Sophia's Mom

I totally understand your need to be talked into staying at the RIU. I really wanted to be there. Every picture I have ever seen of the hotel has taken my breath away. In the end I realized that I had started to STRESS about my stress free wedding before it had even begun. So my gut told me to get out of the whole thing and try something else. Any where in CABO is going to be beautiful and you will have a great time no matter where you stay!! I will say that once I hooked up with an outside cordinator, and I told her all the problems that I had encountered, she told me that most of her business comes from brides who are unhappy with the RIU. But again that is just the wedding part; the hotel is still a beautiful place to stay.

Quote: Originally Posted by cmmdee OMGOSH. I don't even know where to begin. This is TOTALLY ASSY on their part! How in the hell are they going to CANCEL your wedding AND charge you a frogging fee of $350 for a judge you weren't even going to USE in the first place??!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you still pay the $350 I wouldn't have! I am SO glad you found someone else eto work with. If I were you, I would put them on blast and email their hotel general manager, ceo, everyone and tell them taht that is completely unacceptable. COMPLETELY. I am so sorry, again but SO happy you found another great place to go. THANK GOODNESS FOR TRAVEL INSURANCE! I haven't been charged the $350 for the judge yet; but I did call my credit card company and told them that I have not authorized any charges by the RIU. They made a note of it in their computer so even if they try they shouldn't be able to charge me!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Dez921714 Wow, I can't beliece they did that to you! That's complete BS!!!! Did you have other guests staying there? were they able to get a refund and book at the new resort? We had one other couple staying there, and we were both able to get a full refund and are both now booked at the new hotel.

I am posting this because I could never really find any clear opinions on the RIU Palace before we booked our stay and our wedding there; and if I can save one bride the emotional roller-coaster that I have been on in the last two weeks then it will all be worth it! I used a travel agent who specialized in destination weddings to help me decide on where to go for our wedding. She highly recommended CABO and said that she had a lot of happy brides who choose to stay at the RIU Palace as well as have their wedding there. I was excited about the whole process and went with her recomendation. That was last December (2007). We booked and paid our air as well as our hotel with the understanding that the RIU WOULD CONTACT ME about 2 months before the wedding to settle on the details of the actual wedding (our wedding date is 7/24). So I blindly sat back for the last 5 1/2 months thinking everything was taken care of. On June 1st I EMAILED DANIELLA because I was concerned that I hadn't heard from anybody. I thought that maybe I was missing something. I recieved a standard email that list all the "choices" I had for location, reception, flowers, photographer etc. It was not clear to me what I was suppose to do with this email since some of the choices seem to have already been made for me. So I emailed back and corrected some info, such as we are not having a legal ceremony but a symbolic one instead (our travel dates only put us in Cabo 2 days before the wedding, and the RIU requires 3 days for a legal ceremony). We were going with the Royal package, but I had a death in the family and 4 people cancled their trips because of that, so I wanted to change my package to the Classic. I then get an email from my travel agent saying that the RIU is going to charge me $350 for the canceled judge since "I changed my ceremony type". I explained to her that it was never suppose to have been a legal ceremony and that we were not even at the RIU the required 3 days before the wedding so they should never have made that mistake. She emailed them back and they insisted that I have to pay that fee as well as the fact that they were canceling my wedding since I don't have 80% of my guest staying at the hotel (a policy they have which they gave me permission to break back in December when we booked). I told my agent that I have the email they sent confirming they were going to allow me to have my wedding without the required 80% as long as all the guest not staying bought the visitors day pass ($75 each). I forwarded the email on to the RIU to show them they had made the exception. They replied by saying since I changed the package from the original agreement (Royal to the Classic) then they don't have to abide by that agreement. So basically the RIU cancled my wedding over a $300 loss of day passes. We argued back and forth for over a week trying to come to a compromise until I finally decided that even if they allowed me to have my wedding there I woulnd't be happy working with Daniella or anyone else in the hotel. Thankfully I bought travel insurance that allowed me to cancel any part of my vacation for any reason. So I canceled my wedding and my stay at the hotel. I am now staying at the Villas del Parmar. I emailed a few wedding coordinators in CABO explaining my situation and asked if they could help me plan a wedding in less than a month. I had several replies for some very sympathetic cordinators and in the end we went with Elizabeth from Sunset Weddings. They have been VERY comforting and have taken care of EVERYTHING so far. Please think twice before going with the RIU Palace. I know there are a lot of people who have had great experiences at the hotel and maybe if all this drama had not happened I would have loved the hotel; but had this happened a week later I would not have been able to have my wedding in Cabo at all!!!!

The problems that I am having all go back to a lack of communication. I am getting married in 38 days and I am the one who had to contact Daniella to find out what I am suppose to be doing. We are having a VERY small wedding. It started off only being about 10 people, but we have had a death in the family and now we are down to 6 people not including the bride and groom. I think that the RIU is upset that they have lost those bookings and rather than telling me I have to pay a day pass for the missing guests (a total of $300) they are now telling me that I have to pay $350 for the judge that I will not be using since it is only a religious ceremony. They had me down as having a legal ceremony (which was NEVER our intentions) and now that they have finally contacted me about my ceremony they have found out that they made a mistake and had me listed as a legal. Now a judge who was scheduled to do the wedding has to be canceled and apparently this is all my fault. I am frustrated with the entire process so far. The funny thing is that I am a completly laid back bride. I don't really care about all the "stuff" that comes along with planning a wedding (that is why I am do the whole destination thing). I don't really even care what my flowers or cake look like, just as long they are there. At this point I am at battle with the RIU and I am ready to cancle the "wedding" part of our stay at the RIU, and just plan it for some where else in Cabo.

I am new here. My wedding is on July 24th at the RIU Palace in Cabo. I joined to find out some info on the RIU. I have started to run into some snaggs and wanted to know if this is just an isolated issue or if I am in for a fight. ANY HELP?