not only got my guests , but for my husband and I . If you want something gorgeous and to be treated like royalty . Call Mark Dawson at Surfside on The Lake .

We were blown away with how beautiful our reception was at Surfside! The food was delicious, the space was breathtaking, and the service was superb. Mark and his team turned my pinterest vision into reality, trust me they will not disappoint. If I can give it 10 stars I would!

We got married in September of 2019 at the surfside hotel in Lake George. We toured almost everyone venue in lake george (except the sagamore, too expensive) and ended up going on a whim and booking surfside. We were so happy with our decision and they met and exceeded all of our expectations. Mark was an absolute pleasure to work with and he did everything in his power to accommodate our requests and provide us with an experience of a lifetime. The setup was beyond beautiful and i couldn't imagine it looking any more professional it felt like a 5 star resort that puts on weddings as their main source of business, the view was amazing and we were able to get amazing pictures because of this (https://thepinckards.com/). Everyone said the food was great and we were even able to bring in donuts from an outside bakery as our dessert.

The rooms were great, the newer side has really nice rooms but the other ones are fine. The proximity to town was perfect for our guests who stayed for a longer period of time and wanted to walk around. This made it feel like a destination wedding as we had the ceremony, reception and everyone stayed on location, even outside of the wedding events our families were together for the whole weekend and it made it that much more special.

We had zero complaints about the surfside, mark and his staff. There has been so many times we have reminisced about our wedding and said if we had an infinite budget we wouldn't have changed a thing!

(I tried to think of which of the ratings to put as a 4 start but truly couldn't)

We had a great experience working with Mark and his team at Surfside. The location is just perfect, great views of, and access to Lake George. The Rooftop Cabana Bar is a blast, especially because you can book your rooms overlooking your reception or party, with easy access to your room.
The Hamilton Room is also a really great traditional banquet room option with the huge new deck that runs the length of the building! Just a wonderful outdoor spot that is very competitive with other venues especially considering the lake from aspect! 5 stars in my opinion!

We had our wedding at Surfside in July 2019, on probably on of the hottest weekends of the year. The staff went above and beyond helping us set up the night before, and Nikki even went out of her way to make centerpieces for us, as we did not have any.
Surfside gives you the elegant feel with the family touch. Everyone had such a great time at our wedding they still talk about it! Great views for an outdoor wedding and the people are amazing!

We had a wonderful time. Nikki was especially helpful with a lot of our events that took place on the premises. We never had to ask any staff twice for any assistance. The scenery and atmosphere was amazing. Thank you for making my daughter’s special day such a memorable occasion.