This hotel is now called The Beloved hotel but this was the only place I could find to write a review.  Hopefully it will come up in people's searches.

 

Ok - here is my review - I stalked this site for about 9 months before we got married looking for ideas for our wedding so hopefully this will help someone else decide to get married at the Beloved.

 

So we are in our early 30's and we live in Australia - husband is American and I'm English.  We were looking for somewhere to get married where we could have a holiday and where our family would be able to get to - so although it was not quite half way for our families it was an excellent choice.

 

My mum found the hotel just by doing some internet searches - in the beginning we were toying with the idea of the Azul Sensatori or even may Dreams Riviera - however, we eventually chose the Beloved hotel as the price was better for our overseas travellers and there was only one wedding per day.

 

There were a few hiccups trying to get all of the rooms sorted - a bit of red tape hiccup but all in all it was ok and we did it and there were no issues when we got there.

 

We left Sydney on 25 July and we spent a few days in Los Angeles with family on the way to Cancun.  We flew Virgin America from LA to Cancun and the flight was fantastic.  We landed in the airport and didn't get stopped on the random push button test - although we didn't really know what it was.  As you're walking through customs they make you push a button if it turns red then your bags are checked and if not then you go straight through.  We went straight through.  We booked our transfers directly through the hotel just for ease of travel and when were met by our driver.  When inside the car there were cold drinks and cold towels available for us.  We had a beer en route to the hotel.  The drive is not very scenic but the method of transport was nice and luxurious.

 

We arrived at the hotel and our luggage was unpacked and we were sat in the lobby and greeting with a cold glass of champagne.  We waited a while to check in and family who had already arrived kept coming up to see us.  We were given a guided tour of the hotel and we were shown to our room.  Cristian at reception was wonderful.   We had booked an ocean view terrace room with a plunge pool on the balcony.  More about that later.

 

After quickly changing we went downstairs to meet up with family to have dinner in Lupita - a modern mexican restaurant - it was lovely and they catered for all 16 of us just showing up on the spot.

 

Hotel - the hotel is lovely - it's small and everything is very close - the beach has ample sun loungers - there was some seaweed - which was worse on some days than it was on others - but that's normal for the area and it didn't really bother us - they did clean it up with big trucks that came along the waters edge a few times each day.  There were ample towels that you helped yourself to before you walked on to the beach and you could change as frequently as you wanted.  There was waiter service on the beach - drinks and food - there were non motoroised water sports on the beach too - the paddle boards were fun!  The swimming pools were a little too hot but they were nice - the main pool where the pool bar is was the busiest and there was often live entertainment which was fun in the afternoons.  Everywhere is spotlessly clean and the staff in the hotel will do anything to assist you.  The gym is very well equipped  and there are even gym classes - we started out well wiht going to the gym each morning - but I have to say that didn't last too long!!!

 

The spa was also very very good - I had a full body massage the day before our wedding and it was fantastic - make sure you go in early though to make use of all the facilities in there.  It's well worth it and it's so peaceful and relaxing.

 

Restaurants - all of the restaurants were fantastic - we loved meeting up with family every day in Aroma Terrace for breakfast - the buffet variety was great and they even had menu service and the staff would do what they could to assist you.  Maria was excellent too!  The omelettes that they make from the menu are fantastic and so was the fruit selection inside.  For lunch times they had beach service (shout out goes to Luis - he served quickly and always with a wonderful smile and he would do anything to assist) - you could go to El Mar which is a casual dining option on the beach and you can go in your swim suit if you want!  Or there is Isla Grill which is the restaurant that overlooks the main pool - I loved the food there at lunch - amazing prawn fajitas!!! and a little salad bar too.  I would highly recommend that.  In the evenings Aroma Terrace was fantastic as was Lupita - we had sushi a couple of nights in Lupita lounge which was great too.  I couldn't have faulted the restaurants and even on day 10 there was enough variety for me and I could have stayed longer.

 

Natura bar does great crepes and smoothies - it had great variety- we didn't go there often enough!

 

Bars / Night time - the hotel is quite quiet after 11pm and that is nice.  We spent most evenings in Lupita lounge - only down side about this is that it's quite sheltered and it gets super hot - some outside fans might be good in there.  The bar staff are very helpful and will make you any drinks or cocktails you want.  The lobby bar is much cooler as it's air conditioned but the atmosphere is not as good.  Even though it was hot we still hung outside in Lupita Lounge.  Also the rooms are big enough and fully stocked with alcohol at all times and so you could even stay in your room.  This is not a lively party resort but if you're looking for nice cocktails with live music some nights then it's definitely the way to go.  However, we did manage to go to the nightclub in the Excellence - just a short walk away on the beach the night before the wedding and that was good fun - it was a late night.

 

We had 55 people at our wedding and we always saw someone from the wedding party wherever we went.

 

Rooms - the hotel is only small with 109 rooms - the rooms are top class and excellent quality - to be honest - we didn't need to spend the money on the room we got because we were hardly ever in it!!! but it was fantastic - the balcony wrapped around the whole room - the amenities were great - our shower was see through glass - but in some rooms we saw that this was frosted glass - the rooms were very spacious and the beds were very comfortable - balconies were amazing wiht lounge beds on them too.  you could spend the whole day in your room if you wanted!

 

Room service was fast and good - we only ordered it twice - one on the morning after our wedding for breakfast and then I ordered it while I was getting ready for the wedding.

 

Wedding day -

 

We worked with Alejandro at the hotel for some months before the wedding - I found him very easy to work with - I found when I sent him emails then it was always better to ask your questions in numbered paragraphs so that he answers all of them in turn.  He was fantastic - he responded quickly to all emails.  He did advise me during a couple of weeks that he was super busy wiht other weddings and that he would get back to me when that busy period ended and that was fine - my wedding was still 4 months off at that point.  I accepted that and waited for him to get back to me - and he did. 

 

Alejandro put me in touch with Fernanda at Planner 1 for the decorations - I had email correspondence with her too and again - she was fantastic - I showed her pictures of what I wanted and she came back with a quote - prices are always negotiable.

 

So before the wedding I was working with Alejandro and Fernanda on a proposal and it was like a sheet that we would add things to for various parts of the wedding ceremony and reception and it set out the prices.  I had an idea of what I wanted the wedding to be like and we had a budget to work with and I put this to Alejandro and to Fernanda and they made it happen.  I had pre planned a meeting with Alejandro and my witness (we had a legal ceremony in Mexico) on the day after we arrived.  On the day this was rescheduled as Alejandro had a wedding - this was fine and he came to the lobby to explain everything and it was rescheduled for the following day.

 

When we met with Alejandro - we went through the ceremony and what we wanted, final numbers, ceremony details (we added a sand art ceremony to it to lengthen the ceremony), song details for first dance, cake cutting, etc etc to be honest - the whole wedding could have probably been planned in that meeting! 

 

It was so easy for him - and he wasn't stressed or worried about anything, he came up with some good ideas for us, he made suggestions and he just made everything happen like we wanted it.  He confirmed everything with Fernanda too from Planner 1 and we confirmed the locations for each part of the day.  It was all very easy.  When we arrived we thought we wanted a mariachi band for the cocktail hour which we had in Lupita Lounge - but Alejandro told us that we wouldn't need it and he was right - he saved us about $1000 too!!!

 

In that meeting all the witnesses handed over their passports to be checked by the judge who would be marrying us and then we made an arrangement to have our blood taken by the dr the following day.

We had bloods taken by the dr the following day then we met with Fernanda because she was going to be in the hotel for something else and she confirmed everything as per the proposal we were working from - nothing changed but meeting her was good as she really did make me feel at ease and feel like everything was going to be ok.  We arranged for a rehearsal with the wedding party on the evening of the rehearsal dinner. The walk through rehearsal of the day was good and it was worth it because then people knew what they were doing and where they were walking.  It was easier on the day as all of the chairs were set up and the aisle was in place but it was still good.

 

At the rehearsal for the wedding day - we did a walk through - I had 6 bridesmaids and 3 groomsmen - the walk through was fine - we made it fast as it was so hot on that day and everyone was sweating.  We asked Alejandro if he would be able to arrange for some cold towels to be on the end of each row of chairs on the day of the wedding and he said that was no problem and he arranged that which we thought might be a good idea. 

 

Nothing seemed like it was too much for him to do or to arrange.

 

For the rehearsal dinner - we'd arranged a bonfire on the beach with a Caribbean style buffet menu and we ordered some lounge furniture from Fernanda - the whole thing was spectacular - a bar was set up and there was waiter service - we arranged a sound system to play the ipod - there were marshmallows and it was all beautiful - everyone enjoyed themselves and I would highly recommend this for a rehearsal dinner .  The hotel set up tables and chairs too for the even so there was lots of seating.  Alejandro provided us with tiki torches which he arranged in the area too.  The only downside was that we wanted it to go on longer than it did!!!  it went from 6.30-8.30 or 9 pm by the time everyone left.  We all then went to the lobby bar after that for more drinks and some fun pre wedding activities.  The lounge furniture made it look nice but I wouldn't say it was a necessity - just make sure the hotel puts out tables and chairs as that looked really nice.

 

The day of the wedding - I just lounged around in our room all day and ordered some room service - I was actually putting together some program fans that I'd ordered from etsy - we used these as the program for the day ( http://www.etsy.com/au/listing/100997830/100-perforated-wedding-program-fan  ) and when they were made I gave them to Alejandro to place on the seats at the ceremony.

 

All the flowers were delivered to my room at 3pm (we confirmed this with Fernanda when we arrived at the hotel - that timeing for us was pefect as the flowers didn't drop at all ) - the flowers ordered from Planner 1 were the best I've ever ever seen - such good value for money - I ordered my flowers from Planner 1 - the bridesmaids and the flowers for the gazebo as well as for the centrepieces for the reception.  They were alll so much better than I had anticipated. 

 

We didn't have any corsages for the mothers as they didn't want one - my dad did want a boutonniere though and we ordered this thorugh Alejandro - as this was the free one for the groom wiht the wedding package.  It worked fine.

 

We wanted the ceremony to be as late as possible so that it would be cooler so we chose 4.30pm.  Alejandro told my dad to be in my room at just about 4.20 so that he could come to the room to collect us to walk down to the ceremony.  All the bridesmaids were in my room with me and my mum and my aunt and we ordered champagne to the room (order this early as it might take a while to arrive)!!!!

 

Just when I was getting ready - there was a bit of rain - Alejandro delayed me in my room a little while and I was told later that he removed all of the seats and put them somewhere dry while it was raining then put them out again just as the guests started to arrive.  On the day there were a few sprinkles of rain before the ceremony - throughout the whole ceremony though there was thunder - I do not have any idea as to how the rain stayed away - but it was fantastic - it was cool - there was a nice breeze and a rainbow just behind us over the ocean - so pretty.

 

Our ceremony was on the beach - I wasn't keen on that idea when I first started looking at a destination wedding but Alejandro told me that was the only place available - I just went with it and I'm glad I did as it was beautiful - I picked the gazebo which was a basic one with white sheer on the sides - 2 large flower arrangements on each corner and then 3 small hanging pomanders at the back - I ordered a short bamboo aisle (the short one was enough) and a couple of bags of rose petals for the edge of the aisle and all of that was lovely.  I did not choose to upgrade the chairs - I brought my own sashes - the colour of the bridesmaid dresses and the chairs were covered in white cloth and they were fine - this was something i was a bit worried about for family sake but the chairs were totally fine and they looked fine too.   The ceremony was very nice on the beach too and I would definitely recommend it.

 

The ceremony itself was lovely - the Judge's words were lovely and the speech she reads was so very touching - I was very surprised by this as i thought it was going to be over really fast but it wasn't - it was a good length of time - probably about 1/2 hour with the sand ceremony too -= this was a lovely last minute touch that Alejandro recommended at the end - it was both of us pouring different coloured sand into a bottle and it being symbolic of our life together into the future.  I would recommend that.

We had a harpist playing at the ceremony - all the guests said she was fantastic - I didn't really hear her with all of the excitement but it looked good.

 

After the ceremony we chose to have the cocktail hour in Lupita Lounge - there was music playing - the appetizers were a bit slow to come out at first.  It was a good opportunity for everyone to mingle together - I'm not sure I would choose Lupita Lounge again for this (if I could do it over again) - the palapa on the beach or the beach itself might have been nicer - cooler and enables people to stay in the same location as the ceremony was.  We didn't really spend too much time in the cocktail hour as we had to go off for photos for the sunset timing.  The appetizers that I tasted at the cocktail hour were good and reports back from other people were great too.  We chose to have a signature cocktail - Alejandro offered us this in one of our meetings with him a few days before the wedding and we just told him that we wanted a Bourbon based one - it tasted pretty good and went down well with the guests. 

 

We chose to have the reception in Isla Grill - (best choice) which is the restaurant above the pool - this was a fantastic place to have it - we didn't need to rent any additional lighting and the lighting that was there was enough.  The seating was nice too.  We had DJ Mannia - who was excellent.  The room was set up beautifully - Alejandro had moved the chair sashes to the reception room like we had asked him too = the centrepieces on the table were very pretty - we had round ball shaped flowers on a glass vase with small candles on the tables.  All provided by Planner 1 - they were lovely - we had about 8 tables. 

 

When we were planning the wedding we used wedding wire to set up our website and that was very helpful when we did the rsvp's and the meal choices because that's how we got people to pick their menu options and rsvp.  It was also what we used for the seating plans - which we send via pdf to Alejandro - that worked perfectly.  We brought the place cards wiht us and gave them to Alejandro to set out.  That worked fine and everyone was exactly where they were meant to be.  We didn't use a board or anything to direct people to the right table - people just found their names and it was ok.

 

The restaurant was just used for our wedding that evening so it was completely private and the set up was lovely.  We used the small balcony over looking the pool for the dance floor which was a bit small but it was ok and really there was not all that much time for dancing anyway - I wish it would have gone on longer.  DJ Mannia were great - played great songs and were the MC too.  I would highly recommend these guys.  They had a great selection of songs that everyone knew.  They give you a sheet to fill in your song choices before the day (Alejandro gave this to us at our meeting wiht him) and we filled it in and gave it back to him on the day of the wedding - it asks you for your song choices for various things like first dance, walking in of bridesmaids/groomsmen and bride and groom, then we also made some notes of the kind of music we wanted to play and they played all good music.

 

Alejandro was present during the whole day and night, he was always availabe,  he made everything run smoothly and the entire day was so much better than I'd expected, every single thing about it.

 

I wish we would have had longer at the reception dinner - that did feel a bit rushed - we arranged to start the reception at 7.30 - but I had some issues with bustling my wedding dress and that delayed us by about 1/2 hour and it ate into our reception time which was a shame .. we wanted to have some sunset photographs though so we had to have it late - I might have seen if we could have extended to 11pm though.

 

After the wedding we did go to Lupita Lounge though but it was just so hot in my dress that I got tired and left soon after we arrive but it was a long enough day that went by too quickly and in a flash and it was so much fun.

 

All of the waiters at the reception were fantastic!!!! Romeo was amazing, he does everything so well and with a massive smile.

 

I'm so happy I chose to have my wedding at the Beloved hotel - there was nothing that could have been better in my eyes - it was such a perfect day and even though it was almost 2 months ago - I would go back tomorrow!!! it was such a fantastic place.

 

Alejandro was excellent to work with - he made it go like clockwork - with no stress or fuss or anything - he was very calming and nothing was too much - even last minute changes or additions.  Fernanda at Planner 1 was great too!!!

 

We got one of  our wedding certificate before we left Mexico - there was another that I noticed a mistake on that the judge had to correct so that was posted out to us later.

 

Anyway - sorry this is so long and I hope someone finds this review useful!!!

 

If you have any questions or are still undecided about having the beloved as your wedding venue please get in touch I might be able to help!!

 

Happy planning everyone - make the most of it as it all goes by way too fast and I would love to rewind a few months.

 

Some pics: