Swaneset Bay Resort & Country Club

FOR FUTURE BRIDES:
There are many things to consider when booking a wedding, and I will break it down for you from a guest perspective, and someone who has planned her own wedding (I recommend Westwood Plateau – they are amazing):
1) LOCATION: Swaneset is VERY far away depending where you and your guests are coming from. It is set in a very idyllic setting so it is nice, but to drive 45 min or longer AFTER a long night of partying and drinking may not be a good idea since it’s far off in pitt meadows.
2) FOOD: we were guests at a wedding, and being the last table to go up the buffet was NOT replenished, not even the romaine lettuce for the salad! I’m pretty sure the bride/​groom paid dearly, so this is NOT acceptable. It felt like we were picking through garbage, and stuff had been sitting out forever. Food should be replenished long before it gets to the point there are a few pieces of lettuce left only which leads me to the NEXT point:
3) CLEANLINESS: the bathrooms were spotless, which is a redeeming point BUT there were so many fruit flies around that no one could enjoy their meal/​drinks. If i left my drink for a minute a fruit fly or two would be floating in my drink and there were many swarming!!! SO DISGUSTING. They are there because someone is ROTTING!!! On top of that my husband had severe food poisoning after, and the only thing that he had that we didn’t have was the seafood at the buffet.
4) SERVICE: We were the last table and the hostess actually said to us in a very rude manner that she wasn’t even going to bother announcing us. Who says that? What a way to represent the wedding and make it sound like we are already at the bottom of barrel in terms of valued guests. The bar was lukewarm, and closed much of the evening so good luck w/​that. Not sure if it’s the choice of the wedding party but there was no table service.
5) PARKING: very far away. they reserve the main parking lot for members so if you have elderly guests or people w/​mobility issues, or if the weather is bad then this is NOT a good thing.
6) ROOM LAYOUT: I will upload pictures, but if you have a large wedding that doesn’t fit in the middle then your guests will feel like they are sitting in a completely different venue where they won’t be able to see or hear you!!! It was totally riduculous, and there is something you should consider for your wedding when booking.
GOOD POINTS: it’s large, it’s pretty w/​the golf course backdrop, and the desserts were good.
Hope this review was helpful, but major thumbs down! I had my wedding at Westwood Plateau (and so did a friend) and they were fabulous, inexpensive, and it was just as pretty. They also hit all the above points and were beyond amazing.

The bartender «Rachell» was very unpleasant and rude. It’s a shame that such a great venue and wedding experience has to be tarnished by an evil women. Her name is supposedly Rachel or Cindy. She had shorter hair, wavy I think — on the portly side. I hope her management reads this and has her better trained. July 11^th

We were in B.C. this past week, visiting my wife’s family and decided to give this course a try. I have heard about this course, but every time we travel to Vancouver, usually during the winter time, it’s too cold to play. We played the Links course, a tournament going on the resort course. Overall, the course was great and it’s a great track nestled into the mountain side. Couldn’t get into a real groove during round, but enjoyed the course
Pro’s:
· Course is good shape-​Greens rolled well, although a little damp as played at 7:30am, we’re a bit faster as we finished.
· Very challenging layout. A lot of the holes are not long but the fairways are narrow, and there are a lot of bunkers and hazards. Most of the holes have a water hazard (small creeks or ponds) …SO Club down and LAY UP
· Very walkable
· Facilities well maintained
Con’s:
· The course doesn’t drain well. This is not a real negative but there are parts of the course where my ball was plugged, especially in the fairway’s, but again, these are the conditions you have to play with when playing in the northwest

Do you guys recall the scene from Happy Gilmore where they filmed here? I didn’t notice until I was informed prior to teeing off. «Ohhhh yeah, that’s right.» It’s one hell of a drive to get here even from downtown Vancouver. One minute, it looks like you’re about to drive into/​towards the mountains then you’re zooming through farm lands. Local signs that point the way are a bit hard to see so keep your eyes peeled. They have member parking for the elites close to the clubhouse while the regular folks get to walk from a bit further out.
We teed off on a typical gloomy British Columbia type day. However, this didn’t feel like I was in the city or remotely close to there. Why? Humidity. It’s 6−7am and I feel like I’m back in Thailand. We checked in, grabbed the cart, and headed off to the first hole. Still, no sign of sun. The fairways here are narrow. Warning, you’re about to get into target golf country. It’s really not that hilly, but not much room to work with. Random streams of water, thick and nasty brush align the roughs, and your average giant tall Canadian trees. Holes# 2 – 3, trickle of rain begins to drop. Luckily my boy had an extra umbrella for me. He’s Canadian, he knows better. I’m from sunny California and I’m in shorts. I’m how would you say at that moment, an ignorant American. Keep playing, nothing is going to stop us.
A hole or two later, it pours. I mean drenches. I must decide, keep myself dry or keep my bag and gear dry since I’ll have to pack it up soon to throw it on the plane. It gets rough. A few holes later, the rain eases up. The sky is turning into a lighter shade of gray which was a sign of relief. Keep hacking it up. Rain returns, why thank you for keeping it interesting. I forgot to mention, we were walking with push/​pull carts and not riding in the motorized golf carts.
Oh, the rain wasn’t just one element that was out of our hands. MOSQUITOES. TONS. OF. THEM. Get your bug sprays ready. I hope you guys loaded up on it. We sprayed, they still came. They started biting through our clothes so don’t just spray on your exposed skin. Drench yourself in that lovely chemical like you’re showering in it. These little blood suckers are vicious and relentless.
Hey, am I still in Canada or am I really back in Thailand? Really, I felt like I was in my parent’s homeland. All was missing was some rice paddy fields surrounding the course and maybe some ox pulling some farm equipment. Everything else was present: the humidity, the rain, the bugs, the mountains in the far distance surrounding us, the thick brushes, and the random water hazards.
Course was difficult for me. Well… it felt like that way anyhow. All those uncontrollable elements plus a challenging new course; it sure did make me feel like a novice golfer all over again. My Canadian pal seems to like it here but then again, he’ll take any course because it’s not sunny every day for him so he’ll play whatever he can get. For me, let me recall all my loveable memories first and I’ll give you an answer later.
In terms of this review: date played was mid July 2014

This is quite fancy and FAR resort and country club. We came here to attend my cousin’s wedding. We occupied the 3^rd floor of the clubhouse. The food was buffet style and fancy — quite delicious too. The golf course and mountain skyline can be seen from the balcony decks and great to take pictures and «selfies». Parking is a bit of a walk if you’re not a member. Members get close parking spots while non-​members have to part further away. The late evening of the reception, we were notified of bears roaming the premises. That’s quite scary, hahaha! Be careful and walk in groups.

My husband and I got married here in November 2013. Overall we were absolutely floored with the beauty of the entire clubhouse and grounds. We were also mostly happy with the service we received not only on our wedding night but from the time we initially inquired about the location right up to the wedding.
Deanne, our day of coordinator, was outstanding. She was so helpful and listened to our wishes very attentively. She executed our dream wedding beautifully.
Food and drinks were outstanding and all our guests raved on and on about both.
Our only two reasons for not giving this location 5 stars was that we were disappointed that Swaneset changed their food and alcohol menus and increased their prices quite significantly half way through from the time we booked to our wedding date. While they agreed to honour food pricing we booked on they did not honour the alcohol pricing. While we understand that based on the contract that we signed, Swaneset is completely allowed to do so, we found a bit disheartening they would do this. Of course prices go up but you really should raise them from an ongoing booking perspective and not with couples that booked with you months beforehand, especially since they’ve budgeted on agreed amount prices.
The only other complaint is based on Swaneset’s layout. We were told if you have less than 160 guests everyone will be able to see the head table. We had about 150 guests and the two outside tables could not see us at all. We felt very upset by this as we did not know this until the wedding day and it was too late to do anything. I know I was disappointed and would have hated to be a guest in that situation.
Overall our wedding day was amazing and I am glad we chose Swaneset.

My husband and I got married August 2013. We originally had another venue on hold but decided to look at Swaneset last minute. It was a say YES to the venue moment. Everything from the landscaped lawn to the stonework on the terrace/​staircases and the ballroom was breathtaking.
The whole planning and execution went smoothly all thanks to Deanne. She was recently hired on as a wedding coordinator and she is wonderful. She was super friendly, responded to all of my emails promptly, and made sure every request was met the day of.
We had a seated three course meal and the service was top notch. I had guests even comment on how gracefully the servers were walking around. My husband and I are huge foodies so having good food was a top priority. In all honesty, when we had our taste testing we were a bit concerned. The food/​presentation seemed a bit outdated but the chef was great and we were able to make any adjustments that we wanted. (For example, we switched the steamed vegetables for brocollinni, instead of gravy we asked for a reduction etc.) We also gave the chef pictures of how we wanted our food presented. With these minor adjustments the food on the day of our wedding was fabulous! Our guests were raving about how wonderful the food was for days! We really appreciated how flexible and accommodating the chef and kitchen staff were.
Our bartender Stephanie was the best! Some weddings only have a person who can pour drinks but Stephanie was an actual bartender who was able to make any concoction that we wanted. She was super fun and definitely was one of the highlights of the wedding!
Overall, we were very pleased with Swaneset. The venue was beautiful, the service/​food was great, and Deanne was a pleasure to work with. We have no reservations in recommending Swaneset to friends, family, or anyone considering it as their wedding venue!

We chose Swan E Set for our daughter’s wedding at the end of August, and it was one of the best choices we made regarding her wedding!
Not only was the venue a beautiful location (inside and out) from the ceremony site outside, the beautiful ballroom and balcony… but the food was amazing! All the guests raved about the variety, layout and taste!
The staff went beyond our expectations to see to it that our daughter and her husband felt like royalty, and also the guests commented on the great service, as well as all the little special details that were considered in making everything so perfect!
The golf course location made for some pretty awesome photos as well! Having everything we needed all at one location helped the «flow» of the entire day!
I have, and will continue to highly recommend Swan E Set to anyone looking for a great venue for their BIG event!
Lisa B

Fell in love at first sight with this wedding venue. It was very elegant yet pricey so thought we would get professional treatment. Assumed wrong! Tegan the wedding coordinator will never respond to your emails, calls, etc. in a reasonable time. It would take days or even weeks to get a response. And if that’s not bad she took a vacation a week before our day and didn’t even tell us. The night before our wedding we were still sorting things out! Oh and prices are subject to change anytime without them telling you or warning you apparently. So you’ll go into your detail meeting thinking one price and it’ll be another. the food was alright. we got the grand buffet. It wasn’t breathtaking or anything. I had better at the river rock buffet in Richmond for a quarter of the price. the place looks like a fairy tale wedding but that’s were it stops.

Weddings are beautiful and the union of a couple in a marriage is magical. The perfect dream wedding creates memories to last a lifetime shared with friends and family for a fairy tale ending. However sometimes not even a beautiful venue with intimate gathering or lavish gala ball can compensate for a disappointment with horrendous service…
We were there witnessing a beautiful wedding, at a beautiful venue, however with such mediocre service and lack of professionalism I am truly disappointed. It saddens me to say the following…
To Swan-​E-​Set Resort & Country Club,
I am writing to you in reflection of disappointment in regards to the wedding event on XXXX 16, 2012. I was in attendance of my friend’s wedding and was extremely appalled by the level of service your team has provided to the guest in attendance.
The catering staffs were rude, and it is apparent that they have performed a lackluster performance. I have never seen such a delay at the buffet table where the plates were empty while people were on their first lineup. I have never seen staff waiting and standing around, lending against walls and talking amongst themselves instead of keeping busy in a wedding as well.
I know it’s important to have cost saving initiatives when it comes to food, but even water was not poured to guest on a regular basis.
In addition, at the open bar, particularly Sarah (lady with short brown hair) on duty was ridiculously rude. When asked to substitute Grey Goose for Smirnoff, she challenged me with a snarky comment if I could even taste the difference.
I am deeply saddened that my friend chose to invest their special day with your venue, and I would never recommend the West Coast Golf Group list of companies to anyone I know.
Regards,
I give it one star for the venue and the architecture. As for the food and the staff it deserved none.

Looks like I am the only one who is going to review the golf course, as all I see right now are weddings. This place is always ranked in the top three for wedding venues in the lower mainland area.
Yes, I’ve been here for a wedding as well and it is immaculate and beautiful, with the cathedral like clubhouse and soaring ceilings. It is a fairy tale setting for a wedding. However, if you live in Vancouver, it is quite a trek to get out here.
The courses:
Yes, courses, there are two Lee Trevino designed golf courses on this resort destination. One is a public course, the resort course, and the other is the member’s private course, the links course. I’ve played both. The links course is a bit longer and is a bit more challenging than the resort course. A slope of 132 for the links versus 131 for the resort. from the back tees.
It’s a nice getaway from the city for a round of golf.

This is the most beautiful golf course and ball room I’ve ever seen. It’s the definite place to have your romantic fairy tale wedding. It is beautiful inside and out. from the moment you drive through the gates and through the long bendy pathway. The food is tasty and delicious. Presentation is 5 stars.
Cons: They layout of the ballroom isn’t ideal. Instead of it typically being a square or rectangular shape, it’s more of a cross? Some guests may be hidden on the two sides of the room making it hard to see the slide show and or hear the speeches. It is also very far and confusing to get to. Especially if you decide to have a open bar, make sure you have someone leading your guests from the venue to the highway.
Disclaimer: This review is base on this location as a wedding venue versus a golf course.