On a three-day Christmas motorcoach trip to the French Lick Resort in French Lick, Indiana, my group of 54 Seniors and I had a VERY DISAPPOINTING DINNER on the evening of December 2, 2010 at what is now The Mansion, a.k.a.the Beechwood Country Inn. As I understand, this venue is no longer privately owned and well-run, but is now a more-or-less recently acquired property of Big Splash Adventure, along with The Ranch (formerly Wilstem Guest Ranch). Back in 2007, my group and I enjoyed a delightful lunch at what was then called the Beechwood Inn, but unfortunately, the new owners/management have dropped the ball and the Beechwood has lost the elegance and high standards that once was their hallmark.

Our group arrived on time for dinner, yet there were no lights on to guide the Seniors up the dark sidewalk to the front door. Our driver had to turn the motorcoach to position the headlights on the walk as the guests walked to the front door, as the manager did with his vehicle when we walked back to the bus after dinner. Our group was large - 56 guests - yet we were squished into two of main floor rooms so tightly, hardly anyone could move once they were seated. Though there seemed to be sufficient staff to serve this group of 56, service was very slow - and it took just about two hours to complete the dinner service. And there were all kinds of problems at dinner, too . . . beginning with the fact that nobody had bothered to count the chairs at the tables, and they had set for only 54 instead of the expected and confirmed party of 56. Water glasses at many of the tables weren't even filled for probably more than 20 minutes after we arrived, the bar was inadequately stocked so they were unable to fill several cocktail orders, they ran out of coffee, they ran out of butter, and at least two guests didn't get the baked potato with their dinners and were told they ran short of that, too. For this $37 per person dinner, "butter" was a whipped dairy product of some kind in a small round paper cup with a peel-off lid, not real pats of butter on a plate or even real whipped butter on a dish. The dinner rolls started out being served warm, but when additional rolls were requested, they were "ice cold" as noted by at least one table that complained. Though the salad plates (small bowls) were chilled, the salad was just room temperature and limp; the salad dressings in the small bowls were good. Our guests had a choice of three entrees - a six oz. filet mignon, 4-6 oz. tilapia, or 4 oz chicken breast. All of the steaks appeared to be well done, and at least one that I heard of was sent back because the diner couldn't even cut it. I personally had the filet mignon, which was well done and okay, although not seasoned much if at all, and not particularly tasty. I received no complaints from my guests about the chicken or the tilapia. The bread pudding with rum sauce was delicious - the best part of the meal! What should have been an elegant dinner for our group that evening was a disaster . . . EVERY single comment I heard from my guests about this dinner on the way back to our hotel that evening and on the bus the next morning was negative. The only good thing about the dinner at The Mansion - a.k.a. the Beechwood Inn (besides the bread pudding dessert) was the fact that we never have to go back there again. I wouldn't recommend this place to my competitors!