John Herman

Review of Kanuga conferences inc.

This was the worst experience my wife and I have e...

This was the worst experience my wife and I have ever had and Rev. Sullivan's overt refusal to respond to the letter pasted below demonstrates his total indifference and common courtesy unbecoming of any one, especially a member of the Clergy.

For $350 a might, we got (since it is a Church sponsored Inn, I will use a non offensive adjective) GOT CHEATED. From below, this place is a disaster!.

MY EMAIL TO THE BISHOP AND WAS FORWARDED BY HIM TO REV. SULLIVAN

Last week my wife and I spent a week at Kanuga and, after much thought and reflection, I feel compelled to bring the following to your attention as my wife and I feel that this needs the immediate attention of the dioceses.

We chose to book our stay as we were led to believe that this was a great place for people our age (74 and 75) when, in fact, this facility is for young families with children. While we feel that this is a great and wonderful place for families, we were not informed of the total focus on catering to families and were led to believe that this would be a wonderful place for us to reflect.

In reviewing my costs, we were charged $350 a day for a very basic room with spotty internet and no real services. We were also told that we had to also take the meal plan as it was mandatory.

To be completely honest with you, we were told that we had 3 dining rooms to choose from offering a variety of choices, which is clearly not the case.

Before going into our dining experience in more detail, I wanted to share our background with you.

We were active members of St. James in Hendersonville for several years before moving back to Charlotte to be closer to our children. I was the treasurer for Feed the Kids and prepared and served meals for them as well as the men's shelter for several years. I also served as a Lay Eucharistic Minister and greeter, worked on several other committees and volunteered at the Medical Loan Closet for 5 years. Father Joel Hafer knew us quite well as well as Mother Eunice and Deacon Tim Jones.

With this background, I am most familiar with food costs as well as what represents a balanced, healthy, nutritious meal. Unfortunately, the food served at Kanuga lacked all the elements just mentioned and, in many cases, was inedible and unhealthy as the food was full of starch, over salted and horribly presented. We had no choices of meals, let alone dessert and the presentation was worse than awful. The meals were picked over and not refilled or dressed in an appropriate manner. In addition, many of the sides were unrecognizable. As an example, the "brussel sprouts" served with the roast beef (by far the best entree of the week) was not recognizable. On Friday evening we were served a "shrimp boil" which had no shrimp and looked like a side of potatoes, not the main entry. The corn was so overcooked, that it disintegrated. I have photos of what was served as well as what a shrimp boil should look like should you wish to see them.

Lunches were recycled entries from the previous dinners and breakfasts did not even include edible toast and bread options, let alone, cold cereal. This, plus the fact that they were constantly out of eggs was typical of the total lack of care regarding your food service.

While I have never asked for a meaningful refund from anyone, I am compelled to request this as I feel that we were grossly overcharged for what we got and, if we have been charged the same as the families with 2 to 6 children, then this should have been clearly disclosed.

In closing, I am not a troublemaker and I have an excellent reputation for providing outreach to those in need. My wife and I are upset by this experience as we did not expect what we received from a facility operated and sponsored by the Episcopal Church. This situation needs to be addressed.

I look forward to hearing back from you (and please not from the "chief").

Respectfully,