Le Meridien site visit review

[riviera]

Part 1.

 

SO! I am back from Cancun! I have to say, site visit was a really good idea.. At least for me since it really helped me in narrowing the sites down!

 

I learned and gained so much information from everyone on this forum, and I can only hope this review can be as helpful and informative to other brides who are overwhelmed as I was when I first started the search.

 

The night we arrived in Cancun was very humid. We called Le Meridien to see if they can arrange a car for us, and they offered $80 U.S. for two of us. This was a surprise since I knew (from this forum) that the distance between cancun and the hotel was only 20-25min drive! so I did a quick research on internet and found a shuttle service that cost $30 for both of us. They were waiting for us at the door, and got us into their van and went straight to the hotel. The ride was pleasant and fast.

 

We checked into Le Meridien around mid night. The lobby is intimate and clean. There was two singers with guitars performing at the lounge.

 

 

 

 

Drive way into the main entrance

 

Lounge area

 

 

The room was clean and they had a welcome letter with our names and cookies.

 

PICTURE

 

The next morning, I went to the gym, which was clean and had enough equipments for me to do my full work out. The machines were new and was in good condition. They had towel, water and apples and the staff was very nice. They have spa downstairs with jacuzzi and tennis court upstairs. To access this service, you need to pay $20 per person or $30 per couple per room per day.

 

Small portion of the gym shown here.

[JennyK]

The pictures aren't working but the review was great!!! You got a lot more accomplished than I did on my site visit so I'm taking your word on the food.

[riviera]

Part 2.

 

I checked out the pool area by the beach and it is absolutely gorgeous. There aren't too many people by the pool and there were enough lounging area to find beds at anytime of the day. Mind you, these pictures were taken at 6 in the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[riviera]

Part 3.

 

We had continental breakfast at Aioli restaurant. Their food was excellent. The buffet had a good mix of Mexican and American cuisine, and really good pastry.

 

We met with Jesica at the restaurant and went over the details of what we envision our wedding to be like. She was very attentive and gave us a lot of useful feedbacks. We could tell that she is willing to go above and beyond. For example; My fiancé and I are both Koreans and we wanted to have Korean Traditional tea ceremony, and when we expressed our interest in this, she offered to look into renting appropriate equipments for the ceremony locally so that we don’t have to ship everything over.

 

I originally wanted to have a wedding on the beach but I decided to cross that idea. Jesica told us that usually there is a lot more beach area but due to the heavy rainfall they just had, there wasn't much beach. I really liked the Gazebo in person and I think I am leaning towards the gazebo now!

 

 

 

 

So we decided to do a ceremony at the small gazebo (round structure area). We are anticipating around 40 guests, and the size of the gazebo area is perfect for our size of guests. We will be having our reception dinner at the same site as well.

 

 

 

 

 

We also looked at the back-up location in case of rain. It is a huge hall which can be sectioned off according to the size of guests you will have.

 

 

 

After our meeting with Jesica, we went over to Marriott to meet with WC Yael Rodriguez. Please see my Marriott review if you are interested in this hotel.

[riviera]

Part 4.

 

Because we are both crazy about food, it was important to have a tasting even at this early of a stage. To be honest, we are very glad we did, because we weren’t too crazy about the dishes we had.

 

We tried the following dishes:

 

Three appetizers; these were all good.

 

 

 

 

Three main courses

Beef Filet; My FI said it was fine, but I didn't think it was very good.

 

Salmon dish; not good at all. We could not finish this dish.

 

Grouper; the best out of the three. It used the freshest ingredient, which is the grouper, which is the local produce.

 

It turns out, the chef who prepares for large group event is a different chef from Aioli’s. We expressed our dissapointment to Francisco, who was assisting us on this process, (jesica was overseeing a wedding that night) and asked if it would be possible to have Aioli’s chef to cater our wedding. He went to ask the chef and he said 40 guests are not a problem, but we will have to check with the WC and the hotel to see if this will be allowed. So we asked Francisco to show us the dinner menu and asked him if the restaurant can serve few dishes from dinner menu for us to try at lunch time the next day. Apparently they do not serve dinner dishes at lunch time, but again, the chef agreed to make an exception for us and prepare whatever dish we picked to try for lunch the next day.

 

So we had the following dishes:

 

Two appetizers

Foie Gras; to die for.

 

Beef Carpacio; Perfect.

 

Two main courses

Shrimp dish; the sauce was amazing and the shrimp was cooked well.

 

Lamb dish; to die for.

 

The Aioli restaurant manager assisted us on the tasting, (whom I can’t remember the name of …) and I have to say the food was REALLY GOOD! We totally loved it! We sent an e-mail to Jesica on this matter, and she told us that they will allow Aioli restaurant to cater our reception. I am SOOO excited, and can’t wait to have their food again!

[riviera]

Part 5.

 

While we were staying at Le Meridien, we were fortunate enough to take a peak at a wedding they were holding that night. It was a Mexican wedding, which consisted of three ceremonies. The legal ceremony with 40 guests (at the small gazebo), The religious ceremony with 60 guests (at a church near by), Reception dinner and party with 250 guests (at the large gazebo). It was a very elaborate wedding, with fire works at night! Check out the photos below!

The staff; Bartenders, waiters, Jesica and her team all looked very nice and professional.

 

The civil ceremony at the small gazebo

 

 

The reception at the large gazebo above

 

Yup. They had fireworks... I don't know how much that cost. I didn't even bother asking Jesica.

 

 

 

 

That's me posing to get the sense of scale.

 

The only concern I have with this hotel is the construction on the next property. Jesica told us that it is concrete structure and noise should not be an issue. The construction is scheduled to go on until next year September. Also, the construction is on the opposite side from the wedding area, so you will hardly get a view of this while your ceremony is going on.

 

 

We loved the hotel in general. The staff speak English well and very friendly, nice and polite. I am 99% sure that we will be having our wedding at Le Meridien but am still waiting on final numbers and details to come back to us from Jesica. I hope this review helps other brides looking for the perfect location for their weddings!

 

HAPPY PLANNING!

[riviera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JennyK The pictures aren't working but the review was great!!! You got a lot more accomplished than I did on my site visit so I'm taking your word on the food.

Thanks Jenny for your support and your help on the pictures!! Gosh, it is not easy is it....

As for the food, the food in general was not bad. BUT! I can tell you right now, do not order the salmon. According to Francisco, salmon is imported, and the quality is not good. If you want a seafood option, I would recommend the grouper fish, or shrimp dish.

Now if I can fix thoes missing pictures... I will make some modification soon, but for now, I am all set for Le Meridien review..

[JennyK]

So where is it that they get their food from if not from Aioli's?

[DanielleNDerek]

That's a great site review and pics for any girl looking at LeMeridien.

 

I was watching a show on the travel channel last week "Top 10 Exclusive Resorts in Mexico" and the LeMeridien was #2 it looked gorgeous.

[Kits55]

Riveria: Thanks for the great review on Le Meridien. I have been looking different resorts for months and can't believe i didn't find this website until just last night! I do have a question for you that doesn't have to do with the resort. I am Korean, though my fiance is not. I want to incorporate a slightly Korean theme into my wedding (i'm looking around Tulum) but I don't know how to do it. I've only been to Korea once, and only for 5 weeks. Do you have any suggestions for me, also are you using Korean favors for your guests? If so, where are you getting yours?

 

Thanks, Kelly