27/06/2026
Important message for all visitors, please take note!!!
Please bear with us, this is a long post, but we genuinely feel it needs to be said.
This is not gossip. This is not hearsay. This is based entirely on our own experiences over the past number of years.
We are Rocky Mountain Cottage, a small family run wedding venue in the heart of the Mourne Mountains. Every recommendation we make to our couples is made because we believe those businesses will look after our guests to the same standard that we do.
For the past few years, Rostrevor Valley Resort has been one of those recommendations.
Sadly, that recommendation has now come to an end.
Over the years we have dealt with complaint after complaint from our couples and their families. Promised guest pick ups that never arrived. Double bookings. Concerns over cleanliness. Hot tubs that were advertised but unavailable. Last minute problems. Excuse after excuse.
Every single time we picked up the phone to try and sort things out. Every single time there was another explanation. Ill health. Staff issues. A car accident. Electricity problems. Someone else’s fault. We gave chance after chance because we genuinely wanted things to improve.
They didn’t.
Yesterday was the final straw.
One of our brides, who had booked accommodation for her family at Rostrevor Valley Resort after we recommended it, was contacted the day before her wedding and told there was an electricity problem but they could still stay using emergency lighting.
Think about that for a second.
The day before your wedding.
With your family due to arrive.
Instead of feeling excited about marrying the love of your life, you’re wondering where your parents, brothers, sisters and relatives are going to sleep.
That is completely unacceptable.
We immediately contacted John O’Hare to find a solution. During our conversations we received different explanations as events unfolded. We were later informed by text message that, due to financial constraints, alternative accommodation could not be provided.
So what happened next?
It wasn’t Rostrevor Valley Resort that found beds for the guests.
It wasn’t Rostrevor Valley Resort making phone calls to save a wedding.
It was us.
On what should have been one of the busiest days of our week, our team stopped everything to make sure our bride and groom’s wedding wasn’t overshadowed by an accommodation crisis that should never have become their problem in the first place.
Thankfully, we weren’t alone.
Mark and Jennifer from Lough & Quay immediately stepped in to help. Didi Baxter from Rostrevor Holidays also went above and beyond. Between them, they helped secure accommodation for every guest at incredibly short notice. A big shout out also to Declan from Yellow line Coaches who amended the transport route to ensure everyone got there on time.
To those businesses, thank you. You showed exactly what supporting your local community looks like.
As for us, enough is enough.
Our reputation has been built over many years through hard work, honesty and genuinely caring about every single couple who walks through our doors. We refuse to put another bride or groom in a position where they have to worry about accommodation because of a recommendation that we made.
With immediate effect, Rostrevor Valley Resort has been permanently removed from our recommended supplier list.
This decision has not been taken lightly, but our loyalty will always lie with our couples, not with businesses that repeatedly let them down.
The good news is that despite everything happening behind the scenes, our bride and groom still had the incredible wedding day they deserved.
That happened because local businesses came together, our team refused to give up, and our couple remained our number one priority.
That is exactly how it should be.
