Michelle Michaud

Review of Barnsley Resort

I guess there's no need to go back to Barnsely Ga...

I guess there's no need to go back to Barnsely Gardens anymore as it is now a resort.
This weekend we drove an hour and twenty minutes to see the gardens, museum, Xmas lights and eat dinner at the woodlands grill. We were blocked from the ruins at 3:30 in the afternoon because of a wedding. So we opted to walk the gardens which,no matter the season, have always been inspiring. Now they are run down and a meer hint of what whey were. Signs denoting the trees are falling off and barely legible. Everywhere you look is another pavilion or building. The beautiful green next to the house is covered with a pavilion. The boxwood hedges in front of the home are in shambles. The once beautifully decorated entries now have minimal decorations.
I'm clearly not their target audience. Destination weddings and family reunions with charter buses are. Tho I've stayed there on many occasions, I won't do that anymore either, either. Looks and feels like a high powered resort, thus the name change from gardens to resort.
I have fond memories of a once amazing gem which is now overrun by a Disney attitude by management. Maximum profit with minimal effort.
BTW, we did call ahead of time, spoke to the front desk about reservations at the grill and mentioned to them we were super excited to see the lights. I even asked about the gate fee to see the lights during the holidays. This was an extensive conversation which required me to be put on hold a couple of times while the person checked to see if we would be charged to see lights even if we were eating at the grill.
Bottom line, the Barnsley Resort is no longer a "gardens" and is only interested in high-priced large group destination events.