Boycott El Dorado Royale & Karisma Resorts-UPDATE policy REVISED!

I like your post Matt. It is frustrating trying to battle with a company as big as Karisma that doesn't care about us. I did a review of my wedding that I submitted to my TA who was going to speak to Management about some of the problems I experienced. I specifically asked for them to bring up this photography issue. I think the best solution is: if photography is top on your list of wedding must haves and your picky about it.... go elsewhere.

Your words are full of wisdom!

Lets hope your concerns are driven home! I'd be interested if you hear a follow up from her about what the hotel had to say. A barrage of more requests like this will likely make a difference.

Another problem is that some travel agents are fortified business partners with certain hotels / resorts. What makes them this way is the amount of referrals (or beds filled) every year at these resorts. If a TA has been in business a LONG time with a certain hotel company, then there becomes a fine line of keeping both the hotel happy and the client happy from the TA's perspective.

I know some people may be reading this and thinking, What the F*#@! are you saying? Think about it. If I'm Joe Blow travel agency and I refer 30-50 clients (thats hundreds and hundreds of nights booked) at Hotel Hotdogs are so Good 4 U, then one must consider that the TA then makes a commission for all the beds filled. Its certainly in the TA's best interest to maintain and keep a good working relationship with that hotel because essentially, they are "in bed" with Hotel Hotdog. Pun or "bun" intended.

Whats more important for the TA? 1 bride and groom and their guests or 1 hotel that pays them BIG $$CHEESE$$ dinero for meeting quotas (30-50 brides and grooms and their boat loads of guests).

I'm not trying to generalize and say that all TA's are like this. I can confirm though, especially with my experience with Karisma, there is one TA out there who means quite a lot to them and they would do / say absolutely nothing to jeopardize their relationship with them....

your mileage may vary

We are getting married at another Karisma resort and are bringing a photographer from home and had absolutely no issues.  Prior to deciding to bring her with, we were going to use an outside photog and understood there was a 500 dollar outside vendor fee and that is it to use whoever you want.  So yes they have a policy but if you want to use someone else you pay the outside fee and use whoever you want.  I dont know if this is a reason to boycott a resort, many of the properties are beautiful and we have had no other issues/problems/concerns. 

Hello,

 

We are in the process of narrowing down our search and I currently like EDR the best.  I agree with you the resort is beautiful and I have heard great things about this place.  As I am reading these posts I am wondering if it is a big deal if I can not bring my own photographer.  Can you share with you who you are selecting for your photographer that the hotel has recommended?  And have you seen their work and what did you think about it? 

 

Thank you

you can bring down your own photographer but they need to either be a guest at the resort or pay an outside vendor fee.

hola Aisha2013 - hope your plans are progressing smoothly and you're enjoying the process.......all the best, cheers! 

 

@@TammyWright this is an old post but it seems that still there are issues, do brides at Karisma end up doing off-resort weddings?

It is actually quite common for resorts to charge an outside vendor fee but as long as you know that in advance, you can budget that fee into your total budget.

 

The original issue is resolved where the resort changed policy mid-wedding planning and Karisma did change their outside vendor policy to make it more fair.