Guests who want to stay at a different hotel

[Jessie]

My take on this is that your guests are paying a lot of money to attend your wedding, so they should be able to choose.  That's not to say that I'm not a little annoyed when some of my guests start talking about staying other places, but I told them that they could do whatever they wanted.  I didn't want people to feel like they had to stay at our resort or not come at all.  I just tried to tell my guests that it will be fun to be at our resort because everyone else will be there and also let them know about the daily pass fee.  So far nobody has booked at a different place.  But if they do, I'm just going to let it go because honestly?  I'm going to have my hands full enough with all the folks that will be at our resort the whole time.

 

As for the perks, I definitely wouldn't mention any of that to your guests.  You don't want them to feel like they are being used so that you can meet a quota and get a free stay or whatever other perks there are.  Remember that they are putting out significant money to attend your wedding.

 

And Princess J with the BM trying to convince the other BMs and guests to stay at a different place?  That's just rude!!  She can do whatever she wants, but she should NOT be going behind your back trying to convince everyone to stay at a different place or going around talking about how much cheaper different options are.  No.

[skp1]

Its too early in my planning to know where everyone is staying but I am fine with general guests staying elsewhere.  While I'm not at an AI, I'm at Atlantis who is very strict about non-guests using their facilities.  I made it clear on my website and will put it in the invite that guests staying at other hotels can join in the other wedding events in the hotel but nothing outdoors.  Sure, I want everyone to be together - the point is to spend more time together as opposed to just the wedding where you see each person for 5 minutes.  But it is a vacation for others and it should be their choice.  However, I did have an issue when one of my fiance's family members suggested staying elsewhere considering the family would be involved in all the events and going back and forth multiple times a day would be ridiculous.  I think he agreed to supplement their rooms so they could stay at the resort.

[islandbride8]

I understand where you are coming from with this, but at the same time you can't get upset.  People are paying a LOT of money and this is probably their vacation for the year.  Maybe they don't want to "vacation" with everyone else and want some more seclusion.  As long as you are upfront about the day passes and that this would be their responsibility, I think it's their choice to make.  Of course it would be more convenient for you for everyone to stay in one place, but that may not be ideal for everyone.  Sorry if this sounds mean, but you can't make people spend money to stay where you want them to.

[chell44]

I had the same issue. although my hotel splits the guest pass into 2 for the whole day. so it would be 120/per person not staying at the hotel  I just told people that they would have to pay for the day pass themselves. Etiquette or not, we just can't afford it. We picked this resort because it was the most affordable

[weddingpt]

You are right about the distance between resorts in the Riviera Maya. Unless you stay in the town of Playa Del Carmen

or the Playa Car area you will not be within walking distance to your guests. I attached some added insight on destination etiquette:

 

http://www.wedding-plans-today.com/destination-etiquette.html

[helen9]

You can't make someone stay where you want them to stay - is what i have learnt. So i gave guests options and its up to them. Other things like giving out OOT, i'll just give it to them  when i see them.