Rest Gardens

“Make sure every detail of a group booking is in writing”

I was involved in organizing a weekend conference at Rest Gardens in September 2022, and our event intended to fill every bed available. The grounds are lovely and we were grateful for the discounted rate we were given to host our group for the weekend. My main advice for others who may want to o… more

I was involved in organizing a weekend conference at Rest Gardens in September 2022, and our event intended to fill every bed available. The grounds are lovely and we were grateful for the discounted rate we were given to host our group for the weekend. My main advice for others who may want to organize an overnight event is to follow-up very carefully and very regularly with the Management, because they can change things you have already agreed without telling you. For example, 1. Make sure you draw up a written contract that clearly specifies the terms of your agreement. For example, make sure there will be no other groups meeting there at the same time as you, and no other groups will be allowed to book during the hours you have specified. For us, our event started on Friday afternoon, and ended on Sunday afternoon. To our great surprise, we learned a day and a half before the event started that they had booked another group that wasn't leaving until Saturday. They told us they needed the booking because they needed the money. The other group was forced to vacate Rest Gardens and shift to another hotel nearby for Friday night. We asked Rest Gardens to shift them after lunch on Friday, but they refused. This resulted in a collision of two groups in the same place at the same time on Friday afternoon and during dinner on Friday night. It was a very unpleasant way to begin a quiet weekend away. 2. All meeting rooms are open air, so sound travels very easily if there is more than one group meeting there. So, if sound from another group is an issue for you, make sure you clarify how many other groups will be there at the same time, and clarify how loud the sound system can be and the hours that the sound system will be working. Ask how complaints of music that is too loud will be handled. What if an offending group refuses to reduce their volume? How will that be handled? There are sound ordinances in Uganda, but they are rarely (if ever) enforced. 3. After our initial conversations with the Management we learned they over-promised the number of beds available in their rooms. After registering the original number of 200, we discovered very late that Rest Gardens could not actually accommodate that number of people. Ultimately, they had to hire double-decker beds to add to the existing beds in some rooms and put three people in a room. If you don't want this chaos, then make sure you personally visit every room and make your own notes on beds and room accommodation. You won't regret it. If you are not visiting Rest Gardens as part of a group or a conference, but are looking for a room for one or two people and want a quiet place to stay, make sure you inquire about other groups meeting there at the same time. You may be surprised by loud sounds traveling into your environment. Make sure you inquire as close as one day before arrival, because Rest Gardens will make bookings for large groups at the last minute. And hopefully, you can cancel without a penalty if there's a problem.

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