I attended a friend's birthday party here. Wow! What a beautiful venue! The hall was large enough…read morefor 8 tables of 10 people with a roomy dance floor, a stage for the DJ and a bar. All of the food was excellent- the appetizers, the meal and the desserts were delicious and arranged beautifully! The ladies room was clean and had a long mirror so we could check ourselves out before returning back to the party.

Spent an afternoon here following a funeral for a reception. Plenty of space. Parking can be tricky…read moreif there are too many cars, but it's doable if people know how to drive. Very clean facility. Food was catered and very good. Lots of floor space for everyone to move around. Nice outdoor patio with seating if the weather is right.

I had a very good experience.... After struggling to find a last minute Hall for a reception after…read moremy uncles funeral I posted on a local town site seeking help. The owner personally reached out to me within the hour willing to help us out. (On a sunday later in evening on top of it) We rented the "Crystal room" it was very clean, up to date and the staff was so friendly. Our funeral services ended up ending an hour sooner than we thought it was going to and the owner let us start arriving early. Such a great experience after a sad morning. I would recommend this Hall fo anyone looking to have a wonderfull experience. And will be booking with them in the future.

My daughter got married here 10/03. This is the most tacky, classless establishment. Do not hold…read morea wedding here. You'll be severely disappointed. Contractual Breaches & Missing Items * Dessert Service Failure: epic failures! Banquet team started at the top of the cake cutting and serving to guests! Do they not know that the top is saved for the 1st anniversary! * Dessert and cake plates were explicitly included in the first paragraph of the contract. However, they were missing from the tables. When brought to the coordinator's (Denise) attention, the oversight was incorrectly dismissed as "not included." * Incorrect Table Settings: The tables lacked essential silverware for the guest count, and no napkins were provided on the tables. * Linen Discrepancy: While charged a dedicated fee for linens, this did not include standard linen napkins--an industry anomaly that was not clearly communicated.Table cloths were wrinkled too! * Exorbitant Paper/Plastic Fees: A $400 charge was assessed for dollar store paper and plastic plates, which did not align with the value or quality expected for a formal event in the contract that stated porcelain plates. Bar & Beverage Management * Severe Stock Deficiencies: The bar ran out of standard inventory (Coors Light) within the first 20 minutes of operation. Furthermore, the bar lacked basic mixers, offering only orange and cranberry juice, with no standard options like pineapple or grapefruit juice. * Inadequate Staffing and Speed: The event was severely understaffed with a single bartender. Because the bar was poorly stocked, the bartender frequently had to leave the station to retrieve inventory, creating excessively long lines and wait times for guests. * Product Quality: Beverages were notably watered down, representing poor value for the premium prices charged. This was not open bar. These beverages were paid for by the guests. * I paid $9 for a serving of Bailey's that was only about 2 inches in the bottom of the glass. I took 2 sips and left it on the table to dance. When I got back to the table it was gone. Table next to mine said the staff came and took all the plastic bar cups off the table. Facilities & Sanitation * Inadequate Restroom Capacity: The venue provided only a single operational ladies' restroom stall for a 90-guest event, causing unacceptable delays for guests. Especially when there was also another party going on in the venue and their guests also had to use the same bathroom with our guests! Unacceptable! * Poor Maintenance and Upkeep: The men's restroom completely lacked hand soap, and the electronic hand dryer was broken and physically detaching from the wall, presenting both a safety and hygiene issue. * All the mirrors in the place were dusty and filthy! * The floors are uneven throughout the venue and present a safety hazard especially for the elderly.

Attended family baby jack and Jill here. Very nice place with excellent staff and food.read more

"Back in the banquet line Some get the gravy"…read more( Joni Mitchell) We attended a "Year In Review" celebratory dinner for a charitable organization we've supported for years, and the good folks at Farminton Gardens served well over 100 guests flawlessly in their banquet room. We started off in their gorgeous atrium bar for a glass of wine and chit chat before we were seated in their main banquet room. The room was quite large and easily accomodated our group. There was a podium up front and two video screens to display slide shows and the like. The sound and video systems were excellent. The dinner buffet line was set up in the rear of the room and we were called up table by table. We were very impressed by the variety and quality- rolls, salad, asparagus spears, mushroom polenta, salmon, short ribs, and cipollini onions. Dessert was individual trays of pastries and a single creme brulee for each table. This was my first visit to Farmington Gardens and I walked away very impressed with the way they handled our event.

This was an excellent wedding location for many reasons! The staff was professional and helpful,…read morethe food was top-tier, and the ambiance was so elegant! All public spaces were cozy and pleasant, bathrooms were clean and well-stocked-- we had such a wonderful time celebrating the couple here!

Hello everyone, I am the groom. I want to start off this review by sharing the positives before…read moregetting into my critiques. Despite my rating, I would still recommend The Riverview for these key reasons: Pros * Scenic Setting: The venue is beautiful and dream-like, as if it jumped straight out of a Hallmark movie. * Indoor/Outdoor Balance: The elegant interior is balanced by grounds flanked by nature and the Farmington River, creating a seamless blend between indoors and out. * Secluded Feel: It is well-set back from the street, giving the pleasant illusion of being tucked away in a forest. * Great Food (According to Guests): Our guests--who came from diverse cultural backgrounds (Indian, Asian, Hispanic, Black, White, African, etc.)--rave about how good the food was. * Friendly Staff: The staff and day-of attendants were consistently warm and friendly. Unfortunately, significant operational issues lowered our overall experience: Cons * Inflexible Tasting Policies: Before signing our contract, we were told there would be both a food and cake tasting. However, we weren't told until later that food tastings only take place on specific Saturdays during certain times of the year. Because we observe a Saturday Sabbath, we could not attend, and no accommodations were made--forcing us to choose our menu blind. Additionally, cake tastings are limited strictly to whatever flavors the chef happens to prepare that weekend, regardless of what you actually want to sample. * Dietary Restriction Oversight: We clearly communicated several guest dietary restrictions in advance, including severe shrimp allergies within our wedding party. Despite this, shrimp was still served to those individuals. Thankfully, the staff corrected it after it was pointed out, but a mistake involving severe allergens could have ended much worse. * Timeline Delays: I shared a detailed schedule with our coordinator weeks in advance. However, the venue deviated from the outline in several places. For example, salad service was delayed, which pushed main courses back and created a domino effect, forcing us to rush our schedule toward the end of the evening. * Lack of Active Coordination: The coordination felt passive. During the ceremony, the pastor had to call for the ring bearer multiple times before he finally wandered out, confused. Later, the wedding party was left scattered, leading to a late start for the reception introductions. * Cleared Plates & Communication: A bride and groom should get to eat at their own wedding. I was so busy managing details that I hadn't eaten a single bite. My wife explicitly asked an attendant not to clear my plate because I wasn't finished, yet they threw my full plate away rather than covering or packing it. When I asked if anything had been saved, I was simply met with only a apology Summary: The Riverview is a stunning venue with great food and friendly staff, but their event coordination and flexibility left much to be desired. While the backdrop is gorgeous, they were slow to manage our timeline and rushed to clear tables, while missing key details around dietary restrictions and coordination. If you have a simple, flexible wedding, it is an easy choice. However, if you have dietary needs, specific schedule requirements, or a distinct vision, prepare to communicate constantly and assign a trusted member of your wedding party to keep things running smoothly.

What a nice property in the middle of no where. Perfect for loud people and blasting music. There's…read moreeven fully working plumbing and electrical in the outdoor pavilion. There's a few fans on the cieling to keep things cool inside. The grounds are clean and well landscaped. I attended a private event here and there was plenty of parking. Several hundred people were on the property and there were no issues. The indoor area is also nice and has a small bar. For such a small bar they definitely had a decent selection although they did run out of a few types of beer and cider towards the end. I don't quite think they were expecting a crowd so big. Downside is cell service is spotty and forget about trying to use your GPS until you are back on the main road.

I was recently here for a Birthday party. I love the fact we were able to park in the underground…read moregarage. It was a bit of a walk to the front door of the club, but I knew my car was safe. You can tell from the moment you walk in, the building has been here for a long time. It's in good condition considering the age. Once the nostalgia wore off, it was disappointing. Some of the employees were amazing. A few were ill prepared and had bad attitudes. The food was adequate at best. There were roasted potatoes which had no flavor, roast beef which also had no flavor, and Chicken Francese which was OK.

So I attended an event at the Hartford Club recently in the large room on the second floor. I…read morehave to say, this place is a dump in my opinion and the food is even worse. First, the place clearly has not been updated since what seems like the 80s if not earlier. It clearly has the same motif as back in the early 2000s and same basic setup. Not good for a place that tries to market itself to business people in the area who are decision makers at companies. The event was a seminar style setup but they used round tables. Clearly no idea on how discussions work as a good amount of people had to either sit with their back to the speakers or strain to see what was going on. The power situation in the room is bad. A few plugs scattered around the periphery of the room but no consideration for people who may need power during the length of the event. I thankfully packed my own power strip and got there early so I was able to snag a table with power relatively close by, but that was me taking the step knowing the deficiencies of this location. The coffee service was ok. Breakfast was ok. This is not really on the facility but on what the host for the event ordered. Basic fruit, yogurt and some sweet breakfast breads were the continental breakfast that was advertised. No toast, rolls or anything that was not sweet, which was slightly odd to me in a setting full of older professionals. The real failure here is the lunch service. I've heard of rubber chicken conferences. This took the cake. They served "airline chicken" or an option with a pesto cream. Disgusting! I would not pay $1 for the main course of lunch. The chicken was a rubber ball like consistency, severely overcooked, and had no flavor. The pesto cream version was no better. Frankly, they needed at least a salt and pepper shaker on every table for the missing seasoning, but of course they only had that on the buffet line when you wouldn't know of the need for seasoning. In 20+ years of going to seminars, this was the worst chicken I've ever had. The salad was ok and some veggies were ok but the potato's had no seasoning either. All in all, if this is the food the place puts out for a group of local professionals, then the place is in trouble. My recommendation if you are at a seminar here is to not pay for lunch and encourage your attendees to hit the food carts down the street or the food court 2 blocks down the road. The cost savings on no lunch can much better be spent by your attendees getting their own lunch elsewhere.

We recently hosted our Jack & Jill in the Bella Vista room at Hawks Landing Country Club, and we…read moretruly could not have asked for a better experience. The staff we worked with were absolutely wonderful, especially Paul, Peyton, and Parker. Peyton worked tirelessly throughout the event to help orchestrate everything and make sure every detail came together perfectly. No matter what we needed, they never told us "no" - they were incredibly accommodating and genuinely cared about making our vision happen. The food was fantastic, everything ran smoothly, and the room looked beautiful. Overall, the event came out even better than we could have imagined, and we are so grateful to the entire team for helping make it such a special and successful day. We would absolutely recommend Hawks Landing for an event!

A surprisingly difficult course narrow but short, took us a lot longer to play than we expected to…read morethe extent of the ranger move this along a bit. Why we kept losing balls it was raining. It was wet. I must say that the rough was a little long in most places there have been a micro Storm they came through and did a lot of damage to trees into some of the houses that line the course as well as some fairways. Lots of brown under construction and many of the greens are in fair to poor shape, but it's obvious they're making an effort to bring it back as fast as they can. I'd like to play it again in about a year after repairs are done after repairs are done. I like the layout. I certainly like the difficulty challenging in a real shotmaker course I'm older not the greatest Golf in the world and a poor putter so a short tight course lets me improve my skills in that worry about the fact that I've lost distance. Overall good course and will probably be better in the future

"What a day it would be to share" (The Moody Blues)…read more Shared office space is a pretty recent phenomenon; it became a serious option for the business world around 20 years ago. Its pretty popular and common today, and the Hartford market is no exception. Upward Hartford occupies 34,000 square feet up on the 17th floor. The views of downtown are terrific, and it offers members a ton of opportunities to "connect, collaborate and create with fellow innovators...in a communal setting". The shared workspace and co-working universe offers a lot of choices. Multiple membership options exist, like Private offices, single desks in a specific location, open desks in a co-working space. You can even get a one-day "flex desk" spot for just $35. And if you need a big space for training or a networking event, they have some amazing options as spiffy as any training classroom you have ever seen with modernisitic furniture and full AV services. It's a very cool concept and Upward Hartford executes it perfectly.

I attended an event at the space last night and really enjoyed getting a look at Upward. I've been…read moreto co-working spaces in NYC and this definitely gives me that large city feel while maintaining elements of intimacy. The rooms upstairs are all named to inspire: Success and Audacity are the two I remember. There's an open layout on the mezzanine with several places for small groups which would be great for meetings. It's $1200/month for office space but you can get a day pass for $35 and it gives you access to all the amenities. If you work on the go and don't have an office or if you have a team and want space to connect, this is an option. Conveniently Located around the block from the XL center and next to the Hartford Stage.