Thoughts on Occidental Grand Xcaret?

[heather007]

We are thinking about getting married here for Feb. 2009. It's number one on our list, with Dreams Tulum being number two.

 

The biggest downfall that we have with Occisental is that the beach is so small. What do you all think? Any thoughts on it?

 

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[melglnh2o]

I have not been to Tulum so I can't comment there but I stayed at the OGX during a site visit in September. We liked the actual resort but we are definitely beach people and the man-made beach was a huge disappointment. If a beach is important than I would definitely not go there but if you don't care about a beach, it could be a great place.

[kiahjane]

I agree 100% with PP. We stayed there last April and it was a great resort.... but if the beach is super important that it may not be the place for you. We enjoyed that we could take the floats out and relax with a drink without the worry of being carried out to sea so it worked well for us. Food & people were great. Good luck!

[Can'tHardlyWait]

My wedding plans at Occidental are in full swing (only 4 months away... YIKES!), so I just wanted to throw my two cents in.

 

I picked Occidental because I really loved that it wasn't one massive hotel... instead it was lots of 3 floor buildings surrounded by tons of trees, plants and flowers... to me that was huge! I wanted my guests to feel like they were in a tropical paradise, but still give them a high class hotel. So... I went down for a site visit in August, and I haveto say I loved the hotel! It looked exactly like the pictures I saw on the website. Everything from the pools, rooms, and ceremony/receptions site was exactly what I wanted. Edith, the WC, was great and pretty much told me not to expect much planning earlier than 3-4 months out because she does a wedding a day all year round.

 

Now for the downer: I was SOOO disappointed with the reception food selection. I mean, like, really disappointed. The food for the sit down dinner was fine, but the selection for the cocktail hour was mediocre at best. It wasnt that it tasted bad, its just that it tasted like the food I had been eating at the buffets all week long (I am talking quesadillas, fried shrimp, chicken on a stick, etc). I had really hoped they would do something different for the wedding, and that just wasnt the case. As someone who has never attended a DW, I guess I cant really compare, but I have seen the menus for other hotels and they atleast looked more impressive. Regardless, it wasnt enough to make me change the wedding venue...

 

The beach... definitely small. I like being on a beach, but I wouldnt call myself a "beach lover" so it was ok for me. My FMIL is obsessed with the beach and she didnt complain once, so I guess it all depends on how high your expectations are going into it.

 

Ok, now that I wrote a whole book on Occidental, I think I'll stop

 

Let me know if you need any other information on this hotel. I am finally at the point where I am talking to the WC's on a daily basis.

[dallas_texas09]

We stayed there for our wedding (November 2007). We didn't have our wedding at the resort but instead had it in town. However, all of our families and guests and my husband and I stayed at OGX. Everyone was really happy with the hotel choice. It's a really nice place...lots to see, etc. It's big enough to where you can be away from your guests but not too big where you can't find them! The beach is small....if you're looking for a 7 mile stretch of beach, this definitely is not the place. However, I really liked it. We stayed at the Mayan Palace 2 years ago and though the beach was big, it was too rocky for us to go swimming in. I much preferred the small yet calm beach at OGX.

 

Their main pool with the swim-up bar was really nice. My friends and I had a blast at the swim-up bar.

 

The adult "pool" is disgusting! I got in and felt like I was being covered in algae. You can bet that I got out pretty quickly.

 

The only downside to OGX is that the "11 restaurant" option is not true! Yes, they have 11 restaurants on premises but they are not all open every night. The two buffet places (La Buffett and the Beach Club -- where you will most likely have your wedding) were always open every day for every meal....as is the taco and pizza place. However, the Asian, steak, seafood and Italian restaurant are not. You have to make reservations for those restaurants in advance and trust me, making those reservations is hard, specially if you have a large party eating together. We found out later that the reason why it's so hard to get reservations is because they are all not open every night. Also, they have a hard time seating big parties so if you're looking to reserve seats for 20 people -- forget about it! The best they could do for us was 10-15 people....and we weren't even always seated together. Needless to say, we spent most of our time eating at the buffetts. The Beach Club is super nice and has a great view of the ocean. I loved having breakfast and lunch there! (the gazeebo where most weddings take place is right behind the Beach Club).

 

Though we didn't have our wedding at the hotel, we hosted a breakfast for all of our guests the day of the wedding. Marialma, the wedding coordinator at OGX, was very helpful in getting all of the preparations ready. She was very nice and made sure everything went smoothly.

 

The hotel staff are incredible. One of our guests left their camera in one of the vans we rented for the wedding. We were in touch w/ the van company but I couldn't get much out of them cuz I didn't speak Spanish. However, the hotel staff was really good with helping us talk to them. Also, if you are staying at the Royal Club, the staff there is MARVELOUS! They are so helpful and would bend over backwards for you. I definitely LOVED the service at the Royal Club. They really do make you feel like a VIP! (and when it's your wedding, you want to feel like VIP!).

 

Overall, we were really pleased with OGX. Not to mention, all the guests gets a complimentary one day pass to Xcaret Ecological Park -- this was a great day event for all of our guests and definitely a fun place to visit.

 

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

[jillhiggins]

Ditto Catherine!

 

Although Catherine had her wedding elsewhere - I think I have a picture of the gazebo overlooking the water where the weddings take place. I thought someone might want to see it sometime. If you want to see it, pm me and I can try to dig up the file.

 

Catherine's breakfast at the big gazebo overlooking the water was really nice!!

[violethaze2b]

Hello,

My wedding is planned there for May 15,2008. I am ok with the small beach since there seems to be lots to do and pools close by I am sure the week there will fly by, then heading over to Secrets (adults only) for a few days but I can't remember their beach situation. I wasn't able to get out there for a sight check but I think I got lots out of reading reviews at tripadvisor and such.

Good luck!

[Can'tHardlyWait]

Quote:

Originally Posted by violethaze2b Hello, My wedding is planned there for May 15,2008. I am ok with the small beach since there seems to be lots to do and pools close by I am sure the week there will fly by, then heading over to Secrets (adults only) for a few days but I can't remember their beach situation. I wasn't able to get out there for a sight check but I think I got lots out of reading reviews at tripadvisor and such. Good luck!

Violet - are you going to be at Occidental for a week? We might be there at the same time! I am getting in on the 21st

[violethaze2b]

I will be there from the 11th to the 18th then I will be heading over to Secrets so we will be just missing each other. If I learn anything useful maybe I could get a chance to email you before you arrive )

[Leticia]

this was my 2nd choice for my wedding. the the that made me choose barcelo over it was the beach. we are beach people too, the barcelo beach is huge so that is why we went that route. also i kinda felt bad if i had dragged guest to mexico and there we expecting a beach vacation but they got a pool vacation.