Dreams Los Cabos Wedding Turned To Be Nightmare Los Cabos Wedding

[AlexB]

We chose to trust Dreams Los Cabos with our wedding given the good reviews. I hope that this lengthy review will help other brides who are thinking of doing the same as us. I wish no one to go through the ordeal I went through, especially on their wedding day. This is what I experienced. It is not to blame anyone, just purely to show future brides what can go wrong and how wrong it can go....I only read wonderful reviews before. But I never thought that maybe those reviewers had different standards than mine.....my mistake there.

The Dreams wedding coordinator, Minerva, was extremely prompt at answering all our questions. I did communicate with many other luxury resorts in order to chose the best fit for us. Minerva seemed to be genuinely interested in helping us plan for the big day. We were looking for a stress free beach wedding. So, we prepaid for the Ultimate wedding package because we wanted to avoid any hassle.....boy, we were sooooo wrong.

We booked a Honeymoon suite for two weeks. We flew in my mother and my 85 year old grandmother from Eastern Europe, booked them a room for 10 days. We paid almost 20,000 CAD for the accommodation and for the wedding package. There were two other couples in the wedding party that stayed for a week at the resort. All this just to put a financial context to the madness that was just about to unfold... Beside the accommodation amount, the resort made good money on our wedding package as we only had eight people attending, when the package allows for up to 20. We also chose a few extra items that we prepaid for, plus none of us are really drinkers....

We arrived at the resort, where the check-in process was very confusing. At one point they realized my husband and I were what they call "preffered club members" (another big huge money grab...). As such, we had a "special" check-in treatment. After keeping us with the rest of our group at the main reception, they sat us on two chairs just to he given the same speech the others got. We got a map with the resort, shown on it the area where our room was, given the keys and sent away on our own to discover where to go. This was the "preferential" treatment for guests who have never been to this resort before.....of course we went to the wrong room... Finally, after figuring things out by ourselves, got into the room, just to see that we had a partial ocean view from our 4th floor. Yes, I understand it is based on availability, but our friends came at the same time as us and got a top floor unobstructed ocean view Honeymoon suite. So, a better room for the bride and groom was possible....

I asked immediately for a different room, and was moved three days later to a room with full ocean view.... but... in the process of switching rooms, my mother was referred to as "the witch is here". The AC was not working in her room, and the two who came to look at the issue did not know that she understands Spanish extremely well. Now that I read some other reviews, it seems to be the norm that once you ask for a room change to get one that has some sort of troubles.... 

Fast forward another two days. There were many other inconveniences along the way, but let's just say 'no one is perfect' and move on. 

Wedding day. The most important day in our lives so far. Minerva, the wedding coordinator, booked a spa appointment to get my hair and make-up done professionally. 3.5 hours before the wedding. She recommended this based on her past experience. The hair and make-up were included with the Dreams Ultimate wedding package. I tried to talk to someone at the spa two hours before my appointment. I had four photos of the up-do and one of the make-up, and wanted to ensure it was doable. I could not speak to the "professional" at that time. When the time for my appointment came, I realized that I could not really communicate with the "professional" as she understood little to no English at all. I told her she could talk to me in Spanish, but that did not help either, as she did not understand me. However, she said she could achieve the look I showed her in those photos.....well, 15 minutes before the ceremony I looked like King Tut's mummy, running from the spa to my room to get changed. 

At one point, during my spa appointment, I had four ladies around me. One was trying to finish the hair the other had started, one was putting SOME make-up on.....I kept trying to communicate with them, but was told to be patient, that they were not done with me. 15 minutes before the ceremony I had to storm out of that spa. 

I cannot express in words how a bride feels when she sees herself in the mirror 15 min before the wedding, still undressed and looking like she just got out of a liquid foundation bath.... Not once was I asked if I wanted foundation, what kind if I did, if I was allergic to anything, if I wanted waterproof make-up or not... The "customized" spa service was just a sad joke. There were no happy tears for me that day.

 

I understand that there could have been a trial session. However, no one suggested that. I am not getting married often, nor do I go very often to incompetent hairstylists. A trial session would have been around 150 USD. Not a biggie if I could have spared my nerves. 

I asked to talk to the general manager, who came along the marketing director. We postponed the ceremony from 6 to 7:30 pm, to give me time to pull myself together, do my own make-up and get my hair somewhat fixed. I walked down that aisle smiling, but I have no words to describe my state on the inside. The only thing showing on the outside was the allergic reaction I got from whatever the "professional" put on me.....my nose kept running....

 

I did not really get to enjoy my big moment. If things went as planned, we would have been on the beach for like four hours. Ceremony at 6, cocktail hour at 6:30, reception dinner starting at 7:30 pm. Well, all what we got was squeezed in two hours from 7:30 to almost 9:30 pm.

The reception area looked wonderful. Flowers from Baja Flowers were also wonderful though I asked for white roses and received somewhat beige roses. Dinner was very good....but what was the use given what they just put me through?! 

There is always a catch, I get that, but with these people there is just one mega catch beginning till the end. 

After the wedding, I met the general manager, who apologized for what had happened, and promised to rectify somehow the situation. He said he was going to at least return the 500 USD we just paid for the photos. He only returned 250 USD as we got scammed by Lillo from PhotoPro who was our photographer. We did not choose the company as it was provided by the resort, being included with the Dreams Ultimate Wedding package. 

 

The general manager at Dreams had asked the manager at Photopro not to charge us for the 145 digital photos that were taken during the ceremony and shortly after. He was trying to make up to us. Lillo from PhotoPro, knowing that he was supposed to give us the digital photos for free, sold us a "very good deal where he also threw in some gifts because he liked us". Lillo specifically asked us not to post anywhere on the web about his special deal, but given his heartless behavior, I feel no moral obligation towards his request.

 

So, 500 USD for all our 145 digital photos, plus as "a gift from him": a larger wedding album containing 102 photos, and 3 smaller albums containing 24 photos. 

 

Well, because of Lillo's "gift", which we did not really want, the general manager at Dreams was able to return only 250 USD. It is a gesture to appreciate! He kept his word partially, we ended up paying the "gift". 

 

When I met Lillo after, I talked to him and his answer was something like this: "I knew I was not supposed to even try sell you anything, but give you for free the digital photos, however it is all just a business. I did what I had to do".... he also had no problem accepting our tip, knowing that he was just about to scam us. I was again speechless and somewhat heartbroken....where are the people that actually put heart and passion in what they do????

Coming back to the Dreams Ultimate wedding package, 50 photos were included..... sort off.....well, in this era, if you want the digital files, you have to pay extra. You only get 50 PRINT-OUTS with Dreams Ultimate wedding package....

The resort is beautiful, beach is spectacular, restaurant food is probably one of the best one we have had in an all-inclusive. But Dreams Los Cabos has a long way to go when it comes to providing customer service. Many times at the morning breakfast, the "preffered club members" in us were not even acknowledged by the waiters. Many times the waiters understood almost no English. One morning, after asking for four coffees at the preffered club, I was asked by the waiter if that is not too much caffeine. His attitude was not that friendly though we had tipped him at the beginning. But once they treat us like we bother them, how could anyone tip anything??? The maid decided one day I no longer needed my ear-plugs and simply threw them away....the resort offered cotton balls. Then another day we came back to the room to see that the maid put pillow cases smaller than our pillows, left out the duvet cover all-together, the bed-sheet was smaller so the mattress was exposed...totally unhygienic. We asked to get the sand we used during our ceremony....never got it! 

 

The general manager said that he would refund the cost of my make-up and hairdo.....that is still to happen...

I guess it is a good place to come for a regular seven day vacation. AC works great and it is not noisy at all. I have been in other 5 star hotels where it was so loud I could hear it through my ear-plugs. Rooms are spacious and clean, but expect no jacuzzi in the Honeymoon suite.

As I said, there were many other hiccups in this Dreams story turned into a real nightmare. It is very sad when one goes there to celebrate love and leaves almost divorced because of the stress caused by the whole situation...

 

If I were to do it all over again, I would have chosen their free Dreams Wedding package and customize it. The add-ons would have probably been cheaper than what we ended up paying for our 8 people Ultimate Dreams wedding package.... and certainly less stressful!

 

[Jolinekarson]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing! I hired an outside photographer because I wasn't impressed with photo pro photos. I can't believe they scammed you that's so awful! I was planning on getting my hair done at the spa, but after reading this I am definitely going to pay the extra for an outside person. You still looked fabulous in your picture after doing your own hair and makeup. I can't even imagine how you made it through without crying the whole time. Thanks again for your feedback for those of us who are planning!

[AlexB]

Wow, thank you so much for sharing! I hired an outside photographer because I wasn't impressed with photo pro photos. I can't believe they scammed you that's so awful! I was planning on getting my hair done at the spa, but after reading this I am definitely going to pay the extra for an outside person. You still looked fabulous in your picture after doing your own hair and makeup. I can't even imagine how you made it through without crying the whole time. Thanks again for your feedback for those of us who are planning!

 

 Glad I was of help to you!

 

The spa does not even have the proper set-up for make-up. It is located in a place with no windows, kind of a basement. The lights are really dim. 

 

I am also fairly tall. It was extremely hard for Yolanda, the girl that attempted to do my hairdo, because she was short. She had no podium to stand taller....even when she put the chair on low, I was still to tall for her to comfortably reach over my head.

 

There were ladies who said they were satisfied with the hair and make-up done by the spa. But when I looked at their pictures, they both had their hair down with just a hint of make-up (eyeliner and mascara).....in my opinion nothing sophisticated that needed a spa appointment. But again, that is just me and maybe my higher standards.... you can see them here in the comments section of the video titled "Guest Testimonial 2016":

 

https://www.facebook.com/DreamsLosCabos/videos

 

Wishing you all the best on YOUR enchanted day! Hope everything will run smooth for you two!!!