jkcz0702 GBP Akumal Review

[Jen_S]

We just returned from 2 weeks in beautiful Mexico. We got married at the Gran Bahia Akumal on Feb 28. The resort is beautiful however I would not recommend the resort for a wedding.

 

Resort- D 12 of us checked in on Feb 24th and found it very difficult to have a meal together. All the buffets only had tables of 8 and the resort will not move tables so we could never sit together. One night we had a group of 8 and went to eat and we had the hardest time getting a table of 8 even though some were free. However once we got 32 guests there we did not have problems getting tables near each other. The biggest problem we found with the resort was the attitudes of the workers. At the front desk they were extremely rude. For some reason all of our guests were booked in king size beds Not sure why since our TA requested double beds for some guests. They told us that they do not care what the TA requests and bed accommodations needed to be done through the wedding coordinator So we said we have a lot of guests coming in on Thurs and can you be sure the beds are right so our guests are all happy and they told me no I said we are getting married on Saturday and just want everyone to be happy he said "We do lots of weddings here and I do not care that you are getting married." I could not believe how rude they were I was not asking for anything special. The resort was so beautiful a good place to vacation with no more then 8 people and not have a special event. Also if you do have a wedding do try and have all your guests stay at one resort we had 2 people stay at the Tulum and it was time consuming to take the trolley over. The beach was so beautiful we had a couple of kids with us and the lagoon beach made for awesome snorkeling and swimming for the kids. In the end Kyle and I decided to leave the same day as our guests and go to the Paradisus Riviera Cancun rather then staying the following week.

 

Wedding Coordinator - F we contacted the resort on Feb 25 2007 which was a year before our wedding the email contact was little to none until closer to the wedding I was fine with that knowing it was part of the whole DW process and she was busy. However, when we got there we had our meeting with Yurítzia on Wed and we met for about 2 hours finalized everything and left really happy, everything was exactly as we wanted it. About 20 minutes later we were by the pool talking to our guests and she came and asked to talk to me alone so I said sure well she proceeded to tell me that I made a mistake and I requested the Gazebo, I said absolutely not if I wanted that I would have gotten married at home we came to Mexico to get married on the beach about 5 minutes she continues to tell me NO you cant get married on the beach, Kyle comes over and I pull out all of my emails plus the contract we just signed saying we wanted the beach. It turns out they booked a local wedding of 200 people at the same time and place as us and since we were a group of "only" 32 we had to move. So we went back and forth and getting married on the beach was so important we agreed to move our wedding to 2pm (Do not do this! It is too hot and sunny our older guests were having problems with the heat). Yurítzia came and found us again later and said that her manager wanted to meet with us on Thurs at 10 am to compensate us for all the problems. So on Thursday we meet in the lobby at 10 around 10:20 she shows up and tells us we have to go to the Tulum resort because that is where Palamo is, we thought why is she not here. Well we get to the Tulum resort and they start showing the Gazebo and the beach location there we are like this is not what we want. Yurítzia told her manager the reason we had to move our wedding time was because of the officiant could not do it, however told us that it was bc a bigger wedding was booked we are arguing with her manager for about 20 minutes and Yurítzia just stayed quite for about 2 hours we looked at the other locations and finally called Yurítzia out on why there was a change to our wedding. I said that if I like the beach locations at the Tulum resort I would have booked there as it was cheaper and more happening resort so they finally agreed we could get married at the Akumal beach location which we originally chose and signed a contact but we had to change the time and they would have the other wedding set up. Turns out we waisted another 1/2 of a day with our guests to get no further then we did the day before. The ceremony site was beautiful they did a beautiful job decorating and organized everything very nicely however once the other wedding started at 4 we did not see our WC until dinner was about to end all of our guests carried all our decorations to the pool location and then we were suppose to meet the WC in the lobby so we can called into the reception about 15 minutes Kyle and I just went in and she was at the reception??

 

Salon - B+ I had a hair trial and then got my hair done on our wedding day she got the look of the picture very close. For the other GBP Akumal brides they did use a curling iron and did not fry my hair.

 

Flowers- A+++++ the flowers were amazing they were exactly what we wanted and added a nice touch. My bouquet was free as it was part of the package and we paid $35 for our MOH flowers, $6 for Jr Bridesmaid flowers and $40 for each of the flowers down the aisle (we bought 3 since 1 was included in our package.)

 

Ceremony was gorgeous I can not say enough about how much I loved it. Our officiant did and exceptional job. A tip: please have your guests stay seated during the ceremony apparently our WC told the guests they could stand behind the officiant to take pictures, it was extreamely distracting and we hired professional photographers and videographer and I can not see how the guests did not get in their way or in the background of the photos.

 

Cocktail hour - A+++ we had this at the lobby bar it was really helpful to have it inside since it was really hot out. We hired the mariacci band and they did a fabulous job we had fun dancing with them. Since it was too hot and the sun was in everyone's eyes right after the ceremony mid way through the cocktail hour we took the band to the beach and did our group photos. It was fun walking with the band.

 

Dolce Vita - A+++++ We had the dinner portion of our reception here from 5:30 - 7:30 food was very good we got a lot of compliments on the food and decor. We bought maracas for our guests at the resort and used them as favors they were a big hit. The flowers were moved from the ceremony for our centerpieces. The cake was very good we got the 3 milk. It did get confusing at the end since we did not want to leave all the flowers and decor Kyle and I grabbed our cake set, flutes and our guests grabbed the flowers I would have thought our WC would have done this no big deal as everyone was happy to help.

 

Pool side reception - A+++++ A must do!! From 7:30 - 10:30, It was such a great feeling to dance the night away under the stars. We had beer, pina coladas and margaritas this worked out nice since it was what everyone was drinking. We had the most amazing time oh I wish I was there now!!

 

DJ Bob - A+++++ he was awesome he not only helped us with our entertainment he assisted Kyle in booking a fishing trip. His music really got the group going our guests had an amazing time! I would recommend hiring him he was so easy to work with. We only needed to supply him with 10 songs and he did the rest this worked out so much better for us then bringing all our own music. He is also originally from NJ so he speaks perfect english which helped us and our guest request songs and party the night away.

 

Evain Baines & Kesbi Anderson - A+++++ Evan and Kesbi traveled from Nashville and spent the weekend with us. They took pictures at our rehearsal dinner, wedding and TTD session. They were so much fun and easy to work with. There professionalism outgoing personalities fit right in with our guest allowing us all to strike that perfect pose rather then being uncomfortable. Since they have photographed a lot of weddings we let them do their thing and the end result was amazing. I can not say enough about them. Having two photographers was great Evan spent the morning with me and Kesbi spent the morning with Kyle. Here are some teaser pictures which were surprised with when we got home: Evan Baines Photography and click client slideshows and the password is thankyou

 

Cancun Wedding Video - Cant give a grade yet as we are anxiously waiting for the video!! We hired Mike for the basic package he did a great job I do not have any work yet but I am sure it will be fantastic. He was very nice and extremely professional. Cancun Wedding Videos | Mayan Riviera Wedding Videographer | Mike Cantarell

 

Hidden Worlds - A+++++ Prior to going to Mexico I got in touch with Cath and I explained that we wanted to TTD in a cenote she suggested we buy the snorkeling tour for $29.95 per person and suggested a cenote to do the shoot and we booked to be there at 10am. We arrived at 10 and the workers exceeded all my expectations they even offered private transportation around the park and told us the best spots to go. Hidden Worlds Cenotes Park Yucatan Mexico Riviera Maya

 

Paradisus Riviera Cancun - Beautiful resort we did the butler service and it was exceptional we had a ground floor ocean front room and it was by the beach bar and the staff would bring our drinks to us. The staff was so nice and we were so happy we switched resorts.

[Erika J]

Jenn- what a nice detailed review.

I am so bummed for you that the resort was not accomodating.

 

I cant wait to see pics!

[Jen_S]

You can see teaser pictures here

Evan Baines Photography and click client slideshows and the password is thankyou

[ACDCDCAC]

oh jen im so sorry everything was not exactly as you had hoped it would be BUT it does sound like your night ended up fantastically i cant wait to see all the pro pics!

 

congrats mrs!

[Evan Baines]

Thanks for the kind words Jen!

 

I'll add that Jen and Kyle were just an amazing couple to work with! Kay came up to me midway through the day and said "I've never seen a groom so completely head-over-heels for a girl before."

 

Y'all can click the link below to get to the slides! As mentioned, the PW is "thankyou."

 

Cheers!

 

Jen & Kyle's Wedding Slideshow

[Sapphire723]

Jenn- Thanks for such a great review!

 

Did your guests who didn't stay in Akumal have a better time checking in?

 

Did you meet Palamo? Was she any better? And did the manager ever "compensate" you for the situation or was that just a ploy to persuade you into moving to the Tulum side?

 

Did you guys book the Dolce Vita for just your wedding party or did you use it as part of the a la carte dinners included?

[Banana11]

You looked beautiful Jenn! Sorry the resort was rude to you. I cannot believe the comment about not caring you were there for your wedding. So rude!

[Sapphire723]

Your pics look awesome, by the way. I love your hair!

 

Did you guys just meet in the lobby lounge or did you reserve it as a cocktail hour?

[Jen_S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan Baines Thanks for the kind words Jen! I'll add that Jen and Kyle were just an amazing couple to work with! Kay came up to me midway through the day and said "I've never seen a groom so completely head-over-heels for a girl before." Y'all can click the link below to get to the slides! As mentioned, the PW is "thankyou." Cheers! Jen & Kyle's Wedding Slideshow

Awww Evan that is too sweet I sure am a lucky woman! You both rock the pictures bring me back to the day what a blast!!

[Jen_S]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sapphire723 Jenn- Thanks for such a great review! Did your guests who didn't stay in Akumal have a better time checking in? We only had 2 guests stay and they did not have any problems. Every night they did come over the Akumal side. Did you meet Palamo? Was she any better? And did the manager ever "compensate" you for the situation or was that just a ploy to persuade you into moving to the Tulum side? I believe that is who we met I have her card in the suitcase they did not compensate us it was just a ploy we felt to get us to move over to the Tulum resort which is why we were so upset that we lost a good portion of the day with our guests. Did you guys book the Dolce Vita for just your wedding party or did you use it as part of the a la carte dinners included?

We booked it for our wedding as far as we know they did not take the a la carte ticket from any of our guests, however it was really hard to get into the a la carte places.

We did book the lobby bar for our cocktail hour (well hours) we had it from 2:30 to 5:30, which ended up working out good because it was a really warm day out.