5 Stars - Staff - Rene & Ernie (Ernie the server, not the Owner)
1 Star - Management/ Owner/GM/Event Coordinator (Ernie/Lisa)
We booked the Martinez Event Center in September for my Mom's Retirement & 65th B-day Party.
We were interested on having our event here based off of the beauty of the venue and the rental pricing. We were under the impression that "everything" was included (Rentals of chair/tables/linen/plates/silverware...etc...(Excluding food)) because a staff member told us and gave us the information brochure and pointed out that "everything" was included in the room and offered everything if we booked the room for an event.
We were excited to find out that they had an option to serve Italian food, like what it had said on the brochure and what the staff member pointed out to us that they offer an array of food selections.
Upon calling the venue to place our hold, the owner I had spoken to said that they did not offer the Italian food anymore and the brochure I was given was an old brochure.(this was back in April.)
The owner was apologetic about the misinformation and let us know we could use an outside caterer. We decided to go with an outside caterer that was a better fit for our party.
Throughout the entire planning process. Their "Event Coordinator", Lisa, was not very communicative. I was always the one to reach out to her for our needs and questions. It'd take her more than 2-3 days to respond to emails. And after the fact that I had to email to ask if she received my previous emails and was still waiting on a response from her. The lack of attention from the "event coordinator" was very disappointing and beyond frustrating.
The day before our event, Lisa took the weekend off and went out of town. She had left her cell number and the name of our Banquet leader if I had any questions.
I had questions and concerns about our event and was not able to reach her or anyone the day before the event.
On event day, When we arrived to start decorating, the venue was hot and super stuffy. The staff let me know that they had just turned on the Air conditioning on and that it would take some time for the room to cool down.
The room didn't cool down throughout the night. Turns out the Air conditioning unit was broken and had been broken. Even though a staff member had told me someone came in and fixed it. Throughout the night, the room stayed at an increasingly hot 114+ degrees.
The staff members Rene, Ernie, the bartender and 3rd server were amazing, given the situation. They worked extra hard and were super apologetic.
My Mom and all of our guests were looking forward to this event for so long and it was ruined by the Event Center's broken AC.
When I called to speak to a manager, an employee said I needed to talk to the General Manager, who was Lisa. I told her "I thought Lisa was the Event Coordinator" and the lady on the phone assured me that Lisa was the General Manager. Funny... You'd think the General Manager would let you know they were the General Manager upon introduction.
It was a retirement party which meant an older crowd of guests which we had multiple guests leave early because they couldn't handle the heat. We had 1 guest passing out at the tables. This was a formal event, and everyone got their hair and makeup done which had melted all away before the end of the night. Because people leaving early or couldn't eat, we had so much wasted food that we had to have people take leftovers home. It was so hot in the room that some of our food spoiled by the end of the event. The cake my sister made for my mom melted and was inedible.
Lisa's responses were far from what I was expecting. She had suggested to me that "we should've cancelled our event" and Lisa told my mother "you should've had a cool place for your guests to cool off at", REALLY?!?!?! After explaining to her our issues, I told her we wanted a full refund. She told me that absolutely wouldn't happen and went on saying that this exact thing happened to her at her wedding and she was uncompensated.
When I brought up her lack of communication as an Event Coordinator she yelled at me saying "I get 45 emails a day and I should understand as a planner that she didn't have time to respond to everything right away". Yes, I AM a planner, and this is NOT an excuse you give to your clients.
When I told her that I was extremely upset that they did not have a "MOD" she said "you did", And that the Bartender was the "MOD". Which the bartender and Lisa failed to mention as well.
At the end of the conversation, Lisa mentioned she had to talk to the Owner because as she was only the general manager she couldn't make decisions on matters such as these.
In the end of this whole nightmare and ruined evening. The owner agreed to 50% of the room rental only and a refund for a few items that we did not use.
I would not recommend this place for an event. Our overall experience with the management/coordinator was just THAT terrible. read more