Hyatt Cancun Caribe Resort

Jessica&Adam · April 16, 2008

Hey ladies! I thought this might be helpful for anyone considering the Hyatt Cancun Caribe Resort! These are some questions I asked Carrie, a previous Hyatt bride (and her answers):

1. How was your overall experience? I have to say I was a little worried about taking my family to another country to get married. We did have some initial problems with people (fear of flying) but it all ended up OK. We had 24 guests + ourselves from CA to London. The whole process was pretty easy with Lissette to help pick vendors to handle the things the hotel did not.

2. How was it working with the Wedding Coordinator? Would you suggest getting an outside Wedding Planner? Lissette is great. I can't say anything bad about her. Her recommendations were right on and I actually regret not going with the photographer she suggested. I'm an event planner so I never thought to higher an outside planner. Plus our wedding was small enough and more on the casual side that I didn't think it was necessary. It did take a lot of my time to plan, but then again I felt the need for it to be super organized since I am a planner and I knew people would expect things to have a polished look even if I was doing it all myself. Lissette was great the day of, so I didn't worry about that. In fact I didn't even see the ceremony site until I walk down to it with my Dad. Such faith, I know.

3. Where did you have your ceremony? Where did you have the reception? How did they go!? We got married right on the beach at 3pm, close enough to sunset in Nov to have pretty sunset pictures after the wedding. Our reception was in the restaurant. It was great and given that it rained right after our wedding ceremony I'm glad we decided to have it inside. We had one big table for everyone with us at the head of the table, a little cake table and one for the guest book too. We ended up on the lower level so it was sort of like a private event even though there were other diners on the upper part. We were also able to save $$ by not hiring a band since there was already live music in the restaurant that night. Everything overall went well.

4. How was the service at that resort? WONDERFUL. We were there for 10 day and by the time we left we knew most of the employees by name as well as they new ours. Although if you want a massage or anything else day of, I would suggest going to the Marriott/Renaissance since the have a GREAT spa.

5. How were the rooms/other areas of the hotel? Our rooms was great. We were in one of the Hyatt Gold Club rooms, we had a beach from room with a huge tub. Loved it. The rest of the resort was great too. The pools were both nice and since we were there during the shoulder season we sort of had the place to ourselves.

6. Looking back, what would you do differently? Hire a different photographer. DO NOT HIRE Michael Maurus!!! He is a great photographer and we got great pictures, but he belongs shooting ad and models that he can tweak and take 2 hours for the perfect shot. I have planned weddings before and worked with some great wedding photographers. It takes a special person to have the ability to run the wedding and get everyone to do what you want, when you want them to do it...with grace. Also I would go ahead with the legal wedding, It costs more, but for the ease of just having it done with I would go though that extra hassle while in Mexico. We waited until we got back to Seattle to legalize our union and it just seemed like the extra couple hundred $$ would have been well spent.

7. What was the best part about your wedding? Location, location, location. Who can ask for a better back drop than crystal blue water and white sand. Oh and of course the actual marrying of my husband too hehe

8. Do you have any wedding photos you wouldn't mind sharing? I'll send you some when I get home.

9. Where did you have your rehearsal dinner? La Distilleria www.ladistilleriacancun.com We had a great time. The service was great, they had a mariachi (sp?) band, and we had drinks on the patio. Overall it was a great restaurant for the occasion. I was trying to find a noce place to eat that didn't have outragously priced food for my in-laws since they just gave me a budget and said we can go where ever, just make it reasonable. Plus they have a tequilla museum there that was pretty interesting.

10. Is there anything I should be wary of, or anything to watch out for (hidden costs, things like that)? Food costs are high (I though higher than Hawaii) and I expect if you go during a high season they would be even higher. (but in the end I think it was still cheaper for our guests given the cheap ovenight costs) We did a group trip to Chichen Itza and booked though a tour house before getting to mexico. Although you can easily do this when you get there, if you have any type of group activity I would book it on your own (not with the hotel) since it is sigificantly cheaper. Also we took the city bus just about everywhere. It was only 6 pesos to ride it RT compared to $20 USD for a cab. I felt they were very safe, just make sure to have change and the drivers don't always give you change back.

11. Anything I should definitely do? Definately see the Mayan Ruins, they are amazing. They are all over the region and some just a few blocks from the hotel too. Not sure what kind of traveler you are, but we wanted to get away from the resort for a night or two and see more of 'mexico' or escape to Isla Mujeras for a little quiet time, but we ended up having drinks by the pool instead (not a bad thing in my book though). I could go on and on about this question, so after you do some research just let me know what you plans are and I can give you some feedback.

12. Anything I should definitely avoid doing? No, not really. Plan what you want, what you see in your heart and no matter what happen that day. Just remember that your wedding is important, but your marriage to your hubby and the look in his eyes when he sees you is what you will remember. And sometimes the imperfections are what make your day so great.

Hope that helps someone!

Jessica&Adam · April 21, 2008

And here is another review on the Hyatt Cancun Caribe Resort from another real bride (Lindsay):

1. How was your overall experience? The overall experience was wonderful. Lissette and the Hyatt were very accommodating, the entire staff was friendly and helpful. I am extremely happy we did our wedding there.

2. How was it working with the Wedding Coordinator? Would you suggest getting an outside Wedding Planner? Lissette was extremely helpful and was able to deliver everything I had requested. She is familiar with all the vendors and has a relationship with many of them. She made the whole process seem less to me.

3. Where did you have your ceremony? Where did you have the reception? How did they go!? We had a sunrise (not sunset) ceremony right on the beach on the Hyatt property. The entire setting was perfect. We had just a few family members that attended, and we had a small breakfast by one of the restaurant areas outside by the pool. There is a picture on the site from breakfast. Again, the servers were efficient, food quality was great. We did not have to ask from anything, we had everything we needed.

4. How was the service at that resort? Service was excellent. We did not have a problem. Since we stayed there for our wedding and honeymoon, about 10 days, we became familiar with a lot of the staff and everyone was helpful. Very personable and they are more than happy to accommodate your requests. We learned to just ask questions and we were always happy with their suggestions for things to do or go see.

5. How were the rooms/other areas of the hotel? What we observed was there are always always staff working on cleaning the rooms, pools, beach, restaurants, hallways, attending to guests. Unbelievable, not like here in the states.

6. Looking back, what would you do differently? I took a very laid back approach to the entire thing. I gave Lissette my requests, but I did not ponder over details. The only thing I would have done differently, and it was my call, was to have a rehearsal. Like I said, I was very laid back. I opted to go dune bugging over having a rehearsal. But other than that, I was happy. Suggestion, write a list of everything you want to review or have concerns with. Review the grounds where the events will take place.

7. What was the best part about your wedding? Hmm. Hard to narrow it down. All I can say was that it was everything I wanted. I did not really stress out as Lissette took care of the scheduling, sets ups, contacting vendors, etc. I had time to enjoy myself and the experience of getting married.

8. Do you have any wedding photos you wouldn't mind sharing? Lindsay & Greg - wedding website by mywedding.com Go to link and click on Our Wedding. I have more if you would like me to send some over that are not on the site.

9. Where did you have your rehearsal dinner? We were very informal since it was such a small and private wedding. As I mentioned, I did not do a rehearsal, but there are many nice restaurants in the hotel zone. Depending on what you like and how much you want to spend, there are a lot of great restaurants in the area to choose from. Let me know your preferences and I can make some suggestions.

10. Is there anything I should be wary of, or anything to watch out for (hidden costs, things like that)? I do not recall to many costs that we were not aware of. But one thing to make sure to look for are the Service Fees, this is different from the taxes. This is above and beyond the cost plus taxes. I can't remember how much the Services Fees were (10%), but it definitely makes a difference in your total budget. Services Fees should be listed on anything you receive, or make sure it is listed. I did not completely understand the services fees and tipping. You might want to talk to Lissette about it. Because I believe the fees are kind of like tips, but I think you could still tip on top of that? If you take USD $100 bills, make sure there are no rips or tears because they will not exchange or accept it.

11. Anything I should definitely do? One suggestion, tips go a long way. We found that if we tipped the staff closer to what we do in the state, the quality of service goes up. They are grateful, helpful, efficient, fast and friendly. If you are detail driven, I would definitely review the details of the ceremony, reception, etc. Lissette will take care a lot of the work, but if there are specific arrangements you want, I would review with her. She is very accommodating and works hard to make sure everything is as you request. She was actually really sick right before, during and after our ceremony, but she was there through it all.

Also, I am usually a planner (map out activities, research tours, costs, directions), but I just researched a little online of things to do. But did not map out or make reservations for anything. So you know, the hotel has an onsite desk, I think Expedia, for activities and tours. They work with many of the local companies around there, so the onsite desk has brochures, tour information and they are open from 7am to 8 or 9pm everyday. So we were able to wake up and decide what to do that day and be able to attend various activities. But if you want to take a day tour to the ruins or someplace like that, I would plan a day ahead because some tours leave prior to 7am. There is also another activity stand out by the pool area who offer similar activities, more water based. For the most part, the cost is reasonable. The ones that cost a little more, to tend to offer more, so it's all in perspective.

12. Anything I should definitely avoid doing? At the Hyatt, everything was nice and we did not have any complaints. As for avoiding anything, you should be fine at the hotel.

A few other items:

We stayed in the Regency Club part of the hotel for a few days around the wedding. Just wonderful. These are suites and most of them have balconies and they have a separate pool area with beds, lounge are separate from main hotel. I recommend a few nights stay in those rooms. I attached a picture of the Regency pool area. Again, separate from the main pools. The pictures on the link (see below) where we are getting hair and makeup done is in our Regency suite bathroom area. Large enough for all us of to get ready.

The bottom floor in the main part of the hotel have large patio/deck areas. Including pool chairs, so you can lie down and tan if you like.

Not sure how comfortable you are, but taking the bus around the hotel zone is cheap and fast, about 65 pesos per person, per ride. That's 50-60 cents american. Very cheap!

Tours are easy to access and get information on. I wrote some other comments below. I can try to recommend a few if you would like.

The hotel has a store onsite that sells crafts, jewelry, souvenirs, all very reasonable, actually not bad at all. I came home with a bag of jewelry, even silver bracelets and I did not break the bank at all. They also have another sundry store that sells suntan lotion, magazines, etc on site as well.

Since our wedding was at sunrise, and vendors had to come in at ridiculous hours of the morning (hair & makeup at 3am), we had to pay a little extra. But other than that the prices were okay. We originally we working with another hotel in the hotel zone, and their prices were outrageous. Lissette happened to contact me right around the time the we were having problems with the pricing, and I gave Lissette a list of everything I had been asking for and it was about half the price the other hotel was asking for, even with the additional cost for the time of the wedding. Lissette did everything in less than a months time.

Regards,

Lindsay