Wedding at the Iberostar Beach but staying at the Iberostar Suites

[Collleeen12]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here and recently booked my wedding date at Iberostar Rose Hall Beach.  I found a travel agent and she told me that we could stay at the Suites without any of the guests incurring a fee.  So, I told my guests in their save the dates that they could choose between the Suites and the Beach.  All of them chose the Suites.  Well, I received the wedding agreement yesterday and it says that anyone staying at the Suites will have to pay an $18 fee to come to the wedding.  I showed the travel agent the agreement and now she says everyone will need to pay the fee and on top of that, it says 80% of the guests will need to be staying at the Beach Resort.  Ughhh!  I don't know what to do!  Is there any way to get them to waive the fee and take the part about the 80% out of the agreement?  Has anyone else gone through this?  Should I just start looking for a new venue?

[vbbbtk]

Why don't you get married at the suites?

Originally Posted by Collleeen12 

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here and recently booked my wedding date at Iberostar Rose Hall Beach.  I found a travel agent and she told me that we could stay at the Suites without any of the guests incurring a fee.  So, I told my guests in their save the dates that they could choose between the Suites and the Beach.  All of them chose the Suites.  Well, I received the wedding agreement yesterday and it says that anyone staying at the Suites will have to pay an $18 fee to come to the wedding.  I showed the travel agent the agreement and now she says everyone will need to pay the fee and on top of that, it says 80% of the guests will need to be staying at the Beach Resort.  Ughhh!  I don't know what to do!  Is there any way to get them to waive the fee and take the part about the 80% out of the agreement?  Has anyone else gone through this?  Should I just start looking for a new venue?

 

[vbbbtk]

Ok so the 18 dollars is that the 18 dollars that they charge per person over the 8 provided in the package cost or a different $18 dollars?  As far as I know anyone at the Suites has access to the Beach property
 

Originally Posted by Collleeen12 

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new here and recently booked my wedding date at Iberostar Rose Hall Beach.  I found a travel agent and she told me that we could stay at the Suites without any of the guests incurring a fee.  So, I told my guests in their save the dates that they could choose between the Suites and the Beach.  All of them chose the Suites.  Well, I received the wedding agreement yesterday and it says that anyone staying at the Suites will have to pay an $18 fee to come to the wedding.  I showed the travel agent the agreement and now she says everyone will need to pay the fee and on top of that, it says 80% of the guests will need to be staying at the Beach Resort.  Ughhh!  I don't know what to do!  Is there any way to get them to waive the fee and take the part about the 80% out of the agreement?  Has anyone else gone through this?  Should I just start looking for a new venue?

 

[Collleeen12]

The suites is completely booked up!  It's a different $18....a resort fee for guests not staying at the Beach.  That's what I thought too, but apparently it's different for a wedding?

[vbbbtk]

hmmm interesting... I would see if your TA can get something figured out.  They typically have more pull
 

Originally Posted by Collleeen12 

The suites is completely booked up!  It's a different $18....a resort fee for guests not staying at the Beach.  That's what I thought too, but apparently it's different for a wedding?

 

[Collleeen12]

I asked and she just said if it's in the contract, there's nothing she can do about it.  Maybe I need a new TA....

[albellis]

I am also getting married at the Iberostar Beach in 2013 and was looking at the agreement. You're right, there is a statement about guests at other resorts:

--This package is only for Iberostar Rose Hall Beach guests. The couple and at least 90% of their guests have to be Iberostar guest, (Staying at any of the three

properties in Jamaica) of which at least 80% at the Rosehall Beach

--Any wedding guest that is staying off property will have to pay a day pass fee of $75 US per person non-negotiable.

--Any wedding guest that is staying at our sister property Iberostar Suites or Grand Hotel Rose Hall will be considered as guests of this hotel so only the fee of US$18

will apply.

 

 

A few things to note here - (1) the statement that says that any non-Iberostar guests have a NON-NEGOTIABLE $75 fee. That language isn't used with the statement about the Iberostar guests. (2) I am an event planner at my job, and I have found that almost everything is negotiable. Try to ask the WC if they will waive that fee for your guests. If they won't allow that, try to work a deal out with them. If you have an idea of how much you will be spending at the Iberostar for the entire wedding (say you are paying the $2100 package fee and adding another $2400 on top of that with, additional people fee above 8 people, a cocktail hour, renting out the restaurant for a private reception, etc) and you know you will be spending at least $4500 for the wedding, ask if they will waive that $18/person fee for the suites guest if you agree to spend a minimum of $4000. That way you still get some wiggle room with the costs, and you (or your guests) don't have to pay that extra fee.

It's ridiculous that they even charge that fee for Iberostar guests, especially when the Suites guests have access to the Beach at any other time during their stay. Hopefully you are able to work something out with them.  

 

 

 

[Collleeen12]

I actually just talked to the WC and she said it wouldn't be a problem if my guests stayed at the Suites.  Here I am freaking out over this and she acted like it was no big deal.  No problem haha.  But luckily, all of our guests are staying at one of the Iberostar properties, so the $75 fee doesn't apply, just the $18 fee if we go above the 10 guests included in the package.  It definitely adds up though since we're looking at 50 people now!  I really can't believe almost everyone we invited are coming.  We have so much to do, but I can't wait for November to get here!

[heather1214]

Are you having a private reception?  Do you know if there is room for a dance floor at Uncle Tony's.  I really do not want to have to rent one!! (that seems a little ridiculous!)  I'm going to have 8 tables of 8.  Does anyone have any good pictures of Uncle Tony's?

 

 

Originally Posted by Collleeen12 

I actually just talked to the WC and she said it wouldn't be a problem if my guests stayed at the Suites.  Here I am freaking out over this and she acted like it was no big deal.  No problem haha.  But luckily, all of our guests are staying at one of the Iberostar properties, so the $75 fee doesn't apply, just the $18 fee if we go above the 10 guests included in the package.  It definitely adds up though since we're looking at 50 people now!  I really can't believe almost everyone we invited are coming.  We have so much to do, but I can't wait for November to get here!

 

[Collleeen12]

Yes, we're having a private reception.  From the pics I've looked at, it seems like there's room for a dance floor.  I haven't read anything about having to rent one.  I saw some pics of Uncle Tony's under the resort reviews section.  Are you using the hotel's dj or getting your own?