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

[TATrisha]

Holy Toledo! you leave next week... that's nuts! Okay, here are my experiences... BUT I was at the Akumal side...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeachyBlonde My question right now is about the Spa. I've heard different things: I've heard that you cant book until you get to the resort, then I heard that you should book before you arrive. I had to book two months ahead of time, and even then I couldn't do all of my girls at the same time. I would book AS SOON as you get to the resort. they do a lot of weddings and book really fast.   I've heard they don't use curling irons but rather a flat iron to curl your hair (this doesn't make sense to me) and I also heard that they burned some girls ends. Correct. They used a flat iron to curl my hair... and my hair was pretty much on fire. I planned on chopping it when I got home anyways, so it didn't bug me. Plus the curls stayed in all day!   Then I heard that they were great and there were not problems. I would still say they were great. They DO NOT speak English though, so bring a picture of EXACTLY what you want!   Can anyone help me with this??   Thanks so much.

[BeachyBlonde]

Yikes, I don't want any of my girls to have their ends burned! Thanks for letting me know!

[claudette]

Hello ladies!

 

I was planning on getting married at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda, but based on the limited contact with the WC there (um, NO contact!) and negative reviews of the murky water, I have decided to change resorts and am strongly leaning towards the Gran Bahia Principe group!

 

Now the decision becomes which one of the three?! I have heard great reviews about all 3. I want to get married directly on the beach, so I think it's important to see which one has the nicer beach set-up. Would those who have pictures of their beach ceremony, kindly email me them? [email protected].

 

Also, I would like to have the newer rooms...how are the rooms in Tulum? I hear they are a bit older and need updating. Akumal seems the newest (?) and has better rooms. How about Coba? Price-wise, Akumal seems to be more expensive. Do you girls think it's possible for FI and I to stay at Akumal and get married on the beach there while our guests stay at Tulum/Coba or does everyone in the group have to stay at the same hotel?

 

Any information would be so greatly appreciated!

 

I know we switched kinda late in the game - I hope we can get our wedding date! Just waiting to hear from the WC (I only emailed Tulum at this point until we make a decision on which of the 3).

 

We will be getting married legally before we go, so it will be a symbolic wedding (shhh, it's a secret!) I've heard that some resorts don't do ceremonies on Saturdays...is that the case here?

 

Thanks for all the help! I have literally spent all day reading this thread and appreciate all the great information!

 

Claudette

[Jen_S]

Hi! I will try to answer the questions I can, we are getting married on the Akumal side as we like the beach options better, I just do not have any picts on this comptur so I can send them to you later.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by claudette Hello ladies!   I was planning on getting married at BlueBay Grand Esmeralda, but based on the limited contact with the WC there (um, NO contact!) and negative reviews of the murky water, I have decided to change resorts and am strongly leaning towards the Gran Bahia Principe group! Be prepared the WC do not have much contact with you until right before the wedding, but they do weddings everyday and everyone has had great wedding. Now the decision becomes which one of the three?! I have heard great reviews about all 3. I want to get married directly on the beach, so I think it's important to see which one has the nicer beach set-up. Would those who have pictures of their beach ceremony, kindly email me them? [email protected].   Also, I would like to have the newer rooms...how are the rooms in Tulum? I hear they are a bit older and need updating. Akumal seems the newest (?) and has better rooms. How about Coba? Price-wise, Akumal seems to be more expensive. Do you girls think it's possible for FI and I to stay at Akumal and get married on the beach there while our guests stay at Tulum/Coba or does everyone in the group have to stay at the same hotel? Yes you can get married on the Akumal side and your guests can stay in the other resorts, you must stay in the resort where you are getting married.   Any information would be so greatly appreciated!   I know we switched kinda late in the game - I hope we can get our wedding date! Just waiting to hear from the WC (I only emailed Tulum at this point until we make a decision on which of the 3). Each resort Akumal, Tulum and Coba have different WC so I would email all three to see if your date is avail.   We will be getting married legally before we go, so it will be a symbolic wedding (shhh, it's a secret!) I've heard that some resorts don't do ceremonies on Saturdays...is that the case here? We are getting married on a Sat with no problems   Thanks for all the help! I have literally spent all day reading this thread and appreciate all the great information! Good Luck making your decision!   Claudette

[Sunsierra]

Hi Claudette! I've sent you an email, if you have any other questions please feel free to email me!

[hockeygirl]

Hi all, I am newer to the site, and usually just look and never talk, but I am stuck! I need some advice on the DJ...I am debating whether or not to get a DJ or to build up an Ipod. Any personal experiences out there?

Wedding day : May 26th 2009 at 5pm

Resort: Akumal

11 Booked so far!

And I GOT CLAUDIA!

Thanks!

[Sunsierra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hockeygirl Hi all, I am newer to the site, and usually just look and never talk, but I am stuck! I need some advice on the DJ...I am debating whether or not to get a DJ or to build up an Ipod. Any personal experiences out there? Wedding day : May 26th 2009 at 5pm Resort: Akumal 11 Booked so far! And I GOT CLAUDIA! Thanks!

You are going to love this place (and Claudia)! When we were married there (Jan 2008 ) we were told that bringing an iPod wasn't an option so we went with the DJ. As far as I know, this hasn't changed.

For the wedding songs, we brought a burnt CD with our songs on it and they played that.

Hope that helps.

[TATrisha]

Yup, I ditto what Stacy said... and honestly, I thought the DJ was a good investment. He played great music and had a lot of fun with us too!

[scoutley]

BeachyBlonde-

 

Regarding your questions about the Mayan Ceremony, if you go to page 45 of this thread, I posted some prices that were sent to me by Jazmin earlier this year. Hope that helps!!

 

Except that I guess it won't help, because you're already there!! I just saw the wedding date!! Oh well, maybe it will help someone else?

[sarah1108]

HI Guys -- I got married in Akumal this past Saturday. Overall, I do have some negative feedback, but the wedding, the location, the happiness of the day were immeasurable and I would do it all over again if I could. We loved our wedding and we couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

 

Ok so the things to watch out for --

1) We ordered flowers for the mothers and fathers (corsages and boutonniers). Yuritzia wrote down the names of who they were supposed to go to. Then she gave them to the wrong people. I told her it was wrong, and she just kind of shrugged it off and said that there was nothing she could do about it now. My husband wasn't watching her, because we had over 40 guests and he was mingling with them. I would suggest having your fiance double-check things.

2) She had laundry pick up my dress on Thursday (Saturday wedding) to have it steamed. It was supposed to be returned Friday, but never was. Again, I had to track her down Friday night so she could have the dress returned. My only advice here is to double-check things.

3) She promised to leave a day pass for our photographer but never did. I checked at the front desk at 11am Saturday for our 2pm wedding and no day pass. I had to have the front desk people call her and get the day pass. Again, double-check things.

4) Our toasting flutes were lost. We asked immediately after our dance for our toasting flutes back and never received them. Yuritzia first offered us a refund for our flutes and then backed out of it. I don't know what to tell you here. We are just going to order new ones, we consider it "the price we pay for having our wedding in mexico", lol.

5) The salon/spa does use a flat-iron for curling your hair. This might work well for people with thicker hair, but I have thin, blonde hair and my hair was not curled when I left the spa. Basically they "curled" it and it fell right out. The flat-iron didn't work on it at all. Luckily my awesome maid of honor (sister) brought a curling iron with her and she fixed it up all pretty. Just be aware of this. If you want some curls, I would suggest bringing a curling iron "just in case" and to do any touch-ups.

 

The good --

1) The wedding location is awesome, and gorgeous.

2) The weather was looking a little bit unsure during the afternoon after the wedding, so Yuritzia gave us the option of moving our dance indoors. We decided to do so. I will say --- the dance was awesome. I was a little worried it would be a dingy meeting room, but it had the marble floors and was very pretty. They put tables with candles on them, balloon columns, etc. We loved it, and our guests loved it, it was air conditioned and bug-free.

3) The tres leches cake is awesome.

4) We asked about the DJ, because we had brought an Ipod with our music on it. She told us she'd set up speakers (basically a DJ booth) for us and let us play our own music with no DJ. We did this, and our guests also liked it because there were a few single guys there so they had fun playing DJ. Also, some of our other guests had ipods and they mixed in a song or two of their own. It was totally fun. From my point of view -- either way (with or without DJ) would work fine and be very fun.

5) The Akumal beach location is gorgeous. We loved it, and our guests loved it. Yuritzia kept everyone in the snack bar until just before wedding time so they wouldn't all roast in the sun, and walked them down to the wedding site just before the bridal party arrived.

6) We had a candle and photograph of my husband's grandparents for our table, Yuritzia handled that well.

7) All of our guests LOVED the resort. We stayed in Akumal, and our guests were spread out between all 3 resorts. Everyone had a fabulous time and thanked us for choosing this location.

While we were there, the Coba buffet was better for service (the wait staff was much more lively and entertaining), and everyone in our group liked the lobby bar and outside bar at Coba the best. It seemed the most accessible and there was always something going on, very lively! (Of course this is personal preference).

9) If you have seen one of the resort maps, it is not to scale. It took us 10-15 min to walk from our room in Akumal (building 4 to the Coba lobby. A lot of people in our group enjoyed walking and would walk almost anywhere.

10) We had a "welcome dinner/rehearsal dinner" at La Buena Vida restaurant in Akumal, and our guests RAVED about it. The place is awesome. Of course, it's not part of the resort, it's totally separate, so you'd have to pay for it separately, etc. For 45 people we paid somewhere around $1700, including having an open bar available to everyone. The manager/owner Jorge provided bug spray to everyone too so that was a big help.

 

I can't think of anything else to write right now. I only wrote the negatives to help you in planning your wedding and help you have the best wedding possible -- my husband and I both LOVED the wedding and would definitely do it all over again. If you have any questions, just ask!

Sarah