The Henderson Castle – Bed & Breakfast

Why I felt cheated…
My wife and I were greeted warmly and led to our room across the street in their new addition, the bellhop dressed and acted like he may have been a distant cousin to the Adams Family. He was strange but my wife and I found him oddly charming, he informed us we were the only ones staying in this house and non of the other rooms had been rented, my wife asked well if you do rent another room out can you let us know, he laughed pointed at me and said just keep an eye on each other, he than turned and left the house singing. It all went down hill from there. We walked back to the castle and got a drink from the bar, which to be fair is a broom closet with two undertrained college sorrority girls are pretending to make old fashions. We were informed that do to the size of (the bar) we should take our drinks and head downstairs to ‘the man cave’ We headed downstairs and realized the man cave was a room with two small couches filled with children watching a Disney movie and a small table with bar stools and a backgammon game. My wife and I played a quick game of back gammon finished our poor drinks and agreed we would be ordering wine and bottled beers from here on out. We explored the other floors and areas of the castle and it was quite neat the history and decorations but upon realizing the rooftop hot tub was closed we decided to head downtown. People at the hotel told us there was another hot tub somewhere but were unable to show us. We came back to our place around 11:30 and realized they had rented the other room and had not told us, annoyed but not a big deal, when we went to bed we realized it was plastic sheets and a very thick comforter, I could not sleep much and when speaking to my wife the next morning she informed me of fighting moths and other bugs all night. After getting in the shower we realize there are no towels, we pack up upset about the accommodations and head to our complimentary breakfast at the castle only to find that they stop serving breakfast at 9:30 on Sunday and it is already 9:38 although my wife swears the person at checkin said breakfast went till 11, at that point we weren’t arguing but headed out to write my very first trip advisor. Awful place I do not recommend staying there!

Buyer beware!!! The groupon for a tour wine tasting has in the fine print tax and gratuity not included. I was already wary about spending $ 45 for a tour and tasting, but was outraged at the $ 23 «tax and gratuity». By my calculations that is $ 2.70 for the 6% tax and $ 20.30 for gratuity. I tip well, but a 45% gratuity is outrageous! Buyer beware!

Beware the Groupon for the «spa package» here. My husband and I purchased the spa package off Groupon and decided to make a night of it. I have lived in Kalamazoo for most of my life and love the historical nature and beauty of the castle. Since the new (creepy) owner has taken over, it has really gone downhill. I knew what to expect going in to it, as in don’t eat the food. The pricy spa package was a sub-​par massage by some foreigners that clearly had no formal massage training. It was fun to walk around the house after dark when no one else was there though.
The real shock came in the morning when we checked out and they had not disclosed that the gratuity would be tacked on for the «spa package» at 18%. Not for what we paid for on the Groupon, but for what the «actual value» is for the spa package. So… we were stuck with an extra $ 180 on top of the rest of our bill. What was supposed to be a $ 150 evening turned into a $ 800 evening.
While it is my own fault for no doing my research, I felt I should give others buyers beware. They have now achieved a non-​profit status so they do not have to pay the city of Kalamazoo property taxes. I am very interested to see how this will work…

Would not recommend anyone gong here for lunch or dinner. Awful experience! After a long wait… No bread basket or appetizers offered on menu our Entrée was served first, then our soup and then our dinner salad??? Food not that good and $ 10 glass of wine tastes like a Applebee’s house wine. Had a problem with our bill. Had to ask for the Manager, she was rude, mean and unprofessional. She yelled and would not rectify the situation. Overall very DISAPPOINTING AND PRETTY AWFUL experience.

The Henderson Castle is indeed a beautiful building. However, the accommodations were substandard. We stayed in the Queens Tower. The room was very small. There was no place to place your luggage. There were no chairs to sit in the bedroom unless you went outside on the balcony. The bathroom was almost unusable. The bathroom is basically cut in half due to slanted roof. When we went downstairs at 7:30 am, no coffee had been prepared. We were very disappointed and will not be returning.

Writing this review as a I lay in bed in silence at the Henderson. We canceled our holiday inn reservation for a wedding here in Kalamazoo once we saw a b&b opening. As soon as we get here to prepare for the wedding, I notice none of our outlets work-​good thing I can go without straightening or curling my hair really. But paying almost the same with no tv or any electric outlets (we noted before we left for the wedding and told they would be fixed before we got back which they clearly are not) I wish we would’ve kept our other reservations. This is ridiculous, just because we’re starting in an old house doesn’t mean that’s what we paid 200 a night to feel like. Cute atmosphere but would not recommend or ever stay here again. Thanks for having us live like the 1800s!

Our visit was in early May of 2015. We bought a package through Living Social that included a night’s lodging, a «7» course meal, and a massage. We invited 2 guests to dine with us. The food was mediocre at best, with hard rolls considered a course. Upon checking out, I was advised that I owed nothing. I said that I had had 2 guests for dinner the previous night. The front desk said they would call me. I never heard from them until I got a charge on my VISA for $ 285 for the dinner almost 3 months later. When I disputed the charge with VISA, Henderson presented a bill to VISA where they double charged me for our meals that were included in the package we purchased and added another 18% gratuity fee.
Big mistake going there.

I would give this 0 stars if possible. Seriously people do not be fooled by the online wit. This is a tourist trap. Michigan’s only wine cave? Seriously? It’s a few bricks in the side of a weedy hill and sits basically in a parking lot. I got to see the forbidden kitchen and it was SCARY! Toilets do not flush, dirty, unkept, staff knows nothing about the history, wine sampling is a joke, the cheese is from Meijer, crackers from WalMart.
Someone had better do something about this so called «castle». It looks no more like a castle then most of the homes in downtown Grand Rapids. It’s musty, unkept and the staff is rude and clueless. Their automatic tipping practice is out of line! No one should be forced to pay someone for nothing! Staff is clearly all from «One flew over the cookoos nest!»
Rooftop hot tub looks more like a collapsible nightmare, and watch your head everywhere you go if you are over 6 foot tall. The guest hangout room is well stocked with furniture from Goodwill and the bar is in the oddest closet location you can imagine.
You might decide to buy one of the expensive gifts in the gift shop which was formerly the kitchen. Another disappointment. Construction hazards everywhere. Odd and somewhat inappropriate statuary in even odder locations.
Do not walk, run.

DO NOT BE DUPED BY THIS PLACE! The owner, Francois, wants you to think that all of the bad reviews are by the 1% of angry customers that are «ragingly posting every where» (see his reply to the many negative reviews on Tripadvisor). He is unwilling to admit fault for poor management and customer service by himself and his employees.
I stayed here for three days in September. We experienced horrible customer service from the breakfast waitstaff and management. Their customer service card was a 2“x2″ hand-​torn piece of standard paper. Clearly they do not care about feedback as many reviewers are complaining about the same issues. Management could not be bothered to call us regarding our poor experience as promised. The rooms are more shabby than chic. There are burnt out lightbulbs throughout the house, our robes were dirty and the grounds unkept and overgrown.
You have already taken the time to look at this establishment on Unilocal.Please learn from our mistakes. Until the building changes managerial hands (the sooner the better), don’t waste your money or time staying here. You will just be disappointed.

I was looking for something special and romantic for an anniversary dinner. I thought the castle would be just that. I went to the website and saw that they had several fixed price menus. The menus sounded good so I made a reservation.
When we arrived the front desk staff was rudely explaining to customers that the castle never received their reservation and that they didn’t have any rooms available. Not a good first impression.
We were seated in the small dining room next to a very ugly statute that blocked the window view. Our server arrived and was very nice. She was accompanied by a server in training who was also nice.
We ordered our meals and also ordered flights of wine. The flights arrived and were literally less than a sip in each glass. It was really bizarre. I understand flights are more like tastes, but there was hardly anything in the glass.
When the food arrived, I knew we were in for a let down. My chicken was the saddest chicken I’ve ever seen. The skin was on, the sauce was goopy and almost curdled looking. Neither of our meals had any seasoning and the portion was very small.
For $ 100 in Kalamazoo I would have expected an exquisite meal and this was far from it. My tip: stay away and don’t be lured by the novelty.

We purchased the castle tour for two which included a wine tasting, cheese and antipasto plate, along with a visit to the orchard, winery and the cemetery to see the Hendersons’ final resting place. $ 89.00 was the bargain price through Living Social. Taxes and Gratuity were extra and payable upon check in at the tour.
All of the other parties on our tour purchased an architectural tour through Groupon for only $ 45. It included everything we paid for with the exception of the Orchard and Cemetery tour.
We never saw or were offered the opportunity to see the so called Orchard. And our «tour» to the cemetery was basically non-​existent. We had to walk across the street because as our tour guide put it «my car is disgusting». No problem. But a tour should include some information. She showed us the gravestones and told us that she wished her boss was there today because she knows so much about the history and the cemetery. When I asked her how long she had worked for Henderson Castle, she told us 3 months. In fact, most of the staff had only been there for 3 months. Hmmmmmmmm. So, basically, we paid an extra $ 44 for the privilege of her walking us across the street. Crap, I could have done that myself for free!
Now, I don’t mind paying gratuity for great service. That being said, when your tour guide has been employed by Henderson Castle for a whopping 3 months and has no knowledge of the cemetery portion of the tour whatsoever — I think I should be allowed to decide what she deserves in the form of a tip. She did better on the actual castle portion of the tour but not worth what they are charging for this service.
The wine we sampled was just ok, nothing memorable. They did offer you a full pour of your favorite at the end of the tasting which was very nice. But at $ 24 and $ 28 a bottle, I’m surprised they sell any. The cheese and antipasto plate consisted of a few pieces of rolled up boiled ham, 5 slices of pepperoni, 8 – 10 cubes of cheese presented rather sloppily on a plate. 2 small sleeves of crackers for us all to rip into. The ambiance may have been nicer had we been allowed to do the tasting in their wine cave. Instead, the establishment decided to have us stand around a table in their gift shop. No chairs, nothing, just stand. The girl who guided us through the tasting was nice, but knew absolutely nothing about wine. She read off of some sheets printed from the computer.
Historically, a beautiful building, but definitely in need of some TLC. I thank God I didn’t waste my money to stay there. I feel ripped off enough with the money I wasted on this place.