Iberostar Grand Rose Hall

DaniScales2b · June 14, 2012

Originally Posted by sunshine2413

I was just married on June 8th, we have been planning for about 2years, and it was 90% for us. So i just told all my guests they had to stay at the Grand. TRUST ME, it is so much easier that way!! My cousin and her bf stayed at the beach due to money issues and it was a MAJOR hassle to even see them the whole week.

Sunshine,

Is this for the free wedding package or one of the packages you have to pay for that requires such a high percentage of your guests stay there?

Dani

kfarkas26 · June 14, 2012

Originally Posted by sunshine2413

I was just married on June 8th, we have been planning for about 2years, and it was 90% for us. So i just told all my guests they had to stay at the Grand. TRUST ME, it is so much easier that way!! My cousin and her bf stayed at the beach due to money issues and it was a MAJOR hassle to even see them the whole week.

I can't wait to read your review and see pictures! Right now we are working with the resort on this issue- I do not want to make my guests stay at the Grand. The reason we choose Iberostar is so that our guests can pick and choose where they want to stay based on money.... Congrats on your wedding so excited to hear all about it!

heather1214 · June 14, 2012

Originally Posted by kfarkas26

I can't wait to read your review and see pictures! Right now we are working with the resort on this issue- I do not want to make my guests stay at the Grand. The reason we choose Iberostar is so that our guests can pick and choose where they want to stay based on money.... Congrats on your wedding so excited to hear all about it!

I just stayed at the Beach over Memorial Day weekend for our site visit. (We are getting married at the Suites, but saved some $$ for the site visit)

I originally had the same idea, to have my guests stay at either of the 3, BUT they are strict about guests from the other 2 coming to the Grand. (or the Beach coming to the Suites for that matter)

We did engagement pictures (ok'd by Nicole at Suites) at the Suites, eventhough we were staying at the Beach, we got approached several times because we had different color bands.

If your guests are paying less money to stay at the Beach, they can't wander to the Grand (like I originally thought they might be able to do) so they really wont see you if most of you are at the Grand. (and you won't want to leave the Grand to hang out at the Beach, trust me!) If you are looking to spend time with them only for the reception and they will go around the 60% rule, you will be ok. But make sure your guests know they will be approached if they are at a different resort than they are allowed.

We decided to just do 1 resort because it's less stressful on the TA and I wanted everyone to be together when we are down there.

...and after being there, sunshine2413 is right, it would be a pain to have guests at all 3.

kfarkas26 · June 14, 2012

Originally Posted by heather1214

I just stayed at the Beach over Memorial Day weekend for our site visit. (We are getting married at the Suites, but saved some $$ for the site visit)

I originally had the same idea, to have my guests stay at either of the 3, BUT they are strict about guests from the other 2 coming to the Grand. (or the Beach coming to the Suites for that matter)

We did engagement pictures (ok'd by Nicole at Suites) at the Suites, eventhough we were staying at the Beach, we got approached several times because we had different color bands.

If your guests are paying less money to stay at the Beach, they can't wander to the Grand (like I originally thought they might be able to do) so they really wont see you if most of you are at the Grand. (and you won't want to leave the Grand to hang out at the Beach, trust me!) If you are looking to spend time with them only for the reception and they will go around the 60% rule, you will be ok. But make sure your guests know they will be approached if they are at a different resort than they are allowed.

We decided to just do 1 resort because it's less stressful on the TA and I wanted everyone to be together when we are down there.

...and after being there, sunshine2413 is right, it would be a pain to have guests at all 3.

We went and stayed at the suites for a week in May, we liked the idea of the 3 resorts, if we are able to get around the 60% we are going to block off rooms at the suites and grand, I think most of our guests will be staying at the Grand however those with children will have to stay at the suites. We don't going to the suites to hang out with our guests every now and then... I don't think its going to be a problem at all

TheWolferts · June 17, 2012

Yesterday, we were able to make all of our dinner reservations at the Grande and the Suites for our stay next week! Just one more day of work to get through before we leave!

I am very impressed with how quickly and well they dealt with taking our reservations over the email. They were so prompt in making the reservations and they sent us a confirmation email to confirm all of the restaurants and times we requested. I hope this is a sign of the fabulous service we can expect next week!

DaniScales2b · June 18, 2012

Originally Posted by TheWolferts

Yesterday, we were able to make all of our dinner reservations at the Grande and the Suites for our stay next week! Just one more day of work to get through before we leave!

I am very impressed with how quickly and well they dealt with taking our reservations over the email. They were so prompt in making the reservations and they sent us a confirmation email to confirm all of the restaurants and times we requested. I hope this is a sign of the fabulous service we can expect next week!

You're going to have an awesome time! Congrats again and enjoy your trip!

sunshine2413 · June 21, 2012

Hey fabulous Iberostar Brides! Now that my wedding is over, I am working to clean out my extra room, please take a look at my for sale list!

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/80320/big-post-wedding-sale#post_1782302

THANKS

Leah22 · June 21, 2012

Hello Everyone! I was just married on June 10th at the Grand (I also got to see the other two brides married on the Friday and Saturday before me). We had just under 90 guests! Maybe 2/3 stayed at the Grand, around 30 were at the Suites (we had a few people with kids), 3 guests stayed at the Beach resort, and the rest were staying off property. All in all everything worked out. But I think it was truly a nightmare dealing with the hotel and the wedding coordinator before arrival and once I got there. Besides the fact that their prices increased a few months before the wedding, and they changed their policies so that I couldn't choose my own outside vendors, Janielle was still difficult to talk to once I was on property.

About 2 weeks before arrival I started receiving several emails from Janielle attempting to finalize details. Which is great, but it was a lot at the last minute considering both me and my travel agent have been emailing her since September. I met with her the day after my arrival. but only because I checked my email from my room and she had sent me a request for a full guest list with entree choices for each guest for my pre-wedding/rehearsal group dinner that had been planned and organized for 4 months (for 80 people split with 1 dinner at the Suites and 1 dinner at the Grand -- this was a perk through my travel agent, normally they don't allow groups of this size unless you pay to rent the restaurant). She said it was a new policy and they need to know what each guest will eat. Considering I was already on the property, there was no way I could track down my 90 guests at home and ask them to pick a menu. I told her "no way" in an email and left my hotel room number. she called my hotel room within 10 minutes and we organized a meeting.

I met with Janielle and Angellie (the PR manager). It was quick. We discussed my detail sheet and filled out a new/different detail sheet and we took a look at Port Maria to discuss how I wanted my tables set up. She insisted on charging us an extra $200 vendor fee because we wanted to use one of our guests as the DJ. The Grand wouldn't allow him to rent or use their DJ equipment, so we had to rent equipment from a private company. Then the day of the wedding they started to set up the wedding ceremony in the wrong location, they used the wrong chairs (I requested wicker chairs for the ceremony and reception, which she told me would be fine), and they didn't put up an arch at first because they said they had no record of my requesting one (even though they had sent me an itemized bill 5 days before the wedding and the arch was on the bill -- by the way, this is when I learned that an arch is NOT included in the free wedding package. all along Janielle had told me that an arch is included in my package). My mom fought with them while I was getting ready, so I didn't know any of this happened until later. My flowers turned out really well (even though I was reluctant to use Tai Floral because I could never get a response from them).

All my guests had fun. The food was great. The hotel is stunning. There is a HUGE difference between the Grand, the Suites, and the Beach. The Grand is just so much better. I never saw the guests staying at the Beach until the wedding. but we wandered over to the Suites a few times to visit those guests (but only because my fiance's brother and baby nephew were there). The Grand is VERY strict about not allowing other guests on the property. We even had guests try to visit us from off property and security wouldn't let them in without a fight. A few times the beach guests came over to the Suites and didn't have any issues (they're not as strict at the Suites). I enjoyed the hotel, but if I could re-do it I would NOT choose to get married at the Grand. I would rent a villa or I would go to Half Moon (which would have actually been cheaper than the Grand). Or I would choose a resort that had better, more organized wedding packages so I wouldn't have to deal with price adjustments and policy changes at the last minute.

I will write a full review this weekend and I'll post some pics when I get them back.

Good luck! I don't want to discourage everyone planning their Iberostar weddings. I just want to share my experience, which was less than ideal.

kfarkas26 · June 21, 2012

Originally Posted by Leah22

Hello Everyone! I was just married on June 10th at the Grand (I also got to see the other two brides married on the Friday and Saturday before me). We had just under 90 guests! Maybe 2/3 stayed at the Grand, around 30 were at the Suites (we had a few people with kids), 3 guests stayed at the Beach resort, and the rest were staying off property. All in all everything worked out. But I think it was truly a nightmare dealing with the hotel and the wedding coordinator before arrival and once I got there. Besides the fact that their prices increased a few months before the wedding, and they changed their policies so that I couldn't choose my own outside vendors, Janielle was still difficult to talk to once I was on property.

About 2 weeks before arrival I started receiving several emails from Janielle attempting to finalize details. Which is great, but it was a lot at the last minute considering both me and my travel agent have been emailing her since September. I met with her the day after my arrival. but only because I checked my email from my room and she had sent me a request for a full guest list with entree choices for each guest for my pre-wedding/rehearsal group dinner that had been planned and organized for 4 months (for 80 people split with 1 dinner at the Suites and 1 dinner at the Grand -- this was a perk through my travel agent, normally they don't allow groups of this size unless you pay to rent the restaurant). She said it was a new policy and they need to know what each guest will eat. Considering I was already on the property, there was no way I could track down my 90 guests at home and ask them to pick a menu. I told her "no way" in an email and left my hotel room number. she called my hotel room within 10 minutes and we organized a meeting.

I met with Janielle and Angellie (the PR manager). It was quick. We discussed my detail sheet and filled out a new/different detail sheet and we took a look at Port Maria to discuss how I wanted my tables set up. She insisted on charging us an extra $200 vendor fee because we wanted to use one of our guests as the DJ. The Grand wouldn't allow him to rent or use their DJ equipment, so we had to rent equipment from a private company. Then the day of the wedding they started to set up the wedding ceremony in the wrong location, they used the wrong chairs (I requested wicker chairs for the ceremony and reception, which she told me would be fine), and they didn't put up an arch at first because they said they had no record of my requesting one (even though they had sent me an itemized bill 5 days before the wedding and the arch was on the bill -- by the way, this is when I learned that an arch is NOT included in the free wedding package. all along Janielle had told me that an arch is included in my package). My mom fought with them while I was getting ready, so I didn't know any of this happened until later. My flowers turned out really well (even though I was reluctant to use Tai Floral because I could never get a response from them).

All my guests had fun. The food was great. The hotel is stunning. There is a HUGE difference between the Grand, the Suites, and the Beach. The Grand is just so much better. I never saw the guests staying at the Beach until the wedding. but we wandered over to the Suites a few times to visit those guests (but only because my fiance's brother and baby nephew were there). The Grand is VERY strict about not allowing other guests on the property. We even had guests try to visit us from off property and security wouldn't let them in without a fight. A few times the beach guests came over to the Suites and didn't have any issues (they're not as strict at the Suites). I enjoyed the hotel, but if I could re-do it I would NOT choose to get married at the Grand. I would rent a villa or I would go to Half Moon (which would have actually been cheaper than the Grand). Or I would choose a resort that had better, more organized wedding packages so I wouldn't have to deal with price adjustments and policy changes at the last minute.

I will write a full review this weekend and I'll post some pics when I get them back.

Good luck! I don't want to discourage everyone planning their Iberostar weddings. I just want to share my experience, which was less than ideal.

Hi Leah!

I am so sorry you had a bad experiance. I have been having the same issues dealing with Janeile and I am very unhappy with her as well, I just don't know what to do about it... I have some thinking to do it seems.