DREAMS PUERTO VALLARTA "thread"

[~Jessica~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jess Hey Jessica - yes this is normal we had to do the same thing with putting money up front to reserve the block...also our TA was cheaper than the hotel direct - I know it was odd to me too - I still don't really get that! If you book through the hotel direct you have to put 10% of total estimated revenue down (this is what the Sales Manager told me in January)

Okay I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't getting conned!! Did you work with a local T.A. close to you? I am so far working with destinationweddings.com and don't know yet if I am happy with them.

[~Jessica~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashey063009 We had to do $100/ room as well. It's just to ensure that they aren't losing business by blocking off rooms (for free) that may never be reserved. It's like a "holding fee." Also, I found that booking via TA is always MUCH cheaper. They have "bartering" abilities and can often work our a better flight + hotel deal than the hotels and flight companies can separately, ESPECIALLY if you're booking as a group. I think it really depends on who you go through though...

If you don't mind me asking, who is your T.A.?? I am going thru destinationweddings.com and I am kinda nervous since they are an online company.

[Jess]

Here is what we got for November (hotel only)

 

deluxe room - $232 double occupancy

jr suite - $290 double occupancy

jr jacuzzi - $310 double occupancy

 

I'm using a TA up in LA area...have you already signed a contract with destinationweddings? Their reveiws are not great on here so if you haven't already you may want to get some other quotes

[~Jessica~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jess Here is what we got for November (hotel only) deluxe room - $232 double occupancy jr suite - $290 double occupancy jr jacuzzi - $310 double occupancy I'm using a TA up in LA area...have you already signed a contract with destinationweddings? Their reveiws are not great on here so if you haven't already you may want to get some other quotes

Good to know! I haven't signed anything yet, I gave them $50 to sign up for their service but it is not the end of the world if I lose out on the $50 to go with another company. I think I am gonna look around some more. Thank you so much for the info!

[Jess]

no prob

[ashey063009]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Future Mrs. Griffith If you don't mind me asking, who is your T.A.?? I am going thru destinationweddings.com and I am kinda nervous since they are an online company.

FI and I went through Randy Sharman -- he works for an independent company that he and a friend own called J&R Travel. They were fantastic!
With that said, I think the destination wedding TAs could be great too. I actually talked to 5 different TAs, saw who gave me the best price, and swapped around until I found the best deal. Randy beat the competition by over $300 pp!

[smith3576]

My TA is in North Carolina and I am in Phoenix but that has not been a problem. She has been fantastic and very responsive and has even coordinated and negotiated some of my wedding stuff. In fact, one of my friends is now using her for her DW in RM. Our prices are similar to Jess's in Nov although about $7 higher a night (land only) per person but it also includes transportation to and from the hotel. They pay less the longer they stay. Which depending on how much you want to worry about a taxi and how many people you come with and whether you take the airport taxi makes up for it. Prices do vary by exact date so you might not have the same rates exactly as someone else in Nov. We blocked 20 rooms and only had to put $500 down, which is applied to our room.

 

In terms of combining air and hotel packages, my TA said that these days the discount on those packages tend to be with the room because airlines have taken away pretty much all of their incentives and discounts, even for TAs. So if you already have a discounted room, she said it's unlikely to get a better deal. (I tend to believe her since she would be better off if we did group our air travel and hotel through her.) She did say, however, that if guests want she can always wrap up the air and hotel for them if it works out better. She also said that if we have enough people flying the same airline you can get 10% off the lowest published fare but we have too many people coming from too many different cities for that to work for us.

 

Most of our guests are buying air separate; I'm tracking it through Yapta.com. She gave us an idea of what the lowest to expect would be from our departure cities so we know a good deal when we see it.

 

Hope that helps some too!

[~Jessica~]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashey063009 FI and I went through Randy Sharman -- he works for an independent company that he and a friend own called J&R Travel. They were fantastic! With that said, I think the destination wedding TAs could be great too. I actually talked to 5 different TAs, saw who gave me the best price, and swapped around until I found the best deal. Randy beat the competition by over $300 pp!

Thank you!! I will look him up online!!!

[Daniele]

I am working on booking my wedding at Dreams for next January and i have a few questions maybe you can help.

where did you have your reception? Did you have a DJ or anything? Do you have any pictures?

[1elephant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniele I am working on booking my wedding at Dreams for next January and i have a few questions maybe you can help. where did you have your reception? Did you have a DJ or anything? Do you have any pictures?

read this thread and search through all of the pv threads for the answers to these questions. you can start by looking at the review in my signature.