Briars Resort and Spa

I booked a special weekend for my friends and I for Nov 21-23. Every year we plan our time together well in advance. Today I received an email from the Briars Resort and Spa stating our weekend, this weekend, had to be cancelled because the resort is closing for the week. It stated they would refund my $100 deposit, were sorry, and I could re-schedule for another time. I actually called because I could not believe this late notice was true. If I had cancelled this late with them they would have kept my $100 deposit. The person who I spoke with could not tell me why the Resort was closing and acted like it was not a big deal. I was not offered any compensation for this late cancellation notice, such as a free night or free dinner etc,, absolutely nothing. All she said was sorry, and when I said I would never book with the Briars Resort ever again she said ok. After the phone call I responded to the email and did not get a reply. I have never dealt with such terrible management and business etiquette in the hotel industry. The hospitality industry is all about the experience and meeting the needs of clients. I would absolutely not recommend the Briars Resort and Spa to anyone for any occassion or event.

Beautiful setting by the lake with lots of beautiful trees and impressive buildings. I have to say I was disappointed with the attention to detail, cleanliness and over all condition of this once beautiful resort. This resort is in desperate need of some repair, deep cleaning and general attention to service. The overall décor is quite dated with carpets needing replacement, colour schemes to be revisited unless you love the '90's. While our room was clean, it was missing robes and the ashtray outside had old cigarette butts in it. Bed was comfy. It looked like the hallway had not seen a vacuum in a while and the hallway leading from the wing of the hotel we were staying to the main part looked like it was in desperate need of a handy man to fix it up and repaint it. We couldn't get hot water to our bathroom sink. The food was hit and miss. Servers are overly casual in their tights and sweatshirts. My partner enjoyed a lovely lamb shank while the soup, salad and bruschetta left a lot to be desired. Breakfast buffet was not elaborate and looked to have been sitting for a while, was picked over when we arrived at 9:00 AM. I think it was replenished near the end of our meal. Many of the plates had old food stuck to them and it took a few to find one clean enough to eat off of. We went up to the look out tower only to find hundreds of dead flies on the window sill and on the floor. This property has definitely seen better days, which is disappointing. Was expecting more of a high end / classy weekend. It has so much potential but sadly misses the mark.

Mother treated my sister and I to a three day getaway for our anniversaries. Been here before. Thirty and twenty plus years ago. One was over the Holiday season with the Levee dinner. Excellent! Now to this time. Dirty and rundown. Toilet paper rolls on the counter beside the sink. No shampoo. When requested we were asked to come down and get it. Hand sanitizer container was empty as well. That is just in the room. Staff was excellent especially in the dining area. Food was very good. No wait since we never saw any more than three other visitors in our three days. Golf was fine. Nice track. In conclusion, not worth the bang for the buck.

Huge disappointment! Such great potential given the history and location. The entire resort is run down. Cottages were horrible. Room balcony filthy, towels were old & worn. Dining room closed & only 1 person attending to the lounge. This person was new & was expected to be bartender, waitress & server. Drinks were not mixed properly. Food was terrible & all overpriced. Breakfast was to be included until 10am. We found dining area closed at 9:40 am. Not offered any discounts for any of these overpriced services. We were at this resort to celebrate an anniversary & immediately left the next morning. Save your money until some big changes are made.

My husband and I are well-travelled nationally and internationally and usually stay at 4+ star hotels. Rather than staying at a chain hotel, I thought it would be nice to stay at the Briars, based on your website and pictures. I regret not having read the reviews prior to direct booking. It generally takes A LOT for me to write a bad review but our recent stay at the Briars necessitated I write this review, to bring awareness to the management of our experience but also hope this lights a fire under some person or department to improve the several deficiencies we saw, if you want to see any repeat or future business. We stayed there Aug. 9-10, 2025 in the "premium studio king/suite with bed and breakfast". Thinking this would be a luxurious getaway, we were very disappointed. The pictures you see online are not what you see in person. The exterior and interior are tired-looking with peeling/cracking paint, overgrown vegetation in bed, weeds growing through the cracks in the sidewalk, empty outdoor pool that has been closed for some time. The indoor pool was also closed during our stay. Tired and dated furniture in the reception area. Cobwebs around the hallways leading from the Bouchier Wing (where we stayed) to the main building, more peeling paint, stained and unvacuumed carpeting in the Bouchier wing, cobwebs around the staircase and windows. In our room, dated dark and stained furniture. Curtains off their tracks hanging at the end of the rod; An old robe and used cotton swabs in the cupboard under the counter next to the room fridge. This is NOT the kind of accommodations you would expect at a luxury resort. We took the staircase at the end of the hall nearest our room to use the exit nearest the parking lot. Beside a vending machine (with "out of order" on the front), were two bags of soiled linens in clear plastic bags that stayed under the stairwell the entire time we were there (from the Friday night to our departure earlier this morning). As it was also very hot outside (29 C), we had to sleep with the air conditioning on at night. We set the thermostat for 73 F but several times in the night, the AC unit work us up as it was so loud. I had to sleep with a pillow over my head. Needless to say, I find myself exhausted today after arriving home. Lastly, the towels in our room were like sand paper - rough to the touch, thin white, small and worn and tears on the edges - you should be embarrassed to have this poor a quality of linens for customers paying $350+/night. When checking out, I did mention the lack of cleanliness of the hall ways, staircase and cover doorway leading from our wing to the area where morning breakfast was served. I said I don't know if you're short-staffed but your REALLY need to get someone in that hall to sweep the leaves and overhead cobwebs and dead bugs by the lights. The negative impression this leaves on your guests is very detrimental to your reputation and brand.

We loved the area and the access to bikes, kayaks and paddle boards. We would definitely go back for the beautiful area. Unfortunately, there is no outdoor pool and the indoor pool was also closed. I don’t think there was and housekeeping services as we didn’t not have our room cleaned. The restaurant was pricey. Staff was friendly.