Mariner's Resort Key Largo

Ravywedding · May 4, 2010

Hi all BDW brides,

Wanted to share my experience with Mariner's Resort in Key Largo. My FI and I loved the well-maintained grounds and private feel. The gorgeous townhomes and villas sealed the deal for us. We put down our deposit a little bit over a year before our wedding date. We even printed our STDs. Then three weeks later, our WC calls us and says that all events at the resort our being cancelled because of "changes in management and [they] couldn't ensure the quality of any of the weddings." I was heartbroken...selecting the site for us meant that everything else could fall into place...and they couldn't get their act together in a year? They didn't even refund our deposit until my FI disputed them with the credit card company. So, brides beware...Mariner's is lovely, but they have not got their act together.

2010bride · May 5, 2010

That is so unfortunate. Coincidentally, I went to a wedding that was held there on April 10. The grounds were beautiful and so was the ceremony. The biggest gripe I along with the rest of the guests had with them is that there customer service sucks.

inanna · May 6, 2010

That's appalling! I'm so sorry! Are you looking for a new place to have your wedding in the upper Keys? I have heard that the Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club and the Marriott Key Largo Bay Resort are both very good. Or if you're willing to consider a venue a bit further south in Islamorada, here are some locations you may want to look at (locations our caterer has worked with): http://www.islamoradaweddings.com/we...locations.html. You may also want to look at the Islander Resort and Cheeca Lodge.

Best of luck to you with your planning, and again, I'm so sorry you've had to deal with this.

Ravywedding · May 6, 2010

Hey inanna,

Honestly, we must've hit every Keys venue during our site visit, and each had its pros and cons. Key Largo Grande Resort was nice, but the packages weren't too appealing. Little Palm Island was one of our favorites, but it's adults only and that just wasn't an option. Cheeca Lodge was just gorgeous, but the site fee alone blew our budget!

So, we've actually ruled the Keys out entirely for our DW...too much heartbreak :-(

We're looking at the Mayan Riviera since the Keys doesn't really have any beaches and our money goes a lot further there.