Merrill House

We spent the week at Merrill house and it lived up to all my expectations. I have wanted to go here since I was a child, driving by on our way to Sandbanks.
I still remember the old "Rolls" sitting out front.
We loved everything about our stay from the breakfast to our room and all of the common areas. Photos included. The staff really made our stay special and we look forward to going back.
You get what you pay for here.

The location to town was great and the house was very nice

Beautiful place

We stayed there recently and was very disappointed with our accommodation other than the location and the grounds. Our room was dark and the decor certainly did not match a historical home. A chair and shoes on the ceiling and dark artwork were not aesthetically pleasing. The walls were basic wood panelling and the headboard was cheap and tacky. The bathroom was lovely but very tiny and the door did not close. There is no offer of coffee or light fare throughout the day and breakfast is only included if you book through them directly. The restaurant is no longer in business. It would seem that the place is under new management and has taken a turn from previous ownership.

Localisation cachet

It’s a beautiful property and very unique

Not my favourite, uncomfortable overdone decor

This is a difficult review to write because the physical property itself is absolutely spectacular.

Merrill House is beautiful, unique, impeccably maintained, and unlike any other venue we toured. The guest rooms are lovely, the setting is perfect for an intimate wedding, and every front desk staff member and housekeeper we interacted with was warm and welcoming. If you're looking for a boutique hotel getaway, I would absolutely recommend it.

Unfortunately, our experience planning a wedding there was the exact opposite.
We booked nearly two years before our wedding date, and from the moment we signed the contract, the planning process became increasingly stressful.

Communication was inconsistent throughout, with response times sometimes stretching to months. We regularly found ourselves following up on unanswered questions, and key details often remained unresolved until the last minute.

Over the course of our planning process, we were passed between six different people who were supposedly overseeing our event, including multiple general managers, event coordinators, and restaurant managers. Due to turnover, nearly every person we worked with left before our wedding took place. As a result, information was repeatedly lost, conversations had to be revisited, and there was very little continuity from one stage of planning to the next.

What was most disappointing was that significant logistical changes continued right up until the wedding weekend itself. Some arrangements outlined in our contract were not honored as originally agreed, and changes were still being communicated just days before the event. Instead of feeling excited during the final weeks leading up to our wedding, we found ourselves managing issues that should have been handled by the venue.

The closure of the restaurant prior to our wedding created additional challenges. The lack of an established POS system, uncertainty around alcohol inventory, and delays in finalizing menu selections all became urgent issues less than a month before our wedding date. These operational challenges ultimately became our responsibility to navigate rather than being proactively managed by the venue.

What makes this experience especially disappointing is that the venue itself was exactly what we wanted. Our wedding weekend was beautiful, but that was thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our family, friends, vendors, and wedding photographer who stepped in whenever issues arose.

I genuinely hope Merrill House is able to improve its event management processes because the property deserves to be an exceptional wedding venue. However, based on our experience, I would not recommend hosting an important event there.

The setting is stunning, but the stress, uncertainty, and lack of consistent planning support made what should have been an exciting experience far more difficult than it needed to be.

Very disappointed
Extremely small room- no space for suitcases or toiletries
Mirror on closet door but door couldn’t open fully because of bedside table
Breakfast very expensive and you are expected to do most of serving etc. another guest refilled our coffee

Celebrated my daughter’s meet and greet party with approximately 50 people and the servers were just plain rude. Everyone at this venue commented on the disinterest they had serving them. It seemed like ordering a drink was torture. Truly don’t understand why people do this job if they can’t be a little more pleasant. It supposed to be a happy occasion.
Also the venue was outside which I did not realize so it was quite cool. We asked them for heater and the brought two tiny electric heaters. A decent business should know enough to either supply some heat or at least contact us so we could have at least rented some.
After paying a pretty substantial bill, I would never recommend this place to anyone!

Magnifique décoration confort et service parfait

We liked the decor within this beautiful boutique hotel. The room was nicely cooled. We loved it's proximity to the downtown area of Picton. We appreciated the slippers and brownies!

Love the building, art work, staircases. It was beautiful

Very friendly staff, changing to a twin room resulting in an Upgrade. Great old building, great paintings on the wall, cosy fireplace.

Excellent breakfast but very pricey!

I absolutely love how the Merrill leans into it’s spooky history in our notoriously haunted room. The welcome basket made us feel just that, welcomed. We love how they support local in any way they can from
Toiletries and soaps to the goodies in the welcome basket.
The breakfast was simply divine! I had a croissant that good since my family trip to Europe in the 90’s. What an amazing experience. A huge thank you to the staff at the Merrill for making our weekend so special! Highly recommend!