Ardeena - Carool, New South Wales

Tayla Evans

An absolute dream of a venue. From the venue locations, on-site accomodation to the staff. Everything was dreamt for our wedding. Our coordinator Madison was absolutely incredible. She exceeded all expectations and made the whole process seamless and enjoyable. The service staff on the night were brilliant, and the food was some of the best we’ve eaten. Having 9 rooms on site for the night was amazing and fit our vibe so well. We cannot thanks Ardeena enough!

Zoe Galea

Ardeena was the perfect backdrop for our wedding! It has the most magical, fairy garden surroundings with a picturesque view to the ocean. We booked all of the suites which allowed us to have the entire bridal party on-site and made the day a lot smoother. It was also one of the only venues we found that allowed outside catering. The co-ordinator, Maddi, was incredibly helpful in the planning process and on-the-day organisation.

Stephanie

Disappointing to see the negative reviews of this beautiful venue. First and foremost this is a wedding venue, and the accomodation is perfectly suitable for that, we loved being able to have our whole bridal party and immediate family all stay on site, and the bridal suite was spacious and perfect to get ready in.
This really is a magical location for a wedding, especially if you want to be able to put your own spin on it as you are able to choose your own styling, catering etc. The staff, especially the coordinator Maddie, made sure we had a wonderful stress free day. The views are absolutely unbeatable.

Charm Wilkinson

The property itself and the views are just STUNNING! Set in a scenic, private and secluded location - fantastic for weddings! Dedicated car port for each villa (awesome). Surrounding grounds and paths were well-maintained. We looked for the walking tracks that were advertised but couldn't see any. So we just wandered around the grassy areas instead. Staff were lovely and very accommodating. Super close to sister-venue Summergrove which is awesome as an overflow accommodation option.

Unfortunately the place is let down by the quality of the accommodation which is, I'm sorry to say, overpriced for what you get (especially given that the villas are a major feature and draw-card for the property).

The rooms themselves are simple but quite nice.... Thick rendered brick walls, cute exterior with private patio, nicely decorated, decent amenities (kitchenette, bathroom, queen bed, fan, aircon and TV..... the bridal suite even has a dedicated area for the bride to get ready in) but it is clear that these rooms are not used very often and therefore their upkeep is not up to standard.

Room cleanliness left a lot to be desired... dirt, cobwebs, hairs, dust, leaves, stains, smudges, fingerprints, crumbs. And you don't even want to know the thick dark ooze that came out of the spa vents in the bridal suite.... it was so clogged that the tub wouldn't even fill until we realised how bad it was and cleaned it..... It was so disgusting that my fiance (who's an Operations Manager of a large pool and water company with 17yrs of water safety experience under his belt) confirmed it wasn't just gross but actually unhygienic to use. We were SO looking forward to soaking in the tub to unwind before our wedding (one of the main reasons we wanted the bridal villa) so we were both gutted when we realised this wasn't an option.

Also there was no consistency across rooms..... One villa had four blankets and another had none. Temps got down to a few degrees overnight so some of our guests were left freezing. One villa had four knives but no spoons, the other had plenty of spoons but no knife. Some rooms the TV didn't work, others the aircon didn't work properly. Most of the remote controls had no working batteries. Or remotes so corroded from lack of use that there was battery acid leaking out of them which made one of our guest's room smell like burnt smoke. We had to rush out to buy a pack of 20 batteries at the last minute to replace them all because, without the remote, you couldn't operate most of the aircons because they are mounted so high up on the wall that you can't reach the control panel so the only way to use them is via the remote). Rather than relaxing, as we should have been in the lead-up to our wedding, instead we were running around trying to get each villa clean and functional prior to our guests arriving. If we had realised how extensive the issues were we would have engaged the staff to come help but it was one of those situations where one problem after another kept revealing itself so we didn't know how much work it was going to be. Breakfast was a little disappointing also (nice but very minimal and not much in the way of presentation either). The good news is, almost everything that soured our experience is super easy to solve. Just more regular maintenance and upkeep is all that is needed. Have a room checklist with what each room should have (ie two blankets, 4 knives, 4 forks, working batteries, functional tv/aircon/kettle/toaster/spa/etc) and do an audit of the cleanliness & functionality of each piece of equipment once a week and VOILA, problems solved and watch those 4 & 5 star reviews start rolling in 🙂

Amy Tennant

Amazing property and the views were beautiful but it is excessively overpriced for what you get. $220 for 1 night and our well presented room only came with a single spoon and knife! There were all the fixings for a cup of tea….but no mugs! My husband and I shared a single cutlery set to have their “breakfast included” - which was 2 single serve muesli packets, 2 yoghurts and 2 gluten free banana bread served which tasted like dried wood. The people I spoke with were absolutely lovely but it is just far too overpriced for the pretty but hostel like room.

A Jk

The rooms are highly over priced. I regret spending $270 for a tiny room with no spa bath. Yes the acreage and scenery is pretty but it's also very remote. I felt unsafe staying here as a woman on her own. So much so that I left to go home in the middle of the night because I couldn't get to sleep.

Emily Rametta

Very unprofessional venue - would NOT recommend. I had A LOT of issues with the venue leading up to my wedding day. I was promised many things that were not delivered on - being able to choose my own caterer without issue, a full kitchen, renovations of onsite accommodation and pavillion, early check ins and the list goes on. Even worse, I was told just months before the wedding that the caterers were only allowed to reheat in the kitchen - not actually cook anything!!! My reason for choosing this venue was that I could have whatever catering I wanted, so this dream was shattered. There is also no space in the kitchen for plating meals. The day before my wedding the place was covered in cobwebs and the floor was filthy - I had to request both be fixed. The grass was also very brown on my wedding day - for the many thousands of dollars I paid for very little I would have expected this to be kept watered. The ‘pavillion’ is also just a shed and very large so costly to furnish and style. It is also hard to get taxis there. Please do yourself a favour and choose a different venue!

Dan Morris

Great views, accommodation was heavily over-priced. Breakfast was virtually non-existent.
Sparse fittings in the 'room' too.