Booked for a three-day management conference. Left after day one. We booked Ruslamere for a three-day strategic conference for our senior management team, eighteen people, and paid in full in advance. We did not return for days two and three. The property does not resemble what is presented on its website. The lawn was dead and the garden was not maintained. Nothing about the arrival or the grounds reflects a four-star property. To reach the toilets, our team had to leave the conference venue and walk along an unkempt garden path with bricks coming out of the wall alongside it, into a separate building used for storage. The bathroom was outdated and unkempt, the cupboards were falling apart, and the toilet doors barely closed. To reach lunch, we were taken through the office into an enclosed back room with tins and cans stacked in it. The food was served cold. One of the air-conditioning units in the conference venue was not working. This was mid-July. We mentioned it to staff. Nothing was done, and eighteen people sat cold for the entire day. Only after we complained were we told the property is mid-refurbishment. That was disclosed nowhere in the quote, the invoice, or on the website — and we had paid in full before we arrived. We requested a refund for the two days we did not use. We answered every question the owner put to us, in detail and in writing. We have had no response at all. If you are booking a corporate venue where the impression it makes on your team or your clients matters, look elsewhere. This was not a four-star experience and it was not a professional one.
