Warning! Casa del Mar...

[cabo_wed]

If you're a Casa del Mar bride or considering Casa del Mar for your wedding, beware of how this hotel treats the wedding couple and their guests!

 

This hotel advertises as a "boutique", luxury hotel, but they operate no differently than any other mainstream hotel (i.e. Marriott, Hilton, etc.). If you're looking for that extra special touch or more personal service that you'd expect from a boutique hotel, prepare to be disappointed. If you're looking to plan your wedding/reception here, don't expect anything remotely close to preferential treatment...even after all the $$$ you'll be spending with them. And, you're guests should expect the hotel to try and get even more $$$ from your wedding by charging higher room rates than they would for any other guest just booking for a vacation.

 

I'm attending a wedding at Casa del Mar and the bride/groom have reserved a block of rooms for their guests. Today, one of the wedding guests called to make a reservation, but forgot to mention the room block. Even so, he received a better room (Ocean Front vs. Ocean View) for a nightly rate almost 50% LESS than what other wedding guests are paying.

 

This hotel has not provided any service above and beyond due to the fact that the bride & groom are having their wedding here. In fact, the service they've received has been worse than if they were just regular hotel guests.

 

I hope this helps some of you who were considering Casa del Mar and gives you a more accurate picture of what to expect.

[TammyWright]

have you had your TA intervene? this is one of the reasons that booking with a TA is better than booking directly with the resort.

[Married_In_Maui]

Wow, this suprises me. I watched "Top 10 Mexican Beach Resorts" last night on the Travel Channel & Casa Del Mar is within the top 5. It looked like a beautiful place & they talked about the great service, etc b/c of it being such a small, intimate hotel. I was intrigued & told my hubby we would have to check it out, but after hearing about this, we will think twice - YIKES!

Thanks for sharing.

[*Linds*]

Yikes that's horrible!

[Ana]

yikes thats not good maybe you'll love it once you get there

[JenniferSS]

I know at first blush it looks like the hotel is trying to pull a fast one but what probably happened ( and is usually the case) is that the rates were much higher when the bride & groom signed the group contract- with all that has happened in Mexico over the past year, coupled with the economy the hotel probably dropped their rates considerably. Sometimes the bride & groom can renegotiate the contract- other times they can't. Afterall it is a contract and the resort also couldn't raise the rates if they choose to.

 

There are benefits to a group contract-especially with small boutique properties where the rooms can easily sell out and the guests having to book elsewhere-it's happened to many a bride who decided to not use a group block! The downside is the rates are also locked in at the time of the contract.

 

It's been a strange year with unheard of price drops to amazing properties- if you can afford to go it's a chance to experience properties at half their normal rates. The prices are starting to go back up to where they were though so if your thinking of taking a trip book quickly !