LOVING Vallarta Palace and PV!

[MissLucky7Bride]

Thanks for the tip - I will definitely check out Rhythms. Great option for our group outing.

[edna]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mishka Designs Thank you for writing this - I could yak until I'm blue in the face about how great it is down here right now, but it doesn't mean squat compared to an actual bride . Poor Vallarta has been hit so hard this month with untrue bad press, that EVERYBODY are doing somersaults to see any tourists at all . p.s. and, of course, why am I not surprised to see comments from E and N? :) awesome :).

Oh Mishka I totally feel it... is so sad to see my beautiful country harassed this way, we all see how PV, RM and all tourist areas are empty and hotels, restaurants and so many others are closing .... in the other hand is great to see this kind of posts .... calming down nerves, encouraging people to keep with their plans, posting how great are they been treated! IS GREAT and is GREATER to see the BDW fellow brides are getting the Mexican warmth and appreciation, no matter this crisis....

[TAM1118]

glad to hear the palace has lived up to and beyond your expectations. Enjoy!

[meghanmbm]

I so happy to see a good review! we are getting married there in august and I have been a little anxious. Thanks for easing my mind. I was wondering how many guests you had to get the free stay and such. Right now we have 17 PP and about 40 "room" nights book. We would love to save the money and get the free functions. It is hard to tell people to book through our travel agent so we get the discounts without looking like cheapo's:) seeing as they are shelling out the cash to go.

[~Melissa~]

Reading this thread makes me wish I was in PV right now. You're right Rhythms of the Night is not to be missed! Such an amazing experience unlike any other. Oh i love PV and it's always nice to hear from others who feel the same.

[Queenie77]

Glad to hear other people are still headed to PV. I hope things pick back up soon... it was already starting to become more populated when we left for Cabo for our honeymoon on May 18th. We had the time of our lives, and can't wait to go back to PV to explore more of the city, the beaches, and maybe stay at one of the gorgeous villas we saw on our way into the jungle hills. There's something there for everyone.

 

Meghan - feel free to private message me, and I can tell you more about our experience at Vallarta Palace. I will post the thank you letter I wrote to the staff a little later - I promised them I would keep spreading the word about what a wonderful stay we had there - and my letter reads much like a review. If I remember correctly, we had to book either 25 rooms or 75 room-nights to get our 7-day stay paid for, and also unlimited private functions. We had about 48 people attend, and I think we ended up booking 20 rooms, but we had 92 room nights. So, we ended up having a welcome cocktail reception, a rehearsal dinner, the ceremony, the post-ceremony reception, and a farewell brunch. We selected the free ceremony and just added on the things we wanted, rather than selecting a package price with things we would not have used. The hotel throws in lots of surprise perks here and there for bridal groups... our guests were delighted from start to finish.

 

As far as getting our guests to use our travel agent, we never mentioned anything about using a TA to earn perks for ourselves. We actually worded our letter to explain that the hotel works with travel groups, and to be included with the wedding party group (and to get the perks that come with that,) they would have to book with the rest of the group through the travel agent. Most were fine with it, because it saved them a small amount of money per night anyways. We also explained that if you had any problems with cancellation, delay or itinerary changes, TAs could get much more flexibility from the hotel than you could individually, and that Expedia, Orbitz and other online services offer you virtually no recourse should you encounter any problems. This was all we needed to convince our guests to use our TA for booking the hotel rooms. No one ever questioned it, and it ended up coming in handy as people needed to make changes because of the health epidemic. The point for using a TA was also proven when as part of the "wedding group" they were greeted upon arrival with champagne, upgraded to the Concierge level, received $250 to use in the spa, and $250 to use at local golf courses. Our guests were giddy with delight when they came back from their free 80 minute massages! Most people went ahead and booked their flights on their own, and fortunately also listened when we told them to book directly with the airlines, rather than online discount services. Again, that tip came in really handy with the outbreak - they were able to deal directly with the airlines, who were able to accommodate everyone efficiently.

 

I hope that helps. I can answer any other specific questions you have. Happy Planning!

 

PS... I can't figure out how to post photos from our trip. We literally have over 3500 (and counting) photos taken by the resort and our guests to go through. I'd like to pick a few to post. Any tips anyone?