Fiesta Americana Condesa Cancun Brides

[jennyda2]

My husband and I got married at this hotel in June 2012.  In a nutshell, we were both very very satisfied with our experience.  We ended up having 128 guests stay at the hotel, and everyone was very happy with their experience.

Following are the four aspects that were important to me when deciding on where to get married.

1. beautiful beach

2. responsive staff/wedding planner (lis cruz) -  [email protected]; 

3. high quality food

4. homey/welcome hotel environment

1. Cancun generally has beautiful pools and beaches. But some hotels are close to coral reefs and therefore have much more seaweed than other areas.  This hotel was great and did not disappoint at all.  There are more waves here than in the riviera maya area but the water is also much more beautiful than riviera maya. The pool was also great, they had a kids pool area, and they had food just outside of the pool and a bar inside of the pool.  Get the coconut ice cream from the pool restaurant, its amazing.  But, if you don’t want a rough beach, then being in Riviera maya may be better.  RM is much further from the airport though.

2. We had a short engagement, so we didn't have a lot of time to pick a hotel.  And since so many hotels in Cancun are 4 and 5 stars, we had a hard time shortlisting. We went to Cancun to shortlist the hotels two months before we got married, and we ended up going with FAC because the hotel wedding planner, Lis Cruz was very sweet, helpful and quite responsive - especially about 4-6 weeks before the wedding.  People generally say that its very hard to get in touch with the hotel prior to the wedding, so this was a great and pleasant surprise.  She was always willing to work with us and to accommodate. And the staff everywhere are really great and friendly.  Many of our guests constantly commented on how well the staff treated everyone.

3.  Our families are foodies - so we wanted to make sure that the food was above average.  Sometimes all inclusive hotels have average food, but this was not the case at FAC.  I don't remember having a meal that I did not like.  The cevicheria had  amazing fish, seafood, fish tacos, and ceviche for lunch.  The asian restaurant, although I didnt eat there, was apparently amazing for lunch as well.  We went there for dinner twice and it did not disappoint.  The Mexican restaurant was great and so was the buffet that was open all day.  We tended to go there for breakfast each day, but not much more since the other restaurants were so good and were outdoors for lunch and dinner.

4. We went back and forth regarding what types of things we wanted in a venue.  We liked that most of the hotel is covered but open air.  It was hot outside, and it was kind of hot inside due to the humidity, but I would not have changed this.  We were in cancun and being indoors and inside AC the whole time may have taken away from the reminder that we were in Mexico. 

A couple of comments:

1.       They do not have an onsite club and other hotels do have that.  The main lobby area had music until 11 or 12am each night, but this didn’t take away from our experience.  I actually really wanted a hotel with a club, but ultimately we decided that if people wanted to go out and dance, they could hop in a taxi and go.  No one complained about this and no one cared. Everyone hung out at the main lobby bar until it closed at 1am.

2.       The hotel has some items for purchase (food items). We did not use any of these and so we didn’t pay for food or premium drinks…and didnt care because the food and drinks that were included were great.

3.       Some people mentioned hard beds and others didn’t, including us. We also spent very little time in the room. 

4.       People participated in yoga each morning and they loved it.  We never went to the nightly shows, but I heard that some were okay and others were pretty decent.  They also have a kids club, and I don’t know anyone who went there, even though we had at least 10 young children at the wedding.  They just hung out at the pool with everyone else.

5.       Two of the kids have serious allergies and the hotel accommodated these requests.

 

Some wedding comments:

1. we contracted the photographer through their vendor. we got an amazing deal from the vendor. he ended up quitting. the hotel replaced him with Daniel Gastaldi <[email protected]>, another one of their vendors, promised us that we would be happy and we were.  Daniel was amazing and the hotel assured us that we didn't need to worry about finding another photographer.

2. we bought flowers from them, but only mine. we bought the half bridal bouquet, which was big enough and it was much cheaper.

3. She works with you.  Get the main stuff out of the way in the contract if you can, but if not, shell help you out and not at a crazy cost.

4. dj vendor through them was very expensive. we went with dj mannia and our specific djs were DJ was Armando Patiño and MC Samuel.  We had special requests cuz we are Indian group so we needed Indian and Western music. They were amazing....couldnt have asked for more. They also provided us stuff at the last minute when our numbers shot up. We paid for it, but they had it.

 

Info Mannia Cancun <[email protected]>

All in all, wedding in Cancun is an amazing decision. Do it. Just take it easy, go with the flow, and when you are upset about something, just look outside....and see the beach, your guests smiling, and know that they are there for you and your spouse...oh, and they have an open bar.

[AjaneY1885]

My sister is, I'm pretty sure, getting married at Fiesta Americana Condesa Cancun May of 2013.  She was just down there for her birthday and fell in love with it.  Would you mind sharing what outside vendors you used/booked?  Also, would love to hear about your wedding/plans.  THANKS!! 
 

[jennyda2]

Hi,

 

Congrats to your sister!! That's really great news. So, I mentioned all of the vendors that we used.  We also used a lady named Alex to arrange our transportation to and from the airport.  She is a bit more expensive than a few, but her service was really excellent and it is worth having guests pay 10 bucks more to have their arrival person there as soon as they land, etc.  Her email address is Alex Orozco cancun taxi <[email protected]>.  Also, she is very responsive and proactive.  So, from a customer service perspective, I would go with her again.  

 

We did the beach wedding at 11am on Saturday and it was casual.  Then, our reception was that night at 8pm.  So, we had the day to take couple pictures after the wedding and we spent about 4 hours in the water and at the beach with our friends and family before everyone left to get ready for the formal reception.  Originally we were going to do beach wedding, 2 hour break so that people could change and then go to dinner...but, we didnt go with that after all and we are glad that we didnt.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions. 

Good luck!

[AjaneY1885]

Jennyda2 THANK YOU SO MUCH for you information! My sister is so busy with work that I am playing the role of Matron of Honor AND wedding planner/helper. Haha Some questions I have would be: Did you do a meet and greet dinner at the resort? Could you tell me more about your reception? Where did you have it?  Was there any sort of charge for using outside vendors?  I think that's all for now!  THANKS again!  So glad to hear that the location she picked is a good one!!!

[jennyda2]

my pleasure!  we had a short engagement and it was all just great, so dont worry too much.  

 

i think it woud be much easier to talk on the telephone and i can answer all of your questions as well as give you some context.  im wondering if there is a way for me to contact you...if so, drop me a line and send me an email or number and well go from there.

[CancunGirl]

Hi Jennyda2!  Congrats on your recent wedding!  We are now looking into FA Condesa because Lis has been so wonderful at getting back to all of our questions (can't say the same for Beach Palace).  I was just wondering what package you decided upon?  We are going to go with the Mar package, but I was wondering what the table set-up would look like for the reception.  Do you have any photos?  I guess I can bring my own table runners and maybe a few centerpiece decorations.  What do you suggest as the best area to have the ceremony and reception?  We have never been to this hotel, and won't be able to visit before the wedding, so are going into this blindly.  Thanks in advance for your feedback! 

[CancunGirl]

Oh yes, and thanks for the great review!

[CancunGirl]

oh yes, and thanks for the great review!

[jennyda2]

Hi,

 

Congrats on your wedding!  You will have a great time!!

I have answered your questions below:

 

We are now looking into FA Condesa because Lis has been so wonderful at getting back to all of our questions (can't say the same for Beach Palace). 

COMMENT: this is a big deal. being able to call the wedding planner whenever you need will be more and more important as you get closer to the date.  from the people i spoke to, their main comment was the hotel will not give you much attention until a month or less before the wedding.  lis has always been very responsive, and if we email her and tell her we need to talk on x day at y time, she makes herself available.  

 

I was just wondering what package you decided upon? 

COMMENT:  we didnt go with a package. we didnt really need most of their options, so we asked for the a la cart and picked what we wanted.  if you like those perks, then go with it.  the one thing i will mention is that we had 128 people, so the semi private dinner option wasnt an option for us in the package anyway.  how many people do you expect to come?  just know that we expected 30 and we had 128. people come. you will be surprised.  we paid for a private dinner cuz of our numbers.

 

We are going to go with the Mar package, but I was wondering what the table set-up would look like for the reception. 

COMMENT:  ask lis to send you pictures.  she has a bunch of stuff she can send you. well maybe 5 or so attachments.  

 

Do you have any photos? 

COMMENT: haha i have lots of photos. can you send me a private message with your email address?  that way i can send it to you there.  

 

I guess I can bring my own table runners and maybe a few centerpiece decorations.  

COMMENT: my mom helped with the table runners and centerpieces. actually we only had centerpieces. simple ones with candles and fake roses and fake petals. we didnt want to spend money on centerpieces and they ended up looking really pretty.  no one notices them anyway...but its your call.    and the hotel let us light the candles so the room looked pretty.  

 

What do you suggest as the best area to have the ceremony and reception?  

COMMENT: beach wedding. all the way. it was amazing. we were barefoot and it was lovely. we did an 11am wedding and the reception at 8pm in the gran condesa ballroom. we wanted the gran peninsula but it was taken by a big corporate event. but it was fine and the gran condesa was very pretty.  you can do the reception outside by the pool as well.  i think this could be pretty based on the time of year. ask her to send you pictures.  

 

We have never been to this hotel, and won't be able to visit before the wedding, so are going into this blindly.

COMMENT: Okay, so, a friend who did destination told us that we needed to visit before. and even though we had no time, we booked a cheap all inclusive, like, the cheapest one we could find, rented a car, and went hotel hopping and asked to speak with the wedding planner, ask guests randomly about whether they liked the hotel, look t the pool and beach and look at the rooms.  if you can do it, do it. you will be glad you did.  if you cant, then i think FAC is a really great option. we picked them out of about 14 hotels in both cancun and the riviera maya area.  

 

one thing i wil mention is that some of the restaurants did not have air conditioning. we were okay with this, but the mexican oriental restaurant dont have a/c. the mexican has half ac and non.  i dont think this is a deal breaker and it didnt bother us at all.  and the guests didnt complain. but if u are going into it blind, then ask the hotels how many restaurants are outdoors and indoors.  again, we picked this hotel because we wanted the outside air and the mexico feeling.  

 

good luck and ask away! its my pleasure. we can also talk on the phone. when u send me the message, send me your number and ill give u a call and asnwer any additional questions you may have.

 

jenny

[CancunGirl]

Wow!  Thanks for the great response....i appreciate it!  We are going to have what we have counted as "for sures" around 40 to 50 people and then I have some people question marked.  People that we didn't think would want to come are even coming out of the wood-works now.  Wish my parents had a little bit better of an attitude about this whole situation.  They are giving me the hardest time.  I will PM you my phone number and address.  I would love to get more details.  Lis is great, but the language barrier gets in the way a little with certain questions.  Thanks again!