Our search for a wedding venue pretty much came to a complete stop once we found the cotton room. The decor was everything we had been looking for. From the exposed brick to the huge windows, the bride and groom suites to the location of the building itself. The space got a ton of natural light which was as perfect for the time of day of our ceremony. It literally had everything we could ask for. The staff were very accommodating and very friendly which made the entire wedding process that much easier for us. Very special thank you’s to Natalie and Melissa for all their hard work. The food was delicious and the drinks were very good too. Our wedding guests raved about both. The wait staff and bartenders went above and beyond not just for me and my wife but for all of our guests and it was very much appreciated. Our wedding day was perfect and The Cotton Room and their staff played a huge part in make that possible. Thank you so much again.
Anna Peel Jones
Our daughter's wedding on 12/9/23 was absolutely amazing! Thank you Melissa Winn and the staff at The Cotton Room for working so hard and contributing to our daughter and family's big day. The space was amazing and all of our needs were met. I would recommend this venue to anyone for any event. Thank you, Melissa Winn, and the rest of the staff for anticipating many of our needs and for contributing to the success of this very special day!
Peter DellaBernarda
Our son's wedding and reception was held in a festive and professional venue that provided all our guests with first class service and exquisite dining experiences. The staff was more than accommodating and friendly, while meeting all our requests and needs. The enchanted wedding ceremony and reception will be forever remembered. Thanks for making this a once in a lifetime experience.
Aaron Frazier
Beautiful old venue. Our event staff was amazing and the temperature was perfect. Highly recommend!
Nathalie Chew
We got married in the cotton room Lian space in 3rd floor. It’s absolutely stunning. The bridal and groom suite is the prettiest and most spacious ones I’ve seen. our assigned event manager Melissa was amazing, she collaborated the timeline well with me, and step up to help coordinate the day of my wedding. Our wedding day couldn’t go so smooth Without her help. Kudos to all the staff as well, they are all super friendly, polite and personable, they go out of their way to help you out, chit chat with you like old friends. And of course the venue itself is so beautiful, and I love that they included a lot of items/ services. We also love the open house events , we got to try so many food and had a great sense of how the wedding day could be like.
Chasity O.
this establishment is such a gorgeous place. once on the inside and u start working for the owners u realize uve just walked into help all dressed up. I have been a bartender for 18yrs. I've worked every type of bar imagined. Ive worked for establishments, restaurants, temp agency's, high end places, bed and breakfasts and so many more. These ppl could care less about ur happy day they want ur money. The planners have no sense of control they only exist during the night. They are beyond disrespectful and have no education on professionalism. I'm not saying dont rent this venu. I'm only saying don't risk your memorys.
Marjorie Hicks
We had our wedding there and the only word I can use to describe the whole experience is MAGNIFICENT! The venue itself is stunning. The open spaces and attention to details give it the classy look we wanted. The day of staff was so warm and pleasant and very accommodating. When we booked the place we were assigned a coordinator who was knowledgeable and patient and treated us as if we were her only clients, always available when needed. The venue required us to use their caterer but this was not an issue because their selection and food was amazing, not the typical wedding food. We even had options for late night snacks that were a hit with our guests. The process was easy and we felt like we got the custom made wedding of our dreams. Plus the location and parking are convenient. We looked at other venues but once we saw The Cotton Room we fell in love. Highly recommend.
Kim Aitken
We hosted a bat mitzvah event at The Cotton Room on Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. with approximately 160 people (100 kids and 60 adults) and spent over $30,000.It is rare for me to have such a negative experience with a vendor, but unfortunately, this was my experience with The Cotton Room. During the approximately six-month-long planning process, we had a very difficult time with our assigned event planner, Melissa, which I've detailed below. After the event, I contacted the owner of the company so we could meet and discuss the very poor customer service. A week had gone by with no response, so I messaged her again and let her know that I was still open to using The Cotton Room for my second daughter's bat mitzvah, but was frustrated by both my experience with Melissa and the owner's lack of response. The owner finally replied and only gave me one option of a date and time to come in to meet with her a few days later on a weekday at 10 a.m.). Since I'm a school teacher, that didn't work, so I provided all of my availability before the end of the school year and over the summer since it was near summer break. The owner never replied and it has now been three months with multiple follow up attempts by me to set up a meeting. I'm now not that surprised about the customer service from the event planner after being treated this way by the owner. I will say that the bartenders and food servers at The Cotton Room were all wonderful. I'm including a detailed list of issues we encountered both during the planning process and at the start of the event, which includes changing prices two weeks before the event, changing food and drink items at the event without any notification prior, forgetting to include items we paid for, mistakes on decorative items, not checking in with us during the entire event, losing items we provided, incorrect menu items served, incorrect room layout so our centerpieces didn't fit, and many others). Since the owner will not make time to hear about these issues directly, I felt compelled to write a review in order to prevent what happened to us from happening to anyone else. These are only a few of the MANY issues. Feel free to message me for more details.- I was very clear from the beginning that we were hosting a bat mitzvah with at least half of our guests being 12-13 year olds and that we wanted a station-style event with adult toppings on kid-friendly food items (e.g. a nacho bar with upscale add-on options for adults). We were quoted a less expensive kids price for all of the kids but were then told only a few weeks before the event that ALL GUESTS would be charged an adult price because the kids were over 10 years old (this was a $23 price differential per child and with 100 kids that meant an extra $2,300!). They refused to honor their original quote and we had no other choice but to pay the extra money or find another location two weeks before the event, which wasn't feasible.- The most important thing for my 13-year old daughter was the Boba Tea bar for her friends. She chose two flavors from the list they offered. Just two days before the event, they changed the flavors without telling us - I only noticed it on an invoice. We made phone calls and emailed to ensure we'd have the right flavors and Melissa ensured we would and I received confirmation via text message. However, when we arrived, they were the flavors listed on the invoice that my daughter didn't want (jasmine and matcha instead of strawberry and brown sugar, which is a huge difference for young teens). Instead of taking the family photos before our guests arrived, we had to taste test new boba tea combinations they were trying to put together with the ingredients they had on hand. There was never an apology from Melissa even though I explicitly expressed many times that this drink station was the most important thing to my teenage daughter.- The wrong number of linens were ordered so even though I chose everything months prior, we had to re-pick f
Kim A.
We hosted a bat mitzvah event at The Cotton Room on Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. with approximately 160 people (100 kids and 60 adults) and spent over $30,000. It is rare for me to have such a negative experience with a vendor, but unfortunately, this was my experience with The Cotton Room. During the approximately six-month-long planning process, we had a very difficult time with our assigned event planner, Melissa, which I've detailed below. After the event, I contacted the owner of the company so we could meet and discuss the very poor customer service. A week had gone by with no response, so I messaged her again and let her know that I was still open to using The Cotton Room for my second daughter's bat mitzvah, but was frustrated by both my experience with Melissa and the owner's lack of response. The owner finally replied and only gave me one option of a date and time to come in to meet with her a few days later on a weekday at 10 a.m.). Since I'm a school teacher, that didn't work, so I provided all of my availability before the end of the school year and over the summer since it was near summer break. The owner never replied and it has now been three months with multiple follow up attempts by me to set up a meeting. I'm now not that surprised about the customer service from the event planner after being treated this way by the owner. I will say that the bartenders and food servers at The Cotton Room were all wonderful. I'm including a detailed list of issues we encountered both during the planning process and at the start of the event, which includes changing prices two weeks before the event, changing food and drink items at the event without any notification prior, forgetting to include items we paid for, mistakes on decorative items, not checking in with us during the entire event, losing items we provided, incorrect menu items served, incorrect room layout so our centerpieces didn't fit, and many others). Since the owner will not make time to hear about these issues directly, I felt compelled to write a review in order to prevent what happened to us from happening to anyone else. These are only a few of the MANY issues. Feel free to message me for more details. - I was very clear from the beginning that we were hosting a bat mitzvah with at least half of our guests being 12-13 year olds and that we wanted a station-style event with adult toppings on kid-friendly food items (e.g. a nacho bar with upscale add-on options for adults). We were quoted a less expensive kids price for all of the kids but were then told only a few weeks before the event that ALL GUESTS would be charged an adult price because the kids were over 10 years old (this was a $23 price differential per child and with 100 kids that meant an extra $2,300!). They refused to honor their original quote and we had no other choice but to pay the extra money or find another location two weeks before the event, which wasn't feasible. - The most important thing for my 13-year old daughter was the Boba Tea bar for her friends. She chose two flavors from the list they offered. Just two days before the event, they changed the flavors without telling us - I only noticed it on an invoice. We made phone calls and emailed to ensure we'd have the right flavors and Melissa ensured we would and I received confirmation via text message. However, when we arrived, they were the flavors listed on the invoice that my daughter didn't want (jasmine and matcha instead of strawberry and brown sugar, which is a huge difference for young teens). Instead of taking the family photos before our guests arrived, we had to taste test new boba tea combinations they were trying to put together with the ingredients they had on hand. There was never an apology from Melissa even though I explicitly expressed many times that this drink station was the most important thing to my teenage daughter. - We had to follow up multiple times (sometimes up to 5 times before we received a response), and when we did, Melissa
MJ Worldwide
Stunning and welcoming space in the heart of downtown Durham.
Beautiful space and good food. Day of planner absolutely sucked from the beginning. Cameras in changing area. Communication is super lacking even after trying to get clarification on my end. Ordered food to the suites and didn't get them until hours later then what was told. (Told it would be ready when we got there (9am)- wasn't there until after 2pm). Received attitude day of. Had minimal requests and felt like it was a huge burden to them. Suites aren't secure as told, so don't keep anything valuable there. Staff/bartenders were very kind and tried their best off the lack of communication. My DJ saved the day with the coordinating at the event. Day of coordinating was atrocious.
Douglas Heckart
This is a beautiful venue. I have attended two work parties here and the food and bartenders were great!
Dominique Ford
The venue is beautiful with a warm, inviting and romantic atmosphere. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They are also quick and efficient with flipping the room. The Cotton Room has a nice layout with plenty of room for a ceremony and reception in the same space. I would definitely recommend this venue for a social gathering, wedding, birthday party or baby shower.
Dominique Royal
The venue is beautiful with a warm, inviting and romantic atmosphere. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They are also quick and efficient with flipping the room. The Cotton Room has a nice layout with plenty of room for a ceremony and reception in the same space. I would definitely recommend this venue for a social gathering, wedding, birthday party or baby shower.
Sarah Rapp
So much fun, professional staff and beautiful venue ❤️
Our search for a wedding venue pretty much came to a complete stop once we found the cotton room. The decor was everything we had been looking for. From the exposed brick to the huge windows, the bride and groom suites to the location of the building itself. The space got a ton of natural light which was as perfect for the time of day of our ceremony. It literally had everything we could ask for. The staff were very accommodating and very friendly which made the entire wedding process that much easier for us. Very special thank you’s to Natalie and Melissa for all their hard work. The food was delicious and the drinks were very good too. Our wedding guests raved about both. The wait staff and bartenders went above and beyond not just for me and my wife but for all of our guests and it was very much appreciated. Our wedding day was perfect and The Cotton Room and their staff played a huge part in make that possible. Thank you so much again.
Our daughter's wedding on 12/9/23 was absolutely amazing! Thank you Melissa Winn and the staff at The Cotton Room for working so hard and contributing to our daughter and family's big day. The space was amazing and all of our needs were met. I would recommend this venue to anyone for any event. Thank you, Melissa Winn, and the rest of the staff for anticipating many of our needs and for contributing to the success of this very special day!
Our son's wedding and reception was held in a festive and professional venue that provided all our guests with first class service and exquisite dining experiences. The staff was more than accommodating and friendly, while meeting all our requests and needs. The enchanted wedding ceremony and reception will be forever remembered. Thanks for making this a once in a lifetime experience.
Beautiful old venue. Our event staff was amazing and the temperature was perfect. Highly recommend!
We got married in the cotton room Lian space in 3rd floor. It’s absolutely stunning. The bridal and groom suite is the prettiest and most spacious ones I’ve seen. our assigned event manager Melissa was amazing, she collaborated the timeline well with me, and step up to help coordinate the day of my wedding. Our wedding day couldn’t go so smooth Without her help. Kudos to all the staff as well, they are all super friendly, polite and personable, they go out of their way to help you out, chit chat with you like old friends. And of course the venue itself is so beautiful, and I love that they included a lot of items/ services. We also love the open house events , we got to try so many food and had a great sense of how the wedding day could be like.
this establishment is such a gorgeous place. once on the inside and u start working for the owners u realize uve just walked into help all dressed up. I have been a bartender for 18yrs. I've worked every type of bar imagined. Ive worked for establishments, restaurants, temp agency's, high end places, bed and breakfasts and so many more. These ppl could care less about ur happy day they want ur money. The planners have no sense of control they only exist during the night. They are beyond disrespectful and have no education on professionalism. I'm not saying dont rent this venu. I'm only saying don't risk your memorys.
We had our wedding there and the only word I can use to describe the whole experience is MAGNIFICENT! The venue itself is stunning. The open spaces and attention to details give it the classy look we wanted. The day of staff was so warm and pleasant and very accommodating. When we booked the place we were assigned a coordinator who was knowledgeable and patient and treated us as if we were her only clients, always available when needed. The venue required us to use their caterer but this was not an issue because their selection and food was amazing, not the typical wedding food. We even had options for late night snacks that were a hit with our guests. The process was easy and we felt like we got the custom made wedding of our dreams. Plus the location and parking are convenient. We looked at other venues but once we saw The Cotton Room we fell in love. Highly recommend.
We hosted a bat mitzvah event at The Cotton Room on Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. with approximately 160 people (100 kids and 60 adults) and spent over $30,000.It is rare for me to have such a negative experience with a vendor, but unfortunately, this was my experience with The Cotton Room. During the approximately six-month-long planning process, we had a very difficult time with our assigned event planner, Melissa, which I've detailed below. After the event, I contacted the owner of the company so we could meet and discuss the very poor customer service. A week had gone by with no response, so I messaged her again and let her know that I was still open to using The Cotton Room for my second daughter's bat mitzvah, but was frustrated by both my experience with Melissa and the owner's lack of response. The owner finally replied and only gave me one option of a date and time to come in to meet with her a few days later on a weekday at 10 a.m.). Since I'm a school teacher, that didn't work, so I provided all of my availability before the end of the school year and over the summer since it was near summer break. The owner never replied and it has now been three months with multiple follow up attempts by me to set up a meeting. I'm now not that surprised about the customer service from the event planner after being treated this way by the owner. I will say that the bartenders and food servers at The Cotton Room were all wonderful. I'm including a detailed list of issues we encountered both during the planning process and at the start of the event, which includes changing prices two weeks before the event, changing food and drink items at the event without any notification prior, forgetting to include items we paid for, mistakes on decorative items, not checking in with us during the entire event, losing items we provided, incorrect menu items served, incorrect room layout so our centerpieces didn't fit, and many others). Since the owner will not make time to hear about these issues directly, I felt compelled to write a review in order to prevent what happened to us from happening to anyone else. These are only a few of the MANY issues. Feel free to message me for more details.- I was very clear from the beginning that we were hosting a bat mitzvah with at least half of our guests being 12-13 year olds and that we wanted a station-style event with adult toppings on kid-friendly food items (e.g. a nacho bar with upscale add-on options for adults). We were quoted a less expensive kids price for all of the kids but were then told only a few weeks before the event that ALL GUESTS would be charged an adult price because the kids were over 10 years old (this was a $23 price differential per child and with 100 kids that meant an extra $2,300!). They refused to honor their original quote and we had no other choice but to pay the extra money or find another location two weeks before the event, which wasn't feasible.- The most important thing for my 13-year old daughter was the Boba Tea bar for her friends. She chose two flavors from the list they offered. Just two days before the event, they changed the flavors without telling us - I only noticed it on an invoice. We made phone calls and emailed to ensure we'd have the right flavors and Melissa ensured we would and I received confirmation via text message. However, when we arrived, they were the flavors listed on the invoice that my daughter didn't want (jasmine and matcha instead of strawberry and brown sugar, which is a huge difference for young teens). Instead of taking the family photos before our guests arrived, we had to taste test new boba tea combinations they were trying to put together with the ingredients they had on hand. There was never an apology from Melissa even though I explicitly expressed many times that this drink station was the most important thing to my teenage daughter.- The wrong number of linens were ordered so even though I chose everything months prior, we had to re-pick f
We hosted a bat mitzvah event at The Cotton Room on Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 6 p.m. - 11 p.m. with approximately 160 people (100 kids and 60 adults) and spent over $30,000. It is rare for me to have such a negative experience with a vendor, but unfortunately, this was my experience with The Cotton Room. During the approximately six-month-long planning process, we had a very difficult time with our assigned event planner, Melissa, which I've detailed below. After the event, I contacted the owner of the company so we could meet and discuss the very poor customer service. A week had gone by with no response, so I messaged her again and let her know that I was still open to using The Cotton Room for my second daughter's bat mitzvah, but was frustrated by both my experience with Melissa and the owner's lack of response. The owner finally replied and only gave me one option of a date and time to come in to meet with her a few days later on a weekday at 10 a.m.). Since I'm a school teacher, that didn't work, so I provided all of my availability before the end of the school year and over the summer since it was near summer break. The owner never replied and it has now been three months with multiple follow up attempts by me to set up a meeting. I'm now not that surprised about the customer service from the event planner after being treated this way by the owner. I will say that the bartenders and food servers at The Cotton Room were all wonderful. I'm including a detailed list of issues we encountered both during the planning process and at the start of the event, which includes changing prices two weeks before the event, changing food and drink items at the event without any notification prior, forgetting to include items we paid for, mistakes on decorative items, not checking in with us during the entire event, losing items we provided, incorrect menu items served, incorrect room layout so our centerpieces didn't fit, and many others). Since the owner will not make time to hear about these issues directly, I felt compelled to write a review in order to prevent what happened to us from happening to anyone else. These are only a few of the MANY issues. Feel free to message me for more details. - I was very clear from the beginning that we were hosting a bat mitzvah with at least half of our guests being 12-13 year olds and that we wanted a station-style event with adult toppings on kid-friendly food items (e.g. a nacho bar with upscale add-on options for adults). We were quoted a less expensive kids price for all of the kids but were then told only a few weeks before the event that ALL GUESTS would be charged an adult price because the kids were over 10 years old (this was a $23 price differential per child and with 100 kids that meant an extra $2,300!). They refused to honor their original quote and we had no other choice but to pay the extra money or find another location two weeks before the event, which wasn't feasible. - The most important thing for my 13-year old daughter was the Boba Tea bar for her friends. She chose two flavors from the list they offered. Just two days before the event, they changed the flavors without telling us - I only noticed it on an invoice. We made phone calls and emailed to ensure we'd have the right flavors and Melissa ensured we would and I received confirmation via text message. However, when we arrived, they were the flavors listed on the invoice that my daughter didn't want (jasmine and matcha instead of strawberry and brown sugar, which is a huge difference for young teens). Instead of taking the family photos before our guests arrived, we had to taste test new boba tea combinations they were trying to put together with the ingredients they had on hand. There was never an apology from Melissa even though I explicitly expressed many times that this drink station was the most important thing to my teenage daughter. - We had to follow up multiple times (sometimes up to 5 times before we received a response), and when we did, Melissa
Stunning and welcoming space in the heart of downtown Durham.
Restaurantji Recommends
Beautiful space and good food. Day of planner absolutely sucked from the beginning. Cameras in changing area. Communication is super lacking even after trying to get clarification on my end. Ordered food to the suites and didn't get them until hours later then what was told. (Told it would be ready when we got there (9am)- wasn't there until after 2pm). Received attitude day of. Had minimal requests and felt like it was a huge burden to them. Suites aren't secure as told, so don't keep anything valuable there. Staff/bartenders were very kind and tried their best off the lack of communication. My DJ saved the day with the coordinating at the event. Day of coordinating was atrocious.
This is a beautiful venue. I have attended two work parties here and the food and bartenders were great!
The venue is beautiful with a warm, inviting and romantic atmosphere. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They are also quick and efficient with flipping the room. The Cotton Room has a nice layout with plenty of room for a ceremony and reception in the same space. I would definitely recommend this venue for a social gathering, wedding, birthday party or baby shower.
The venue is beautiful with a warm, inviting and romantic atmosphere. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They are also quick and efficient with flipping the room. The Cotton Room has a nice layout with plenty of room for a ceremony and reception in the same space. I would definitely recommend this venue for a social gathering, wedding, birthday party or baby shower.
So much fun, professional staff and beautiful venue ❤️