Eeek! Thinking of changing resort and date!

[ErinB]

I ended up changing resorts. I think if you have the time to do it and put a positive spin on it, your guests will understand.

 

My original resort did the same thing, dropped in rating, TripAdvisor slammed it, etc. My guests were starting to call to ask if I had read the horrible reviews and if I had heard anything different. To top it off, NO ONE from the property would call me back, even in the corporate office but they were demanding a contract be signed. I ended up talking to a TA that had visited several properties in Jamaica and she suggested Couples. We ended up only saving about $100 per person but this resort has so many more included activities!

 

If you can find a cheaper resort that will still meet your needs, I say go for it! A lot of guests (family & friends) I REALLY thought would be at my wedding can't because of the price. Looking back, it would have meant more to me to have our family & friends than a mini-bar and beachfront rooms. Just my $.02.

 

When I told our guests, I simply said we had found a better price at a different resort that had more amenities.

[KirstenRN6]

I think you can do it. Hopefully you are dealing with a TA that can pull this through for you. Their were times in the beginning of my planning that I wanted to change resorts.......I'm getting married at EDR (talk about bad reviews from brides-to-be!). But I am sticking with the resort, and have actually had quite a good experience with them so far.

Good luck on changing resorts!

[Sandra E.]

Do what you think it's right for you, follow your gut feeling. The savings is a great incentive for people to go and the ones that couldn't afford to go before could possibly attend now.

[can't wait!]

I have heard great things about Gran Bahia Prinicipe. Don't know much about the GP other than it's HUGE!

Have you done a search on this forum for GP? That could be a good start.

Also, I think the money savings shouldn't be overlooked. If it is significantly cheaper then maybe more of your guests will be able to join you on your big day!

[RyanAmanda]

Thank you so much everyone! All your advise means so much to me. To top of everything (a really sick dog, husband out of town on a stag, etc.) I have a horrible cold so everything just seems more muddled then normal. ahhh...okay, pity parade over..lol.

 

I should say I'm not worried at all about the 'wedding' portion. Me and FH would rather have a crappy wedding package and pay more for the wedding if it meant a having a better resort for our guests. As well we definitely plan on getting married on the beach so we're not concerned with who has a better gazebo.

 

Also, no one has booked yet so changing the hotel is no biggie. As well, if we change the date to save people money, I'm sure no one will care.

 

Becks - I went to Frommers but I couldn't find their reviews, I could just find a forum board which I think is just like tripadvisor. Can you help me out? Do I need to buy one of their books to get the reviews?

 

MissyR - We were thinking of the BP Tulum. Can you give a review of the beach at BP and GP? Was one sandy-er or rocky-er?

 

Just Martha - I spent last night reading your thread All 26 pages of it...lol. I actually had to read it twice because I kept missing things. I really wish there was a thread like that on the GP but there's not nearly as much info on here. It makes me wonder why so many more people choose GBP instead of the GP. Do they all know something that I don't?

[melody]

I must be in the minority because I do read the reviews on TA and somewhat agree, although, there are some people who cannot be pleased, overall, based on my experiences having traveled extensively, the majority of their ratings/reviews are right on.

 

I try not to book a hotel that has less than a 4 star rating.

[MissyR]

I just asked FI about the beaches and we were trying to recall the sand at each - the sand itself was about the same - not very rocky but a bit granular - typical mexico!

 

The one thing we did recall was that the beach part of GP was so crowded that you couldn't even walk between chairs. Literally chairs were all crammed together end to end - there was no where to walk etc. and this was from the top of the beach to right near the water - It was OK by the gazebo area but the main beach was super crowded. From what I recall about the beach at BPT it just didn't seem as crowded - that being said we didn't spend as much time checking out the beach but nothing stands out (good or bad!)

 

Does that help? If you need pics I can go back and look to see if we have any but most were of the gazebos themselves..

We looked at rooms at both resorts and they were both nice - clean with that feeling of Mexico!

[becks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanAmanda Becks - I went to Frommers but I couldn't find their reviews, I could just find a forum board which I think is just like tripadvisor. Can you help me out? Do I need to buy one of their books to get the reviews?

I just looked as well - I thought we'd seen a stack of reviews on their site, but maybe I was wrong. I'd suggest a quick trip to the book store to just take some notes rather than invest the $$ to buy one.

[TATrisha]

Ok, I'm obviously biased... but I LOVE the Bahia Principe. If you want a beach wedding, go with Akumal. That's what I did. The other resorts you will be on the beach if you choose, but it's a swimmable portion of the beach with chairs and such in all your pictures.

I did get your PM, and I will send you everything that i have... but it'll have to wait until tomorrow because everything is at my work computer. I can send you the exact prices of everything too if that will help you out.

As far as the beach, it's not powder sand, that's for sure. However, the area where I got married was soft. We all went bare foot and it wasn't even the slightest bit uncomfortable.

As for the resort itself, all of our guests had a wonderful time. It's a huge resort, but that simply means that it is spread out (so you can't tell it has 8,000 people there!), there are many food choices because it's so large, and HUGE pools which means you always get a lounge chair. Not to mention a bar around every corner!!! We really did have the time of our lives and I would highly recommend the resort to anyone... especially if you'll save some cash!

[jajajaja]

I can't say much about either resort because I don't know a thing about them.

 

As for tripadvisor, I would completely ignore their reviews. My resort got bashed months before our wedding and I was so nervous about getting sick (TONS of complaints about this.) Everyone was already booked in- we just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. Having stayed there 2 weeks, I didn't get sick and I thought their food was great. I'm a picky eater too so I have no idea what all the tripadvisor people complained about. You just have to take the reviews with a grain of salt.

 

As for changing dates to save money- that's a SIGNIFICANT amount of money. If you want more people to go, I'd consider it. If you don't really care about having a lot of people there, keep the date.