Cancun Palace Rebranded as Hard Rock!?!

[monkeyhead]

Lindy, please share, how was your wedding. I have reservations about booking with Hard Rock, I used to love Cancun Palace. 

Also, did Jennifer book your guest rooms? I think she is so unprofessional

[Courtney Hooker]

Hi Ladies,

 

I am getting married August 4 and am having similar angry feelings as you all have. What is even most upsetting is that I had to find about the rebranding through the blogs. I think it is horrible customer service that our wedding coordinators would not even mention this to us during booking (hotel rebranding takes years, so I am positive they knew about this when we booked, which is annoying)!

 

I called Yesenia several times with no answer (typical). My fiance turned into Groomzilla and finally got a hold of her. I spoke with her and she said that they sent an e-mail to all the brides "notifying them" of the rebranding. I call bull s**t, but thats what she said. I let her know that if I wanted to get married at a Hard Rock, I simply would have gotten married in Vegas. I also was upset because our guest CAN NOT travel to other Palace Resorts after the rebranding is made official. So, no going to Moon Palace, Sun Palace, etc when it turns into a Hard Rock. Complete and utter nonsense!

 

While this is frustrating for us all, we were able to use this as leverage to get some things we were not getting. Yesenia was actually polite and understanding, which was extremely refreshing. I recommend you call her (she made me feel better about the situation). I was literally about to switch to the Beach Palace.

 

From what I hear, the rebranding is very minimal. They are transforming the lobby and making some guest rooms nicer. At the end of the day, you will still get married on the same beautiful beach and on whatever Terrace you like.

 

If you have any additional questions, PM me and I can give you more details.

 

Best

Courtney

[JennyLynn]

Well Ladies I just got married at the Cancun Palace on May 17th The rebranding was not told to me either I had read about it online but was assured  when I brought it up to Maggie my planner, it would be finished by May 1st Before my wedding !  I arrived at the hotel 3 days in advance to find the lobby area, front reception desks and Lobby bar a mess and unusable !!! Our guests had a hard time getting around all the construction and dealing with the noise. They work around the clock !!!! Flooring was slippery with no railings going up and down ramps/steps. Our reservations were a hassle they insisted I requested 2 double beds in a lagoon view room ! It was a fight to get what we had paid for witch was a king Ocean view room!!!! But I do have to say our wedding planner at the resort Cynthia was great! she couldn't do more for us! Our Wedding day was perfect! If anyone has any ?'s just ask I will try and help out as best as I can since I just went threw it. 

[UK Bride]

Hi Courtney,

 

How are you? I have been reading your post on here and cannot quite believe what they are doing to us all. I am so angry about it.

 

I booked our wedding last year (in April 2011) and paid the initial 300 US. We arrive August 11th 2012 for 3 weeks.

 

 Then our group all booked with the travel agent in the UK and I went ahead and bought bridesmaid dresses to match the Amber collection. 

 

Since then absolutely everything has changed and I had to find out about everything from tripadvisor. When I email Yesenia she is so unhelpful. No one has informed me about the change in the wedding collections or the change to Hard Rock. Now they say that I can't have amber collection because I did not pay a deposit on that particular package!!! NO-one said I had to pay a deposit!! I was told that I would organize all that with the wedding coordinator closer to the wedding.

 

What are you doing about a wedding package? are you having the complimentary one? Have you seen all the changes to the hotel? I think they have removed the jacuzzis from the guestrooms. It is so far away from the theme that I wanted for my trip/wedding.

 

Devastated.

 

Please write back and let me know your thoughts,

 

Best wishes,

 

Liz,

 

Manchester, England.

[UK Bride]

Hi Courtney,

 

I am also getting married at Cancun Palace on 22 Aug 2012, I planned it in April 2011. I am so upset about the way we have all be treated and the changes that are happening. I am worried that there will be areas of the resort that are closed for rebranding and I have now been told that I cannot have the Amber collection for the ceremony because they have new collections. I told them last year that I wanted Amber and I have bought bridesmaid dresses for that colour scheme. I hate all the colin cowie collection and they have put the price up by another 2000usd.

[UK Bride]

Sorry I submitted before I had signed off!!

 

Anyway I was hoping you would help me and tell me how your plans are going for your big day?

 

Please reply soon

 

Best wishes,

 

Liz.

[JennyLynn]

Originally Posted by UK Bride 

 

Hi Courtney,

 

I am also getting married at Cancun Palace on 22 Aug 2012, I planned it in April 2011. I am so upset about the way we have all be treated and the changes that are happening. I am worried that there will be areas of the resort that are closed for rebranding and I have now been told that I cannot have the Amber collection for the ceremony because they have new collections. I told them last year that I wanted Amber and I have bought bridesmaid dresses for that colour scheme. I hate all the colin cowie collection and they have put the price up by another 2000usd.

Hi Liz,

I thought I would respond to this also  as of May they don't even have the Colin Cowie wedding collections available I was told this about 2 weeks befor my wedding! Maggie my planner had told me she didn't want me to expect something and when I got there the set up was different.  All the weedings that week had the same standered setup. I would tripple check if I were you and yes the pricing is crazy.

 

I have stayed at Cancun palace twice. The lobby bar entertainment area is ripped out right now and the front desk/lobby is a mess and towrn appart hopfully by Aug. all will be complete. The jacuzzies are still in the rooms I dont think they are changing any of that only repainting seemed like. Spa is also under major reno. and is located on the 3rd floor in guest rooms!

 

 

Jenny

[Courtney Hooker]

Originally Posted by UK Bride 

 

Hi Courtney,

 

How are you? I have been reading your post on here and cannot quite believe what they are doing to us all. I am so angry about it.

 

I booked our wedding last year (in April 2011) and paid the initial 300 US. We arrive August 11th 2012 for 3 weeks.

 

 Then our group all booked with the travel agent in the UK and I went ahead and bought bridesmaid dresses to match the Amber collection. 

 

Since then absolutely everything has changed and I had to find out about everything from tripadvisor. When I email Yesenia she is so unhelpful. No one has informed me about the change in the wedding collections or the change to Hard Rock. Now they say that I can't have amber collection because I did not pay a deposit on that particular package!!! NO-one said I had to pay a deposit!! I was told that I would organize all that with the wedding coordinator closer to the wedding.

 

What are you doing about a wedding package? are you having the complimentary one? Have you seen all the changes to the hotel? I think they have removed the jacuzzis from the guestrooms. It is so far away from the theme that I wanted for my trip/wedding.

 

Devastated.

 

Please write back and let me know your thoughts,

 

Best wishes,

 

Liz,

 

Manchester, England.

Hi Liz!

 

I am so sorry I have not responded to you. I have been so swamped with the wedding and this school year ending.

 

We have had so SO many problems with the Cancun Palace/Hard Rock. All of these problems stem from the Miami office. I think we all share the same frustrations, so hang in there!

 

We had a couple friends book through a travel agent, and we just got an email saying that those rooms will not count toward our room nights which was NEVER told to us. If I were you, I would double check because apparently the room nights only count if you book them through your (overpriced) group link. We are now in the process of battling to get these people approved and linked to our wedding party. In addition, when I asked for an update on our guest count/hotel nights, they missed over half of our reservations! So, something else you will also want to check on. They are so disorganized and not responsive over there and don't count on them to have things correct.

 

From my understanding, they still have the older packages. If you have in your contract that you signed up to get the Amber collection package, then they must honor it. As long as you refer to the contract, they really don't have a choice. I had the Diamond package and put down a deposit, but after looking at what was included I decided to go with the complimentary package. I wanted to make sure the fabric for the old complimentary was still available (I loved the white fabric on the chuppah), and Yesenia called the hotel and they said they still have it and that it wouldn't be a problem. So, be persistent! If its what you want, you need to make it happen!

 

I am doing the complimentary package and coordinating with the decorating company (Zuniga) for the ceremony and reception. I was fortunate in that I got 3 outside vendors approved (florist, DJ, and photographer). I organized EVERYTHING by myself. Don't count on Maggie to do anything for you. She is unresposive and will not contact you until a week before your wedding. She will make promises and not keep them. If you PM me, I can give you Lily from the decorating company's email. She is a JOY to work with and is always very responsive. I found there prices very fair (I also live in Los Angeles, where these things are naturally expensive). I got the following from her:

 

Ceremony:

Shepherd Hooks with pink and purple roses for entrance

Silver Sashes for chairs

Starfish with turquiose ribbon for back of chairs

Chandelier for Huppah

White platform for aisle

My florist is decorating the huppah with white roses and purple magenta orchids. I bought orchid petals for the aisle.

 

Reception

Tiffany Chairs

Table linens

Lounge furniture

Cocktail Tables

Napkins

Silver Chargers

 

To be honest, what you can do is just get the complimentary package and rent all of the amber collection stuff from the decorating company. That is where they got ALL the decorating stuff for the old packages anyway. I did the math and the hotel upcharges for the items. Get a quote from Lily and I guarentee you it will be cheaper then the Amber collection. Remember, you can't bring ANYTHING from the ceremony to the reception. So, you are spending $1500-$2000 for only a few minutes. Consider allocating your money elsewhere.

 

Once again, Maggie is not helpful. I did all of this myself by directly contacting the decorating company.

 

I also found it helps to get my fiance to call them and yell at the people in the Miami office. Groomzillas tend to have a higher impact for some reason. If your man can, write out a list of concerns, and have him call and fuss at them. 

 

Feel free to PM me with any questions (I don't check the forums that much). It will all be OK! All the other brides say that once yuo get there, its smooth sailing! 

 

I will be on my honeymoon in Playa Del Carmen the day of your wedding!

 

Best

Courtney

[melmelly]

Hi, I also had many concerns... I orginally reserve my wd for may 4,2013.. I did months ago and i found out in feb that they wer changing.. Now i have questions? About the wc.. About how long did they take to assign you one? My ta has emailed and they take forever to answer and i have seen bad reviews and good ones.. I even called and still no call backs.. I hope all goes great.. I have already started to look some where else.. It sure is hard changing.. When your heart was sent on one place.. The bad about the change is the outside vendor charge.. Which really sucks.. Thanks, Melanie

[Courtney Hooker]

Hi Melanie,

 

Feel free to send me a PM and I will be able to answer these questions. I just got married August 4 and have tons of pictures posted on the Palace Resort Bride Facebook page. I am not on this website very much anymore so let me know.

 

Courtney