RedWater Reviews

When a company turns over managers like Redwater does, it says a lot about how they treat their employees. My location had 6 different restaurant managers in less than one year. Six! Why? Because they work them like dogs and treat them like sub-par humans, and then they use them as scape goats for their failing operations. The culture is abysmal- they do not care about your family or personal welfare- and if you say something or try to make it better, they retaliate against you by working you harder. They talked a lot in the interview about how they have this wonderful company culture that puts employees first, but as soon as I started working there, I could immediately tell it was all just a marketing tactic. It is more than clear that they have put no thought or effort into building any sort of culture other than the stiff, corporate, fascist one already in place. RedWater was probably the worst company I have worked for in my 30 years in the industry.

Ownership comes from a completely different world. They are very out of focus and they do not understand hospitality, particularly golf. They micro-manage as if they were customers or members. They are not from golf, restaurants, or hospitality. The original management is very similar. This is a company that is a prime example of a local hospitality company that started off small at 3 of the worst examples of Michigan golf and restaurants. Watermark, Sunnybrook, & Stonewater were goat tracks, with goat food restaurants. The ownership has improved those places and destroyed lives and careers in the process. Return on investment and profitability have always created dysfunction in this group. It has not improved since I left. Eating up properties is a great long-term investment for them, and this has not transferred to employees, customers, or West Michigan as a whole. Dollars and dopamine fixes are their business. Upper management in golf operations is terrible. I would recommend using them before they use you up. The golf industry in Michigan is hard enough. Golf operation management will make you want to go back in time and change careers. Employees are not valued as an investment, but instead used as tool.