UH-OH, my guests are not behaving!

[Jackie]

Just a little itty bitty vent....

 

I purposly havnt EVER anywhere mentioned anywhere to stay besides our resort (DREAMS) to our guests.... and I am starting to have a couple guests inquire about other places they can stay that arent all inclusive.

 

SHIT!

 

1. I really dont want to have to pay 5 bizillion dollars for everyone to visit our resort for the day of the ceremony.

 

2. It kind of takes away of the whole partying and relaxing for a week with eachother.

 

3. I dont think they realize (and the guests looking into this are trying to SAVE money and are definitly on a big time budget) that All inclusive is the cheapest way to go in Cabo anyways! From what I read and here and darn bottle of water is nearly 7 bucks. I have a feeling they will regret it if they book somewhere other than Dreams or another all-inclusive, but I dont want to seem pushy if I try and tell them this isnt a good idea. DAMNIT!

[MsShelley]

that sucks! I only gave guests one choice... it does take away from the whole "partying together" aspect...

[MrsV-to-be]

That totally sucks! I think you just have to give them the straight up facts. Give them a couple of hotels that aren't all inclusive, and then give them some examples of what it may cost for other necessaries (ie food and water)

you may also want to mention to them how much it costs for them to come onto Dreams. I understandt that you want to pay for them on the day of the wedding, but they should know, in case they want to come another day, especially, as they are likely to discover - your resort will be where the party is, and they will want to join in.

 

Good Luck! I hope it all works out

[calyx6]

Yes, I agree with you! My mother called me recently and asked about other hotels since my aunt and her daughter want to save money by staying somewhere else. I had no problems mentionning that they would have to pay a day pass fee to get onto the resort and that it wouldn't really save any money to do that. And no, I'm not willing to pay the day pass fee for them. It really does defeat the purpose of having a DW where you can all vacation together and have quality time together for them to not stay at the same place.

 

-Vi-

[michelle08]

I advised people on my website where WE are staying and that it would be nice if everyone stayed at the same place. However I did state that I understood everyone had different budgets and if THEY wanted to look into staying somewhere else that was fine (meaning I won't investigate for them).

 

I wrote all about the ammenities for dreams and explained that they need to take into account the fact that cabo is not cheap and although the cost of the room seems like alot, if you had a cost of another room and then food and drinks, etc then it would probably be cheaper so I told them to look carefully when comparing!

 

However, we are not having the wedding at dreams (although staying there) but I get what you mean about paying for the day passes! That will add up!

My mom is actually not even staying at dreams w/ us because they are getting a free timeshare from their friends (which just happens to be at the FA where we are getting married). I am not mad about that though because I figure if she is saving money on lodging then that's more she can give to me and they can just buy there own day pass if they want to hang out w/ the rest of us!

 

Anyway, I would try and encourage your guests to maybe stay a few days less then they might have been originally planning and that way they can still stay there and it won't cost as much

[MikkiStreak]

My thought is this: If people really want to book elsewhere, then leave it entirely up to them. Just tell them that even when you were looking into what location to have the wedding at, you always looked at AI's that were in this category of travel (star rating). I wouldn't want to recommend different accommodations to our guests because I don't want to hear the bitching if that accommodation isn't up to their expectations. And I wouldn't want to become the person they call if they have any travel issues with whatever hotel they decide to stay at. Maybe that sounds cold, but really- in the midst of your wedding travel, would I really want to deal with that on top of last minute planning and catering to my guests who will stay at our resort? (um, no!)

 

To encourage guests to stay at our resort and book through our travel agent, I plan on just telling them up-front: If they stay with us and book thru our TA, they will be associated with our wedding group and all courtesies and upgrades/benefits that are granted to our wedding block, will then be granted to them. (such as discounts on spa/golf services, or room upgrades, check-in priority, etc...) And last, we want to spend time with them, and if they stay elsewhere, we will only see them the day of the wedding when our time is divided between all our guests. Once the wedding day is over, they would have to pay a $100 fee to be allowed onto our resort's property.

 

You might also include some type of information on your wedding website saying you only have "x" number of passes onto the property for the wedding and that they are first come, first served.

 

We were a little "harsher" on our website--- we just said that if they chose to stay elsewhere, they would have to pay the pass fee to attend the wedding. Granted, if it really happened, we would pay the fee---- but like you, I don't want to have to pay for half our guests to get on-site if they decide to stay elsewhere....

[foxytv]

I have put on my website that people are welcome to book other resorts, but will be responsible for the day pass fee AND transportation between resorts.

[rodent]

This is what I said on my website:

 

"We hope that all of our guest will join us at the Catalonia Riviera Maya in the town of Puerto Aventuras. The Catalonia is an all-inclusive resort so your meals, alcohol, and entertainment are included. Kids stay free and there is a kid's club with babysitting available. The hotel is on a wonderful beach with great places for snorkling, a golf course and a marina within walking distance. The resort has many restaurants, pools and activities. You could have fun the entire vacation without ever leaving the resort area.

 

We will be getting married at a private lagoon on the hotel property. If you decide to stay somewhere else, you will need to purchase a day pass to enter the hotel for the wedding."

 

I don't feel bad for not paying for the day passes. They are $100. So maybe someone could save $100 by staying somewhere else, but I don't think it's fair to pass the expense on to me. But really, I don't think they could find cheaper. That's also why I don't feel bad about it. I picked out a really inexpensive hotel. It's $80-$90 per person per night. I really think people would regret staying somewhere else, so I don't want to encourage it. I also wouldn't want to try to coordinate doing stuff with them if they aren't right there at the hotel.

 

Some guest were not happy about an AI at first because they thought it would be really expensive. But, once they looked into it, it sounds like they will always stay AI from now on.

[REBECCA]

Hey Jackie,

That happened to me too. What I did was say that these places are in the area, but, that Dreams is a private resort and requires a day pass for $85 if outside guests want to come to the resort. And that you and Ryan will pay for their day pass the day of the event of course, but they won't be able to come to the resort to hang out with everyone on the other days.

 

That usually did the trick. We only had one couple not stay at the resort, so it wasn't too bad...

[Jackie]

You girls are right. There is nothing i can do about it and I would probably pay for a certain few guests (very close friends) to come on our wedding day if they arent staying at our resort but I am definitly going to need to make it clear without being a bitch that it might not be the best choice to stay elsewhere. Thanks!