Vizcaya Pavilion & Mansion

They have a good team that was willing to go beyond what we agreed you would do. They printed some papers for us at the last minute, made some food adjustments for us based on allergies, changed the time of food served because we were running late and they fixed the heat that had gone out during the meeting. The food was great and the room was set up perfectly. It made us look good!

Very beautiful grounds for wedding. We got married here over 10 years ago and we very pleased.
Hotel itself needs serious updating in the rooms. But given the price to stay there was so inexpensive, was probably well worth it. Breakfast served in the morning was nice and we walked around and looked at the old mansions with our coffee before we left.

Just had my wedding here this past Saturday, 10÷15÷11. Everything went perfect for our mid-​morning wedding. All of my guests were very impressed with the facilities, the attentiveness of the staff, and just how well the wedding was coordinated. And the food (chicken w/​garlic champagne sauce and filet mignon) was excellent — all my guests were very complimentary.
Because their business is special events, namely weddings, these folks know their craft. Becky was wonderful. I don’t know how we could have got through it w/​out her, from the rehearsal to the end of the reception. She takes care of everything, including the little stuff we don’t even think about. Sabrina and Elisabeth were incredibly accommodating and helpful as well on the planning side. We had a hiccup w/​the final invoice, but negotiated until we met in the middle.
The only drawback is we had the carriage room for the night of our wedding and while the bridesmaids and I were making our way from the reception to the room to change, we had to cross another wedding in progress. Not sure how they can fix that, but it was awkward…

This venue has such beautiful grounds and it is a breathtaking structure it’s truly a shame that they have such terrible service.
Bride’s try to attend a wedding here before booking, also read some reviews.
My friend was married here a few weeks ago; I offered a helping hand since I had some familiarity with the area. On one meeting my friend reminded the young girl working with her that the ceremony time on the «updated» schedule” was incorrect the bride was assured that it would be correct the day of… guess what? It wasn’t, the sign posted outside the venue stated that the wedding was to take place 30min later than the actual scheduled time. During this meeting I was shocked to see that Vizcaya tacked on an 18% service charge, in addition to all the other fees, taxes, and charges to the grand total.
The day of the wedding, my friend met a rude, snooty, clueless person named Becky, and surprise she is your day of person!!! Wait what who is this person??? My friend never met this person until the rehearsal, and she was clearly not in the loop. She was not helpful, and very unpleasant. I inquired about 2 things and after getting, «I don’t know? Ask the bride.» Response I gave up.
During dinner I got up to get something from the brides room for her, and while I was away, everything had been cleared from my seat, this was clearly a problem for me and other guests.
A guest at our table noticed that the head server was handling the dirty glasses by the rims as he cleared them from the table and then returning to carve prime rib. This guest whom happened to be an county food inspector of some sorts reported it to the wait staff. They did nothing. This guest continued to observe this action and reported it again to Becky, her response, «Yes I am aware that you complained about it, someone already told me.» While the server just 3 tables away continued to handle the dirty glasses by the rims!
My friend spent a small fortune on her beautiful cake, and never even tasted it, what happened to it? It surely did not all get consumed by the guests nor did they box it or offer the bride a piece or the rest of her cake. The menu is bland, nothing fresh, or gourmet, it consists mostly of items that can be prepared in bulk and preserved. Your uncle from the back woods will be impressed; your foodie friend from the city will be disappointed. I did enjoy the prime rib, it was very tasty and I was surprised.
2 stars for how breath taking the place is

We got married at the Vizcaya 09÷03÷11. We had an evening wedding and for the most part everything went fairly well. I will say that I had hired my own wedding cooridinator and I am really glad that I did. I intially signed up with Elisabeth and I found her very helpful in the beginning of everything and she always got back to me right away. Towards the end I was working more with Sabrina and I found her extremely pleasant as well. If there is any one person among the Vizcaya staff that I did not care for at all it would be Becky. I met Becky for the first time at the rehearsal and since I had my own coordinator she let her handle the rehearsal all together and was gone through most of it, which was fine. The day of my wedding was kind of hetic and I don’t think it needed to be, Becky seemed in the beginning to be very helpful getting all the reception stuff to the hall, but after one trip she never came back for anything. I let my wedding coordinator know and they tried to get everything over there in time, but that didn’t happen. I am not blaming the Vizcaya for this, but I do think that they need to have a better understanding of how hard it is to get all your belongings out of the private dressing room before the ceremony, especially when that means you have to have bridesmaids walk through the ceremony where guest are already gathering in order to put things away. For this reason we had many issues during the reception as well as after. My issues with Becky is that I got several complaints from my guests that she was very unpleasant to them and she had even knocked over one of my ringbeaers and actually got mad at 5 year old boy when she was the one who bumped him. I am not sure if this attitude was because I had hired my own coordinator or if she was just having an off day, but her off day should not show through to customers… just saying.
I gave four stars because my husband and myself were both very pleased with both the ceremony and the reception. The grounds are beautiful and we got nothing but compliments on how good the food was and how beautiful the venue was. One last thing, I do think that before the tables are cleaned off the staff needs to ask about what should stay, we had many guest loose their favors, which were pretty expensive shot glasses, and when they asked the staff they were told they were given away. I know plenty of people who did not take one home and when I asked the Vizcaya, they did check and they didn’t have any, just a thought. I read another couple who said they didn’t get to taste their cake, neither did we, you would think they would have boxed it up, but oh well. I think that for what you pay you do get a good deal and I would recommend the Vizcaya. All of guest have raved about how great the wedding was, but that could also be because we throw amazing parties, LOL! Vizcaya is okay by us :)

I recently got married here and was very excited about it until Kathy left a few months before my wedding date. We met with her replacement and after that I just knew there were going to be problems the day of. Boy were there.
My husband and I first met with Kathy, then her replacement, and then when her replacement quit, I met with Elisabeth who was incredibly bossy and crass. First of all, do not talk crap about your former employees in front of your customers. And when I have already met with two different people to plan my wedding, you might want to think about saying yes to one simple request which was to simply have someone there a mere 30 minutes earlier than usual. I do not think that is a stretch.
If Becky is who they have for a day of person, they need to reconsider hiring someone else. I felt like she had no idea what was going on. And if she’s my day of person, why on Earth wasn’t I meeting with her the entire time? The first time my husband or I met her was the day of our rehearsal for maybe 20 minutes and when my husband and I told her, «No, this is how we want the ceremony to go,» she looked at us like we were aliens. Based on how many times she came up to me during the wedding to ask me questions, I don’t think she ever looked at my file or the schedule and timing of events. I felt like I constantly had to ask questions and initiate to get things moving along. I was very disappointed.
Beautiful place to get married and I’m at least glad my guests enjoyed themselves, but I did not. At least hire your own, independent day of person NOT associated with Vizcaya.
1 star solely based on the beautiful location.
Also, do NOT be the second wedding of the day here. We were the morning wedding and I felt so bad for the guests arriving to attend the evening wedding. We were running back and forth to load up the cars with our things and the other wedding’s guests were already arriving. Vizcaya seriously needs to change how and where and and at what time the first wedding and its guests can be in the garden area.

My husband and I had our cocktail hour and wedding reception at The Vizcaya in May 2010 and we could not have been more happy with the way that everything turned out.
First of all, Kathy was absolutely AMAZING while helping Sean and I plan the wedding over a year and a half. She made sure that every detail was tended to and was always available if either one of us had any questions. I seriously thought about hiring a wedding planner to help with everything since I knew that I would be ridiculously stressed, but after the first time that I had met Kathy, I knew that there was no point in doing so. I could not have loved her any more!
Our cocktail hour was held in the garden area and our guests were treated to two special cocktails that coordinated with the colors of the wedding as well as the weather. Appetizers were passed around by butlers to keep everyone from starving until the reception began and it was a fabulous introduction to what the wedding would be like.
The reception was held inside of the pavilion and it was transformed into a dream. Though I hardly had the time to eat, what I did have was absolutely amazing. All of the guests could not stop talking about how fantastic it was and so many of them went back for seconds.
We had an open bar and the bartenders were great! They were fun, sweet and the guests loved that after going to the bar and asking for the same drink twice, the bartenders would see them coming and start making it.
I would recommend using this venue for your wedding reception to anyone!

I live more than 2 hours away and it is very difficult for me to get the time off from work to travel such distances to check out a «potential wedding» location. I had chatted with Kathy over the phone on a few occasions and she wowed me with her charm, it got me trucking 6 hours round trip just to meet her…
Once I got there, I felt like I was a second class citizen. My Fiancé asked a few questions, my parents chimed in on a few things, over all, I was underwhelmed by her «charm» after we arrived. I felt that since all they do is weddings, and that they are so highly rated, its basically «well if you don’t book it, someone else will…» kind of attitude. I think I struck a nerve with a few questions in regards to «kick-​backs» on the referrals they provided us, it was an honest question, don’t want to get stuck with a DJ that plays lousy music right? Or a florist that sends dead flowers… and chance this referral because Vizcaya gets their own paycheck from us booking them right??? Kind of important factors.
More than once she mentioned how «since this is the first place we have looked at… here are some guidelines for your next potential location…» that should have sent us packing right then and there.
Originally, through email, Kathy had quoted me an approximate price for everything, and it sold me, that’s a big reason we drove so far to meet her, it was completely reasonable. Totally understand extras, and tax and tip… but when we got there, she fudged the EXACT same numbers to make it look like she was really «hooking» us up, when in the end, IT WAS MORE than she had originally quoted! When Kathy told me all the «extras» that she would throw in for a Friday or Sunday night Ceremony and Rehearsal, I asked her to put it it writing, so that she wouldn’t forget what was talked about AND so that it was in writing… I have heard so many horror stories of things that were promised to brides and when the day came, those all fell through for various reasons, so for my own piece of mind I wanted her to write it on the contract… Wow, I got a HUGE eye roll, a sigh and a reluctant pen scribble of what was discussed!!! For a potential bride to be, this did not make me happy.
When we toured to outdoor area, it was much smaller than the pictures made it look and it was in partial shade/​sunlight, granted it was early in the afternoon, so I have no idea what it would be like at 6pm. My Mom inquired about the amount of sunlight after such a late ceremony, that it gets dark around 7ish this time of year, and Kathy had the audacity to tell my MOM that my 6pm ceremony would be over with enough time to have light for our wedding party photos… does this spell a disastrous rushed ceremony for pictures??? I’m sorry, this time of year its getting dark by 7pm, that gives me 15 – 30 minutes of natural light before the sun is gone… hello! Then she really pissed my mom off by telling her «it never rains in October…» Again, I grew up in Sacramento, my Mom currently lives in Sacramento and it DOES rain in October. Kathy was so cocky, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
The next to last straw was when I had asked her about the acoustics of the reception hall, it’s unusually shaped, and having a background in music, I understand the dynamics of having an experienced musician in unusual surroundings to capture the right level and quality of sound… oh no, this one hit a nerve. She told me snidely «that doesn’t matter, there are speakers all over…» I was merely trying to incorporate the importance of finding a DJ that was familiar with the location, but she seemed to have taken offense to that one.
The last straw… as we were finishing up our tour, she lead us all to the back door, opened it and said goodbye! Appears she had a mid-​week wedding to tend to and couldn’t be bothered with us anymore, BUT we still had more questions!!! There were so many things that Kathy had mentioned ie Rehearsal dinner, lodging etc. but never followed up on and I wanted to know exactly what I was paying for and what exactly I was going to get.
Kathy never called back, never emailed and never contacted us again.
We have since found a wonderful site, one that books only ONE wedding per day, is only 30 minutes away, is all inclusive and the KICKER is… it’s more THAN double what Vizcaya was asking! In my opinion the extra expense is well worth it to be treated with some dignity. Vizcaya, you missed out on a BIG meal ticket. HUGE mistake… HUGE!

NOT A WEDDING REVIEW! My husband and I stayed here for our first anniversary. The place is beautiful from the outside and quite cozy on the outside. The staff is really nice and we definately felt at home. The inside was very pretty, especially if you like old stuff. We stayed for 3 nights with 3 nights of weddings going on. So, to the down
fall. One, the staff concentrated to much on the weddings with 0 attention to current clients, unless you were eating breakfast. They need to take the time to say hello and good morning, etc. Two, have some wedding control. Ask the wedding guests not to migrate the excessive noise to the B & B. One of the weddings migrated to the B& B till after midnight and we could sleep. The weddings are very beautiful there, but there are other customers. Those 2 are the only reasons I gave this place 3 stars.

My friend held her wedding reception here and I think she picked a killer venue! The Vizcaya had lovely southern style décor with beautiful windows that overlooked the lush green garden outside. There was a nice dance floor, a great bar area, the bathroom facilities were clean, and the table set up was comfortable and spacious. I had the prime rib and it was a nice slab of meat :)
I was really impressed with this place! Very classy and modern. Loved the set up and décor! Great choice for a wedding reception! Winner!

amazing ~ amazing ~ amazing ~ amazing ~ amazing ~ amazing ~
kathy, elizabeth, becky, katie and brian were the main people that we had contact with during our one year engagement/​planning of the wedding for our wedding june 19, 2010.
everything was done to perfection — i have never been treated with so much attention to detail, respect, friendliness, proessionalism and love by the staff. the staff was amazing — they treated all of my guests and family like it was their own. my nonna actually lost her wedding rings in the garden area and elizabeth and becky rounded up the entire staff and gardners to find the rings AND they did! (i didn’t even know what was going on because both my husband and i were being taken care of by our own servers!).
the staff here at the vizcaya will do everything in their power to make it a special day/​night for you — we even were given a complimentary honeymoon suite out in the garden area for our 1^st night together.
a continental breakfast was included in the morning ~ simple & perfect.
throughout the entire process of planning, elizabeth and kathy were always accesible either through phone or email — very fast responses!
the food was excellent and many of my guests went back for seconds!
we were able to bring in our own alcohol and everything was served in beautiful glasses and goblets. the wait staff served all the wine, champagne, apple cider to our guests and the bar staff were very friendly and attentive — there was a tip jar at the bar — which i totally agree with — i’ve worked in this industry so a tip jar at the bar wasn’t a problem for us or for our guests.
the ceremony was beautiful — elizabeth, kathy and becky (wedding coordinator) did everything in their power to make this wedding a hit!
i am so happy and blessed that we had our special event at Vizcaya. the grounds were beautiful and well kept and the staff (i can’t say it enough) was so friendly — you won’t be disappointed with Vizcaya ~ we are just SO happy that we were able to have Vizcaya there with us!
also we were given a room before the wedding to get ready in and we had access to the grounds 3 hours before the wedding — so we were able to relax and take pics before the wedding at 1130am.
also there was a wedding scheduled right after ours — had to be out of the room before 5pm — there was no rush from the wait staff and we didn’t feel hurried — it really was a great day!

It’s a decent place to stay. I take away points because:
1) Had to wait for a LONG time outside in the rain before doors opened so I could check in.
2) Lots of dust… EVERYWHERE.
3) It was a pain in the butt to get service during the breakfast hour.
However, once I was in and served, things were all good;)
In the future, I’d probably stay at another place.

As we were attending a wedding at the Pavilion, the decision to stay here was purely practical and we arrived with no expectations. As it turned out, we were pleasantly surprised at the warm and efficient service, the well appointed rooms and the overall casual charm of the place.
Let’s just make it clear. This is for all intents and purposes a Bed and Breakfast. They do not boast 20,000 thread count bedding that we can buy at the end of our stay and the rooms do not feature a cutting edge stereo system set up with their own mix of urban chic music with CDs for purchase. I don’t even think a designer was involved in decorating the place.
That said, we found our room to be spacious bright and very clean. And all our basic needs were met (a separate dressing room, nice bath with fluffy towels, blow dryer, iron, roll-​away bed, TV with cable). I love that they provide complimentary bottles of water and a basket of snacks for which we would have had to pay an arm and a leg from most hotel’s minibars. The complimentary breakfast the next morning was simple but delicious.
The wedding ceremony in the courtyard was lovely and the buffet dinner at the reception was surprisingly good. I thought the overall evening was a success for my now newly married friends. I’m especially grateful that they were gracious enough not to kick the few of us drunken stragglers off the porch hours after the wedding ended and the pavilion closed. And when I came down looking for my dignity the next morning, they retrieved it from their lost and found cabinet and kindly returned it to me with no noticeable judgement.
I don’t have a lot of reason to be in Sacramento but if I did, I would definitely stay at the Vizcaya again.

I attended my cousin’s wedding here and I have to say the venue is very beautiful. It was an outdoor wedding so the lighting has to be great for the pictures. Unfortunately there wasnt enough sun umbrellas to cover all the guests in the shade. Fortunately the wedding ceremony was short and to the point. The sound department could have used some work though. The microphone kept going in and out. Luckily I was sitting towards the front and didnt miss a thing.
The dining area is very spacious and lovely. The room can fit about 150 – 200 people. The DJ did a great job with the beats and the dance floor was a nice size. We had a buffet type dinner and the food was very good. Parking in the area was easy to find and free on weekends. Overall a great wedding!

Visited in March or April 2008. Beautiful room and gorgeous bathroom. Breakfast was very tasty. The hotel was just gorgeous, especially the fountain. What sucked was I used the jetted jacuzzi tub and when I was draining the tub, my fiancé walked in and noticed some black stringy and fuzzy gunk coming out of the jets (turned off). I ended up with a vag infection from taking a bath in the tub and had to take meds for 3 weeks because of it. FABULOUS. FML.

We work here often. The staff has always been extremely friendly. Parking can be an issue but they offer the ability to provide valet parking for your wedding guests. The courtyard is great for wedding ceremonies. Like almost any venue, you supply your own DJ so any issues with the sound or microphones would NOT be the vizcaya’s fault. The staff should have been safe to say that the Groom always has a mic. Also, most videographers will mic the groom with their own mic if they have any concerns with sound. The coordinator there is on location to resolve any concerns and make sure they provide all that was promised to you. They, like any coordinator at any venue, are not in charge of running your reception. That again would be the job of the DJ/​MC.
The bar does have a tip jar but so does any bar at any other venue. It’s a great place for a wedding. The food is very good. Pictures will look incredible. The ceilings are very unique. And for what you get, you cannot beat the price!

Vizcaya runs a top-​notch wedding operation.
Elizabeth is the owner, and she is hands-​on, detailed-​oriented driven to pull off the perfect wedding.
For the money, you’re not going to get better value in Sacramento.

I found the Vizcaya on the internet because I was tired of the corporate hotels we always stay at downtown. This place was small, only a few spaces in their lot, so I had to move the car in the morning. It’s a converted old big house. Totally cool. It it weren’t 10 shades of pink, I’d think this place was haunted.
The room was great. Staff is small. One guy, at any time of day.
The main business is weddings. A huge building and patio are next to this old house for weddings or conferences.
When we checked in I rang the bell and waited for the one guy on duty. There is not front desk, he told us to have some tea or coffee and wait in the living room, then he got our room key and took us to our room. He was really helpful telling us how to find things around town. The room towels were thick, the beds comfy. A different guy made the breakfasts and handled people checking out during the day. He kept hot eggs and pancakes coming for everyone as we came downstairs. It’s a small hotel, but I’d hate to make all 10 guests breakfast!

The wifee and I recently were able to attend a wedding here. Four stars for the pavilion and three stars for the food. The Vizcaya Pavilion has a garden ceremony site with gazebo and a fine dining reception banquet room ideal for a wedding. The outdoor wedding ceremony was beautiful with the center-​piece centered on a a giant oak tree.
The interior is designed in Romanesque architecture and the outside garden has nicely manucured flower beds and boasts three water fountains. The banquet room features unique stained glass domes with many arched glass windows overlooking the outside garden.
Upscale hotel food with professional staff to attend to you. We ordered the prime rib and the crusted chicken, it was okay. Centrally located not too far from the state capitol but not exactly the best location for parking (we parked right outside in the streets in the «2 hour parking zone»).
This place is also a nice bed and breakfast inn which we were not able to review.

Remember the episode of «Alfred Hitchcock Presents» about the bed and breakfast where the old landlady poisons all her visitors and stuffs them?
There was no creepy elderly woman to make me feel as though I was about to be fed cyanide and put on display, but the place had a vague air of crazy cat lady without the stink.
After hauling my bag up like twenty stairs from the sidewalk, the door was locked; you have to ring a doorbell to be let in. My first impression was, «Wow, this place is PINK.» Checked in and dragged my bag upstairs up to the room (no ADA-​compliance here!) which was more of the same — «antique» furniture, pink carpet, and lace. It was like staying at somebody’s grandma’s house. Not a Mexican grandma like mine, ’cause there were no pictures of the Virgin, but a white grandma for sure.
Truthfully, the service was very nice. The staff even cooks eggs to order for you in the morning along with a small breakfast buffet of cereals, (instant) oatmeal, and muffins. But it’s not the kind of place you go as a business traveler or really even as a pleasure traveler, unless you want a Little Red Riding Hood experience.