Keira's GBP Coba (and others) review. Long with pictures!

[~Keira~]

The Wedding Holiday –

The good: They found a resort that had what we were looking for; on the Rivera Maya, under $1500 pp, on the beach.

 

The bad: Communication between them and ourselves and our guests was lacking. I received several mass e-mails telling me about the importance of a wedding party all booking through the same T.A. and what they were able to do to help those that were getting married through the initial H1N1 fiasco. What they didn’t do very well was provide a buffer between us and our guests. Our guests were frustrated in the lack of information they could provide them and the wait time for their responses.

 

The ugly: The main thing my hubby requested was that we would have a resort on the beach and an ocean view. Yes, our resort compound (Akumal, Coba and Tulum) was on the beach, but Coba was barely walking distance to the beach. We were nowhere near having an ocean view room. For that we would have had to stay at Tulum or Akumal. I realized the error well before our guests started booking and asked to confirm with The Wedding Holiday. I was told that the area where Akumal sits was the Coba resort. I asked a second time a little while later because I wasn’t 100% sure since I hadn’t been there before. Steve was really upset when we arrived and the only water he could see was the jacuzzi.

 

 

Air Transit Holidays – 2 thumbs up

The good: Both flights were comfortable we arrived safe and sound. One the way there we were put on a Canjet flight. It was the usual experience when travelling to an all inclusive. Boring snack and cramped. The flight home was great. Larger plane with better seating room, a pillow, and a nice turkey sandwich.

 

The bad: The flight home was a later one scheduled to leave at 9:10 pm and arrive at 2 am Toronto time. With Ida looming our flight was delayed and departed at 11 pm instead. Really though, I rather have a delayed plane that can fly safely.

 

The ugly: Hey, we arrived there and back safely. How could there be ugly?

 

Gran Bahia Principe Coba – 2 thumbs up

The good: Though the resort is large and can be easy to get lost in, getting lost can also be part of the fun. We found nice quiet areas to have cigars after dinner. A lounge with a live cover band. The lobby bar was fantastic (spent a lot of time there with the rain). The pools were awesome and plentiful all over the compound. My fave, the swim up bar at the quiet pool, Rene is the man! Also, we were a part of the golden section of the resort which afforded us some extras. Every night pastries were brought to our room and our room was decorated with rose petals and chocolate kisses.

 

 

 

The bad: Coba is quite a distance from the beach. We prefer to be close to the water so that we can pretty much walk out of room into the ocean. On the up side there I a trolly every few minutes that will take you to Playa Coba (Coba beach) which is great when you don’t like walking with sand in your shoes.

 

The ugly: Mosquitos, grrrr. I am not a fan at all of this nippy little suckers. They bite, I swell and then turn purple. Eww. They’re so bad that we saw people with the doctors office asking for medicine to help with them. If you’re going here double up on bug spray, Benadryl and afterbite.

[~Keira~]

Our Wedding – 2 thumbs up

The good: Karla and Christian are wonderful. Though I myself was not a picky bride they did need to exercise patients with my wedding party. They could barely get the required paper work to the within 3 days of being on the resort. I was miffed but they didn’t seem bothered at all. Our wedding day was rainy and 45 min before the ceremony Karla phoned to let me know they would have to set up the indoor location. Bummer but I understand. When my bridesmaids and I left for the wedding site it had just stopped raining. While our guests waited Karla and Christian worked feverishly to re-set up the ceremony at the gazebo. It was really nice of them to put that together for us. The set up was simple but perfect. They set up the hand fans that I gave them and decorated with balloons as I requested.

 

 

For dinner we had a private room in Le Gourmet. The food was delicious and the set up really pretty. We were a group of 18 people and we were all sat around a large square table. Karla and Christian also put the candy favours that brought out just like I had asked. My favourite bit were the servers. There were enough of them to ensure that everyone was served each course at the same time. There was no need to politely wait for all guests to receive their food and as hungry as I was, I appreciated that.

 

 

Since it was a rainy day we had to have our cocktail reception in the Music Bar beside the Coba lobby. This was fine for us. I think it might have even worked out better since we were sheltered from the mosquitoes. With only 18 people we opted to use their equiptment with our ipod playlist. I’m 100% glad that we chose to do this. Lets face it women are the only ones that really boogie down and we only had a handful of them. No need for a DJ. The cake was set up at the reception so we could do the cutting there. It’s was set up really pretty with flower petals and the taste was scrumptious (minus the fondont). Overall we and our guests were really please with how everything turned out.

 

 

The bad: I can’t complain, I just married the man of my dreams.

 

The ugly: This is by no fault of anyone but me and mother nature. On the morning of my wedding, I decided to go trotting down the stairs to get my MOH to come get ready with me. On the way down, I slipped down 3 stairs and landed hard on my left side. I cried. Good thing my beefcake heard me and came to my rescue. When my MOH arrived we laughed about my clumsiness over a complementary bottle of champagne. lol.

 

Cancun Studios – 2 huge thumbs up

The good: Agustin, our photographer, was fantastic. He arrived while it was raining so he brought an assistant to help out since the conditions were not favourable. He did a great job putting me at ease, assuring me thought it was raining he was going to make me look beautiful and get wonderful shots. He worked quickly to ensure we got all the photos we could in the short time we hired him for (3 hours). In hindsight I would have hired him for longer just for the simple fact that he was a pleasure to work with. Even our guests were commenting on how nice he was the next day. We got to work with him again on the morning after our wedding for our TTD session. Again, he was perfect. I can’t wait to see how all the photos turn out. Has it been 3 weeks yet? Hehe.

 

The bad: Nada.

 

The ugly: Yeah right, he is way to pleasant to say anything negative.

 

Xel Ha – I don’t have enough thumbs to express how much I love this place. It is my heaven on earth in Mexico. We snorkel, eat, drink, swim, ride the lazy river, explore the jungle, hang around in hammocks, what more could a girl and her hubby ask for? Steve and I heart Xel Ha!

 

 

 

I am positive that I have not covered everything. It’s merely everything I can think of at the moment. If you have any questions just give me a shout and I will be happy to answer them for you!

[~Angela~]

Great review, Keira! Congratulations Mrs!!!

[*Nadine*]

Great review, thanks for sharing!!! We need more pics of the pretty bride tho

[TeNeil]

Thanks for the review.....glad to hear that you and your hubby are happy regardless of the unexpected that occured.

Congrats.....and we can't wait to see more pics!!!

[HereFishie]

Thank you so much for the review! We're getting married there in April. We're pretty excited to see how nice it all turned out. Congratulations!

[*Meagan*]

Congrats Mrs and thanks for the review! Def post pics soon!!!

[SSNM]

Oh Keira I am so happy for you! Congrats on your marriage! It looks like it was a gorgeous wedding! I hope we get to see TTD teasers soon!

[midnight24]

good review. that's too bad you didn't know before you booked that coba wasn't ocean/beachfront. you seem to have a good attitude...with how things went...especially the weather.

 

seeing your photos is getting me excited for our big day in 6 months!

[Raykel]

That is an awesome review! Someone was looking out for you guys with the weather....somehow that makes it even more special:) Can't wait to see more photos!