The Waterview

Not exactly a 1 but definitely not a 3 in my hood. The front of the building is awful, the back however is beautiful. For photo purposes this is a great pick. Inside was also done very well.
The food was comparable to a dominos/​Olive Garden. I had pretty high expectations as most of my friends chose this location for their big day. I have to return next month for another wedding and at least I know not to waste my time on any of the food.
The bartenders were very kind and great at their job.
Who knows, maybe the next visit will pump this score up to 3 stars.

Colin, Jason & Angela: *THANK YOU* You three are one of the reasons my sisters wedding was a magical dream! You guys are TRULY a dream team for a bride and her wedding party! (Angela, I have the ballet flats! I will bring them to you when Im back in CT) Thanks to your great advice, attentive and professional, yet fun personalities, we were able to host a FABULOUS and GORGEOUS wedding! Will upload pics soon.
xo ~Melineh
NORTH Wedding Party ~

My wedding was absolutely amazing!!! I can’t thank the Waterview enough for their service. They were extremely organized and I didn’t have to worry about anything. The care and attention they gave me was spectacular — you would never know they do this a million times a year. I seriously can’t thank them enough — they surpassed my expectations and I don’t have anything negative to say. If I could give them 10 stars I would.
I can’t wait to go to someone else’s wedding there just to experience it all over.
THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!

Staff was attentive, friendly and professional. Food was delicious and portions were great. They did a beautiful job with the cake and even reused the ceremony flowers for the tables. The venetian table and coffee and cordial bar was a huge hit! Everything went smoothly, looked great and our guests all raved about the venue. Staff even carried our things out to the car at the end of the night. It was a great day.
Karen Driscoll was our officiant also and she did a wonderful job and super sweet and attentive throughout the whole process.

We got married at the Waterview on Halloween this year and it was perfect. We worked with Kat as our wedding planner and found her so helpful and knowledgeable. The food was delicious (though we were having so much fun we didn’t eat very much), the staff was attentive and cordial. We were amazed at the amount of little details such as the salad plates being served cold and the entrée plates served hot. We can’t say how many guests told us how beautiful the venue was. There were so many people just trying to make the day as stress free as possible which is so important to a bride and groom. We were able to come the day before and start setting up and the price for a Friday wedding was very reasonable for Connecticut. We highly recommend the Waterview!

To say that I attended a wedding here would be kind of misleading. Let’s say that I experienced a wedding at Waterview. Because it was one surreal experience.
Waterview is a fairly massive structure nestled alongside a lake up in the woods of Somewhere, CT. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Shelton, where it turns out most guests of weddings here stay. How do I know this? Because that’s where we, and at least three other wedding parties (who had weddings on the same day at Waterview) were staying. And that’s just one of the couple of hotels in Shelton. How many weddings does Waterview host in a day? Too many to count.
These folks are seriously pushing tin with weddings on summer weekends at Waterview. There seem to be two main, large ballrooms that run simultaneously multiple times per day, with two outdoor wedding gazebos and indoor holding areas. As our bus arrived we were met with confusion — one party was just getting done, another wedding was being herded down toward their area (we accidentally crashed that, not knowing which way we were supposed to go) and then our group was heralded into the lobby to wait for our pre-​ceremony waiting period.
Once our room opened up, we were greeted with a choice of peach or raspberry sparkling wine. Not some sort of sparkling with peaches and raspberries, but some sort of Alize style abomination that was sickly sweet and really, truly gross. While waiting for our ceremony to start (they were running behind setting up since the threat of rain forced them to decide at last minute whether to hold the ceremony indoors or outside) we basically stood around in a room designated for the indoor ceremony while laborers from one of the contractors were bringing large equipment through the room to use the elevator. Asking grandma in her Sunday best to step aside so a sweaty guy with a hand-​truck can wheel boxes through is not very classy. We also saw the other wedding party cruising through the opposite, adjoining side on their way to the simultaneous ceremony on the other side.
The ceremony itself was very nice. It was only interrupted twice by a bunch of drunk townies in a boat cruising by yelling things like «Don’t do it!» (actually funny) and the second time booming music and mooning us (not funny). But the rest was good. Nice area, good view of the water, etc.
Post ceremony it was a bit of a different story. We were ushered up to a bar/​pre-​reception area where drinks and appetizers were served. Plenty of food, heavy apps, and lots of liquor flowing. After a while of this, we were let in to the main ballroom, which was done up exquisitely. The DJ was turned up to concert ballroom and put on one of the most perplexing productions I’ve ever seen. Sort of like how I’d expect a WWE announcer to hype the crowd before a match. That said, I think this is the way the bride and groom planned it, so while surreal to me, I don’t think this is the way it’s always done at Waterview.
The service was pretty impeccable and the food plentiful (and surprisingly good). Plated dinner, choices made tableside, and not much delay on food. But the real clincher was dessert. They served up a mountain of desserts with more choices than most buffets could ever dream of. There was even an espresso bar with made-​to-​order coffee. Over the course of the night we were offered enough food for three meals.
I really have never seen anything like this. I was shocked at first by the low quality of the bubbly, the confusion, and chaos coming in. However once the ceremony was over and the reception began, it was pretty much seamless. And when we mentioned the thing about the contractors continuously barging through our waiting area, the staff seemed to jump right on it. So kudos to them for that.
This place offers serious luxury but there are obviously a few drawbacks, and those are definitely on the wrong side of the night. They suffer from pushing too many things at too close a time frame. And with a couple of adjustments (ditch the Alize, or whatever that is) could be pretty magical.

I can’t say enough positive things about Kat and the Waterview. Professional, accommodating, responsive, amazing food, beautiful setting and just an overall wonderful experience. They were so responsive to my emails and questions, I brought custom items/​accents and put most out as they should — my friends and family can’t stop raving about the food. They even accommodated my custom drink list. Our dinner they did a special medley for us as well. All of our vendors were comfortable with them. It was amazing!

— Yet again, another instance of The Waterview being rude! Don’t hire!

I just got married here on July 20, 2013. There was a threat of rain all day and my ceremony was outside. They were very accommodating about setting up last minute. The woman who does the rehearsal (Hildie) was all business and came off stern. At first I didn’t think we were gonna get along but she eventually let down her guard and boy was she handy with a sewing kit when I realized just before the wedding that I didn’t have a bustle.
Jonathan was my assigned wedding planner and he was THE MAN. Talk about accommodating! There were a few decorating elements that were overlooked for cocktail hour but no one noticed. The staff set up the reception exactly as I requested. This involved lighting up very large centerpieces woth battery operated candles all over them.
The food was amazing, the chef even created a bunch of Vegan options for me. My cake was stunning and the whole thing went as planned.
Unfortunately there was a heat wave and it was stuffy, they accommodated us with construction grade fans to circulate the air.
The final oversight was a bacon egg and cheese sandwich that was suppose to be distributed at the end never made it. Looking back at the bill we realized that it wasn’t charged so we all forgot about it.
All in all, it was beautiful, yummy, and tons of fun!

Don’t get married here in the summer! Two days prior to my event, I noticed it was very warm in the venue at the rehearsal. I was promised the Ac would be on for my wedding. It was 85 degrees in the room the night of my wedding. Everyone complained, people didn’t dance, left early, had sweat pouring off their faces, worst of all nobody even apologized to me! They kept saying it was the lowest it could go. Which was a lie, because a guest saw a AC van parked outside before the ceremony. They waited until one hour before my wedding to have it fixed. Then at the last minute they made me move my room, because according to them the other room was cooler. I shouldn’t have to pay for an air conditioned venue, when they didn’t give me one! After reading older reviews, this is a common problem with the waterview!, wish I had seen that before I booked this venue!

I came here for a wedding reception, the venue itself was pretty stereotypically set up but the grassy lawn and porches have great views of the water. There are huge chandeliers inside which creates a nice atmosphere, especially when you have colored lighting to reflect off them.
The servers were all nice, and the cocktail hour had an amazing assortment of cheeses, fruits, pasta salads, etc. It was really wonderful and delicious. They had great Sangria, lemonade and ice teas at cocktail hour as well.
Nice open bar service is always a wedding plus as well.
I HIGHLY recommend filling up during cocktail hour if you come here for a wedding because the entrees in the dinner service were definitely lacking. The cocktail hour snacks were much better quality and tastier. Its a big pet peeve of mine when restaurants assume vegetarians just want a plate of grilled vegetables. To top it off the vegetables weren’t even cooked well and were overly soaked in cheap balsamic. My date and friends ordered the meat dishes, and were equally unimpressed.

We were there the other night for a wedding reception. I could not believe the amount of food. The appetizers were great and plentiful. The dinner was absolutely great. One of the best places to have your wedding reception. The wait staff was fast and professional. I highly recommend the Waterview.

My husband and I had our wedding ceremony & reception at The Waterview in May of 2012. The location was beautiful, we got married outside and the flowers and décor were lovely. The reception hall was elegant and classy, but not over the top. The staff were extremely attentive and it was wonderful having them help us during the wedding. While we were disappointed that there wasn’t a food tasting while selecting our menu, the food turned out to be delicious. All of our guests raved about the food. The wine selection wasn’t the best either, but they allowed us to bring in our own wine and champagne without charging anything extra.
My biggest complaint is that there are no hotel accommodations closer by, so we had to hire a party bus to bring guests back and forth to the hotel in Danbury (20 minutes away). Not a big deal, but we really didn’t want anyone driving.
Overall, I would highly recommend this place for a wedding!

my sister had her wedding here last weekend and it was MAGNIFICANT!!!
the staff was unbelievably attentive. we were sooo taken care of alll night!
the food was great, the venue was GORGEOUS, and the people were excellent.
we traveled out of state for this wedding and it was well worth it!!! not ONE complaint!!!

I was in a bridal party and can only review the service I saw. The woman who coordinated the wedding, Hildy (sp?) was very nice and organized. Those who attended to the bridal party on the day were courteous and attentive. The grounds are beautiful as was the ballroom. The food was delicious and the waitstaff friendly.

I have ONLY been once. However, i know 3 couples that have had events held here who were very pleased with their experience w the staff & in having their event here.
We attended a friend’s wedding w approx 200 guests. I thought it was really wonderful & here’s why:
1^st its beautiful– both externally as well at the interior (see the pic gallery link)
Its not over done/​pretentious in any way, however I found it nicely appointed, tasteful & classy– marble, fireplaces, ample ladies rooms, architectural details, soft colors, lots of high windows with lovely views of the blue river in the back drop and surrounded by mature trees and colorful landscaping.
The Hors d’Oeuvres– varied and ample– spanokopita, empenadas, couscous, chicken, beef, risotto, cocktails (we enjoyed an open bar service), cuisine– our choices were grilled Mahi mahi w mango salsa, wild rice & sauteed veggies, steak or Napoleon veggie stack, and wedding cake– lemon cake w a vanilla butter cream frosting (didn’t care for the cake). The wine selection was not good but the bartender was talented. The service was fine. Music/​acoustics were great.
I would definitely consider this venue for an event.
Ample private parking, out side seasonal seating, gazebo, coat room, large entry, at least two sets of ladies rooms (hey! its important).
I can not attest for the prices etc as we were only guests of an event.

We’re currently planning our wedding and we contacted the waterview via their contact page once in December with no answer. We tried again in January and yet again received no response. My fiancé and I work hours that don’t allow us to make phone calls from work and e-​mail is our preferred communication. I finally called in February and got a woman who seemed nice on the phone. We made an appointment and when we got to the venue they made us wait for ~ 10 min which doesn’t seem long but this business seems to be all about making you wait and work to GIVE THEM your money! After hearing that another wedding may be getting booked on our preferred date the woman made it very clear that the other bride had first pick of everything from room to time of cocktails… I certainly felt put out every step of the way. They PROMISED to call and e-​mail me the day after the appointment to let me know what the other bride chose for everything. That was 3 weeks ago. Still no response. VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. These people have no follow through on their clients or maybe they just don’t need business.
WOULD NOT RECOMMEND! Not to mention the 150 person minimum you pay for regardless of your party size…

I had my reception here in 2004. The Food & service were terrible. 2 of the 3 entrees were wrong. The filet was served raw (not rare, raw). All of them had to go back. You could hear our «host» yelling at the kitchen staff. The service at our table was horrible. The person assigned to us had no idea what he was doing. They had one bartender for 125 people. Also, they asked us when we were booking if there was any additional types of alcohol we would like to have at the party, we wanted Stoli O & Jameson. They didn’t have either. They got Jameson at the very end of the reception. (Someone ran out to their other venue in Danbury to pick some up). At the end of the night the host said she would make things right.
We contacted the her again but obviously the owner was not willing to make things better. He offered us two cases of booze to make things better. Are you kidding me!!! We contacted The Better Business Bureau — The owners comment according to the BBB was «you can’t make everyone happy». BTW I’ve been in the restaurant and bar industry for 14 years. So I’m not someone who complains about the little things. This was a disaster from beginning to end.
Do yourself a favor and go to a different venue.

This place is awful!!! Gross! Went to the waterview last night for my employers recognition dinner. First of all, the outside is ugly. You pull up to the building and it’s this big square place. They could have made the main entrance a lot nicer looking. Then, when we arrived inside, nothing was ready. We had 1200 people there and we were all crammed into the main lobby because they didn’t have the drinks and appetizer section ready yet downstairs. Since we had to wait upstairs, we wanted to use the ladies room, and the rude workers, kept yelling at us for going in to use the bathroom. When we finally got downstairs, the drinks were just being poured. Then we were told we all had to go outside while they set up the appetizers! After another 30 minutes we were allowed back in, and the food wasn’t good at all. They had cheese cubes, salmon from a can mixed with mandarin oranges from a can, pasta with canned artichoke hearts and italian dressing, and some «asian» pasta and chicken dish that was drowned in peanut dressing. They also had some kind of pasta. I got a big plate full of the pasta because it had just been brought out from the back, and it was ice cold. Gross. Even the servers who were walking around with food, complained about it. One lady was serving steak on toast with horseradish cream. She said «I’m sorry there isn’t more cream on this, they could have added a little more.»
When we finally got upstairs for the dinner and reception, they told us we weren’t allowed to have anything else to drink except water and the wine that was on our tables. They finally decided to open a bar for soda only about an hour later.
The salads looked somewhat pretty but tasted like crap. The tomatoes had no flavor and the lettuce had no dressing.
Most of my table ordered chicken. It was pretty obvious that the chicken was bought already breaded. It was cold, tough and flavorless. We wanted some salt and pepper but there wasn’t any on our table and when we asked, they said we should have it and never came back! They served uncooked veggies and boxed mashed potatoes! WTF!
Oh and did I mention that the time between the salad and dinner was over an hour? Not acceptable.
After dinner came dessert. All it was, was a dry yodel covered in chocolate and gross, mushy berries.
They kept coming around with coffee, but two people at my table wanted tea. They asked 4 different servers, all who came back out without the tea. I finally got up, went to the servers station and told them to get me the tea and I’d wait for it. We also wanted creamer but they said they couldn’t find it in the back!
The is the second time I’ve been to the waterview and the service was awful last time too.
I’d never have a party here let alone my wedding.
The only thing nice about this place was the water view. It was actually kind of pretty but thats the only upside.
Sorry for the long rant, but this place was awful.
Oh and P. S– The size of the dance floor, compared to the size of the room was horrible. Not many people could fit on that floor!

This is an amazing place for a wedding, especially on a gorgeous autumn day. When you roll up after a lovely drive on rte 34 in southern CT, it’s something to behold– a large lovely contemporary building right on Lake Zoar with an English garden, all glinting in the sun.
The ballroom was a beautiful place for a reception, with antique chandeliers and huge walls of floor to ceiling windows overlooking the lake. It was even more charming on the inside than the outside.
The service and food here were amazing. The wait staff was able to accommodate both a last minute request for a lactose free meal at my table, and a veg meal at the next table without batting an eyelash. My petite filet, chicken and shrimp were excellent, as was a generous heirloom tomato salad. The passed apps were really creative too, including mini Chicken Cordon Bleu and tiny pulled pork sandwiches.
If you’re getting married in Southern CT I’d definitely check this place out.