Jtds2713 Cabo Wedding Review

[Wisco4]

Thank you , thank you, thank you, that is so good to hear. I'm glad your wedding was picture perfect and that Mona Lisa was worth it. Our group will be pretty large 100+ so we are doing the buyout. We'll be having open bar so I sure hope that includes the water..thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to check with our WC (who is actually Amy of FLC) about that.

 

Can't wait to see your pictures!

[Wisco4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jtds2713 That is really difficult to answer because it wil depend on budget, tastes of your guests. Santa Fe is not a bad deal especially for us since we only paid $89 per person. I cannot give it a higher rating though because it was just too new. The major problem with most of my guests was that their credit cards were not being accepted. Hopefully this will be resolved. And dinner was really not good at Santa Fe but breakfast and lunch were ok. But everything is new at Santa Fe and if I had to choose between the problems that one of our guests experienced at the Palace (no running water, broken locks, toilet flush not working), I would rather be at Santa Fe. But I will definitely advise them to stay at the Ocean View rooms, at the buildings in front and right next to Palace and not the garden view rooms in the back. Hope this helps!

Good to know. I think we'll just explain the set up and then people can choose to go whichever route they see fit. Thanks!

[Wisco4]

One more question, why did you have pictures taken at the Sheraton?

[Jtds2713]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wisco4 One more question, why did you have pictures taken at the Sheraton?

Good question! Although Sunset was beautiful, I also love the look of the Sheraton. With its beautiful buildings, lush gardens-- pictures are so important to us because our families rarely get together since two of my sisters live in the Philippines. I was really grateful we devoted time to picture taking at the Sheraton with our families. After the wedding, Sunset was already open and since we did not do a buyout, there were other people and we were all getting scattered in different directions so it was getting disorganized. I don't even think we really got very good group pictures at Sunset. But since you are doing a buyout, it should not be a problem for you. Also if I were to do it again, I will be at Sunset earlier. we were there at 4 pm and it was enough for us. But if you have 100 guests and you are doing a buyout, I would suggest you start at 3:00? Sunset is most beautiful during daytime and since you have so many guests, you will be able to enjoy the place with your guests more?

[Wisco4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jtds2713 Good question! Although Sunset was beautiful, I also love the look of the Sheraton. With its beautiful buildings, lush gardens-- pictures are so important to us because our families rarely get together since two of my sisters live in the Philippines. I was really grateful we devoted time to picture taking at the Sheraton with our families. After the wedding, Sunset was already open and since we did not do a buyout, there were other people and we were all getting scattered in different directions so it was getting disorganized. I don't even think we really got very good group pictures at Sunset. But since you are doing a buyout, it should not be a problem for you. Also if I were to do it again, I will be at Sunset earlier. we were there at 4 pm and it was enough for us. But if you have 100 guests and you are doing a buyout, I would suggest you start at 3:00? Sunset is most beautiful during daytime and since you have so many guests, you will be able to enjoy the place with your guests more?

You and I seem to have very similar tastes! I actually wanted to have our wedding at the Sheraton for the same reason (beautiful landscaping, architechture, etc) but then when we saw Sunset Mona Lisa, we both fell in love. So did you have a difficult time with the Sheraton allowing you on the premise for the sole purpose of a backdrop?
(sorry for all the questions)

[Jtds2713]

To answer your question, here is my review of the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar: A++++- Exceptional customer service!: We only booked for one night, the day of our wedding. They allowed me to check in early at 1:00 p.m. I only booked for a garden view room but I e-mailed the customer service to let them know it is our wedding day and if they could allow us to check in early. We were given a honeymoon suite at room 2611. It was on the ground floor, had a jacuzzi, beautiful private outdoor patio, welcome champagne bottle. During our wedding day, we took getting ready pictures with Juan Carlos Tapia for about half an hour, pictures with the family for one hour and another hour as a couple.

 

The Sheraton also allowed us to shoot there the day prior our wedding day for the TTD shoot with Bradley Fraser. Please note that we only booked for one day. We really appreciate that they accomodated our request. We were in the infinity pool and the beach near Pitahayas.

 

Looking back, I wished I had checked in both on the 16th and the 17th. The Sheraton was so romantic and so peaceful it would have calmed my nerves prior to the wedding day. All our guests were at the RIU Palace and RIU Santa Fe and it was too busy for me. I also wished we arrived earlier in Cabo so I had more time for rest and relaxation prior to the wedding day.

[Jtds2713]

To answer your question, here is my review of the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar: A++++- Exceptional customer service!: We only booked for one night, the day of our wedding. They allowed me to check in early at 1:00 p.m. I only booked for a garden view room but I e-mailed the customer service to let them know it is our wedding day and if they could allow us to check in early. We were given a honeymoon suite at room 2611. It was on the ground floor, had a jacuzzi, beautiful private outdoor patio, welcome champagne bottle. During our wedding day, we took getting ready pictures with Juan Carlos Tapia for about half an hour, pictures with the family for one hour and another hour as a couple.

 

The Sheraton also allowed us to shoot there the day prior our wedding day for the TTD shoot with Bradley Fraser. Please note that we only booked for one day. We really appreciate that they accomodated our request. We were in the infinity pool and the beach near Pitahayas.

 

Looking back, I wished I had checked in both on the 16th and the 17th. The Sheraton was so romantic and so peaceful it would have calmed my nerves prior to the wedding day. All our guests were at the RIU Palace and RIU Santa Fe and it was too busy for me. I also wished we arrived earlier in Cabo so I had more time for rest and relaxation prior to the wedding day.

[Wisco4]

Thanks for all of your input. That is a great idea to stay at a quieter resort the night of the wedding. Did you still have your room at the Riu for that night as well? One more question, did you happen to get the suite at the Riu for your stay? I'm so intrigued by the big one with the jacuzzi...I wish someone had pics of it.

[Jtds2713]

Yes, Amanda. We still had our room at the RIU. We only stayed at the Sheraton for one night for our wedding night then we went back to the RIU since our families were there for several more days. So we didn't really have a honeymoon (Perfect excuse for another getaway!)! And they did not give us a suite at the RIU for our stay. When we arrived at the RIU, they were too busy at the front desk and we were too tired from the travel. They did upgrade us to an ocean view so we appreciate that. But I wished we had a honeymoon suite.

 

To be honest with you, if we did not get the great deal at RIU Santa Fe, and if my family could afford it ( my Mom had to pay for the hotel accomodations of my whole family), I wished we had all stayed at Dreams. RIU Santa Fe plus RIU Palace was too big for us. There were too many problems or discontentment at both RIUs. My idea of a vacation is relaxation and not spending a lot of time resolving complaints with the front desk.

[fogdog]

Just to chime in here, we had a the total opposite experience with the Sheraton. We stayed, along with several friends and family members, and had our wedding there, and they did absolutely nothing special for us. Because we had the wedding there and had a room block they gave us a suite, but just for the wedding night because it was a contractual obligation, but we had to check out of our previous room and then back into another for the remainder of our time there and they did not give us late check out or early check in for any of the rooms.

Just luck of the draw, I guess, but I would definitely not expect the type of treatment Jessica got as a rule. The even funnier thing about it is we were there at exactly the same time and had 2 totally different experiences.

And I did spend a significant amount of my time at the front desk having to sort things out.