Sandals - Book Room before you can hold your wedding date

[Ginger1961]

Quick question here.  I just called Sandals wedding hotline to see if the date that we wanted to get married was available at Sandlas Emerald Bay.  Very very difficult conversation with this gentleman.  I had to tell him three times that I have not booked my room because I do not even know if the date is available.  Finally, after three times and him picking up on my frustration he tells me no, the date is full.  The only time available is 9am - I said well that's too bad.  I'll try elsewhere.  Then he says well wait actually you can have 12 -1 -2 -3 -  Um you just told me these time slots were full.  Which is it?  Then I said Okay I will take the 2pm time slot.  He says okay you have to book your room with me first.  WHAT?  I thought I could just put a deposit down on the wedding and go from there.  I told him I was not booking via Sandals I was going to book via a travel agent.  He said well you can book through me first then trasfer it over to her at a later date.  Something sounded very wrong.  Now granted most of the information I had gotten from other resorts were in Mexico but in no instance did any of these people tell me my room had to be booked first.  Can someone enlighten me please?  is this typical?

[momx2]

Hi Ginger,

 

This is a common practice.  In order to reserve a time you have to have a room booked at the resort.  As you can only get married if you are a guest they want to make sure you have a room booked before proceeding.  And it is just that a deposit so if you change your mind within their guidelines the money is refundable.  They call it a room deposit you call it a wedding deposit...at the end of the day it accomplishes the same thing...you get to book the wedding date and time you desire.

[hockeymom97]

momx2 is correct. You need to make your reservation at the resort first, however they should still be able to tell you if there is wedding availability before you book. I think part of the issue is that the wedding department is separate from the reservations department and I'm not sure how well they communicate with each other. I used a TA to make our reservation (at Beaches Turks & Caicos) so she was able to get me wedding info before I actually made our deposit. but the answer to your question is yes, this is a standard practice. I think part of their reasoning is that since only guests staying at the resort can actually have a wedding there, they want to make sure that the resort reservation is in place first (this way you have a reservation number that they can tie the wedding to) so they don't just have random people reserving wedding times and then never end up actually booking.

 

We made our reservation and and immediately after our TA reserved our wedding time, and gave me info to get in touch with the wedding coordinator for the resort. It's fairly simple once you get your reservation in place Good luck with your planning!

[Ginger1961]

I found the rep that I spoke to very pushy and insistant.  He wanted me to book my stay with him.  I have no idea what day exactly I planned to fly in.  Only knowing the date as it was a significant date to us.  We were planning to stay a minimum 7 days maximum 14.  With all those days up in the air I didn't feel comfortable being boxed in.  I did not get a good feeling from this person.  The fact that I had to tell him 3 times that I had not booked my room and his insisting that I had to book my stay at that moment, just didn't feel right. 

 

I have since changed our location to Mexico.  Emailed the wedding dept in Playa Del Carmen.  Received an email back within five minutes saying the date, time and location were available and that I had 7 days to send a 200 dollar deposit.  Received a follow up email from the wedding coordinator with all the packages available and all the information I need.  She was cordial and eager to assist.  I feel extremely comfortable with this decision.

 

Thanks for your input ladies.  At least I know this is standard practise with some resorts.  I do appreciate the information.

 

G

[futuremrswalls]

If I were you I'd book the maximum, pay the deposit $400 and you can also change.  I also think that it would help you to go through a Sandals Specialist, not sandals directly.  I can give you the name to the lady I used.  She is incredible, and she costs absolutely nothing extra, as Sandals pays her.  She ends up fielding a lot of the questions and saves them hassle, so they take care of her cost.  Much better than when I called Sandals direct.  She also doesn't push you to buy anything just gives you the facts.  If you want her info just pm me!