Gran Bahia Principe Akumal/Tulum/Coba - POST HERE!

lm1984 · July 22, 2009

I'm letting my guests organize their own travel. They can book with whoever they want, whenever they want, for how much they want. I don't want my guests to pay a ridiculous group rate when they can wait a month or two and get a much better price. The resort is huge, so I am not worrying about it selling out.

If you want to get married in the gazebo, you have to stay at either the Tulum or Coba.

emme · July 22, 2009

Hi Lou!! Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

I can only speak for what I've done so far...but I think that GBP is a wonderful resort!! We've been there before (2007) and we'll be married there in October. We are staying in the Coba section just because we knew what to expect with the rooms...(newer, larger)...even though they are farther from the beach. It's really a matter of preference from one person to the next. We felt the walk (or shuttle) to the beach wasn't too big of a deal for our group. I have also heard (on this forum) that since Coba doesn't have it's own wedding spot...you get to choose from the ones at Tulum and Akumal. Whereas if you were staying at Akumal...you would have to have your ceremony at Akumal. (Please correct me if I'm wrong...but that's what I've read in alot of posts). We have chosen to get married at the Tulum Gazebo...have our reception at Le Gourmet restaurant...and a poolside reception (crossing our fingers that the WC approves it).

We went with a local TA and we have people flying out of Calgary, Alberta and Charlottetown, PEI. I did check things out with Destination Weddings as well...but I found that we could get the same results from a local TA without putting down a deposit for services. The more that I questioned the reps (via email) at DW and researched a bit online...I thought it would end up being super expensive.

From my own experience...I am grateful for the TA that we have who handles all of the packages (flights/hotels) and payments from our guests...and then I just take care of things with the WC at the hotel myself. I know exactly what I am envisioning so it's easy enough for me to email the WC directly. I've been getting fairly efficient replies as well.

Hope this helps...happy planning

Lou · July 22, 2009

Thanks Emme!

The more I've been reading here, the more I am sure that i could handle the planning as long as I find a good travel agent. I have been overwhelmed trying to find a resort, but the Gran BP seems to have good packages, seems like a nice resort and is close to some cool mayan ruins.

Can I ask what wedding package you booked? And are you going to have to pay extra for your poolside reception?

Lou · July 22, 2009

And thank you too Im1984! I have some guests that will book their own travel no problem, but I wouldn't mind having a TA people could contact if they don't want to seek one out on their own.

I could start going to travel agents here in Vancouver, but I was hoping to find on that specializes in weddings.... I have just emailed BDW to ask about their travel agent services.

~Keira~ · July 22, 2009

Hi Lou and congratulations!!

My FI and I booked with The Wedding Holiday they're a local outfit that specializes in DW without the service charges. I believe that they will help you co-ordinate everything over the phone or via skype if you have it. They were really helpful in helping us choose.

For our wedding we're having everyone book through them. The reason being is that if something like swine flu should happen again our TA will take care of everything involved in having our group move to a different location. If everyone were booked apart from the group it would be so much of a headache trying to get all that sorted out.

Good luck and have fun planning!

emme · July 22, 2009

Yes...after reading so many other threads in this website...finding a great TA is key!!

We are having a civil wedding...and we've picked the "sunshine" package which I think is the cheapest at $1340 USD (2009 pricing). I haven't gotten any confirmation of our reception yet...but from past posts I think we'll probably be spending about an extra $1000 (give or take) based on 3 hours and 40 people...but I still need to get answers from the WC on this. I will keep you all posted as soon as I get more details...

TATrisha · July 22, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by KLee147

Ok pool works too. Did you get a DJ and all that good stuff for the reception too? I was thinking that we could just go to the hotel club if we wanted to party afterwards. I'm having and AHR too so at the risk of sounding cheep I'm trying to save where I can.

Yup, DJ was $150 an hour. Just so you're aware... Thursdays are when there is a Mexican fiesta in the hacienda (unless something has changed) which means you cannot simply go to the hotel club after your wedding (which I believe is on a Thursday, correct?). So to get into the Hacienda will cost your guests $16 a person....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou

For those of you who have already had your weddings, did your guests organize their own travel? or did you have a travel agent book everyone? We have guests coming from Vancouver BC, Cairns Australia, Sacramento California and Dublin, Ireland so we are not sure what to do.... I have been looking at destinationweddings.com, a website where they book everything with you, contact the resort and set up a wedding website for you. has anyone used them or heard anything about it?

Oh no, we definitely used a Travel Agent. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. during the planning process she was able to get much faster confirmation with the resort on all kinds of things which is what allowed me to have my private reception and the location for my wedding that I wanted. But when she TRULY came into play was when we got to the resort and they tried to move half of our group over to Coba even though we paid for upgraded rooms that were oceanside in Akumal. That was RIDICULOUS! Thankfully, because we booked with a travel agent, everything was taken care of.
ALSO, Destinationweddings.com is a big no no. SO many people on this forum have tried them and you're wasting your time and money.
I would HIGHLY recommend one of the TA's from this website actually. They are awesome and can coordinate travel from anywhere.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou

Finally, we are trying to decide if we should stay at the akumel, tulum or coba section of the resort. any suggestions?

Just like someone else said, if you want to get married at the gazebo you have to stay at either Tulum or Coba, but you better have your travel agent check and make sure it's not booked already...
Also, obviously Tulum is on the water, but it's also older. Coba is newer but it's a hike or a trolley ride from the beach.

~Keira~ · July 22, 2009

Tlseege - Thanks for the input. We are getting married on a Thurday so perhaps I should start thinking about getting a DJ. I'm going to wait until we get confirmation on the private poolside dinner first though. If we don't have that then that will surely change what I have in mind.

courtneybgorman · July 22, 2009

Hi lm1984,

I was wondering if you would be able to sent the pics to me too?

~Keira~ · July 22, 2009

It seems we're all wondering about what the cakes looked like. Just thought it might be easier on Im1984 if I just posted them pics of them here. Enjoy ladies and thanks again Im1984!