Mad at The Westin Colonnade

cinthia122

Morning ladies!  I am so mad at The Westin Colonnade over this whole ordeal.  I booked the Rotunda so should I get it for the price of the Merrick?  I talked to my FI this morning, and he says that I shouldn't bring it up to the Colonnade people, because they are going to be in charge of our wedding and we don't want to get them mad and ruin our day.  However, I feel I have a right to be mad and talk to them.  What do you ladies suggest?  Should I bring it up?  What should I say?

jessi720

I don't think what any other bride did has an effect on your wedding at all.  You already agreed to the terms of your contract, and they are not obligated to change it at all.

LIL Vero

My FI and I are feeling the same way. We feel that we are getting charged a lot of money for that location. I read the contract last night and I am still on the clear to cancel everything and get half of my deposit back. We are going to make an appointment to speak to Ms. Laura Burgess ASAP!

zobo410

Really? So you mean the 15k price drop is wrong? Oh I am shocked! I agree with your FI. What's the point? You are proving everyone's point though about "upgrades". If you call them and tell them you heard this situation, do you think they are going to tell you the truth? I honestly don't think they will. I say just let it go. I know it sucks.

jessi720

I guess the definitely caused themselves to get negative publicity from this, bet they didnt count on that happening lol.

rrive008

the westin is a business. I booked the merrick room so i know the difference in prices right now. honestly i was going to do the same thing and complain but FI made me realize that the Westin isn't going to do anythig. They will continue to get people to book with them no matter the price or what you say. and really they can do whatever they want, whether it is getting one person to refer tons of people..that means more money for them. It sucks but that's how you do business. if you booked the rotunda recently trust me, you got a good deal because when i booked it, it was at close to 30K minimum and before that forget it, it was unheard of that so many people would do it there.if anything just try to negotiate like you would before this situation even happened. although once you're on contract i dont know how easy that is.

YHFoxtrot

and in the end, she still got what she wanted so she won't be punished for any of it so unless you TRULY don't want to get married there... I'd just let it be.And they aren't going to admit to upgrading her for free b/c if they do they will have a LOT of brides banging down her door.Then again, maybe they will. Who knows...

mrodriguez1285

I think that you should all go and say how you feel and let them know that you are awere of the situation, at the very least. This doesnt mean they are going to ruin your wedding, I think that they will try harder to make it better so you are happy in the end, you want to show them that you are on top of your game and they are not fooling any of you. just my 2 cents...

angie74

I would be utterly shocked if they did anything for you or admitted that they did anything wrong... they're running a business and can choose to run it as they wish. if anyone does call, I'd be curious to how that turns out

ups783

It freakin' bothers me to no end!!!! I'm mad at them more than anything. I had a $25,000 min, and I got married 6 months to the date that she did! I know for a fact that the colonnade invited like 15 undecided brides to my setup and booked a lot of them based on the decor we did (according the coordinator). They also hired a photographer to photograph the event for their next brochure....using my wedding to promote their venue (something that I did not agree to). However, when I asked them for a lower price the lady told me that she would give me my deposit back, and I could have the wedding else where.I even spoke to the hotel manager and cried, and they refused to budge! Then, the day of the wedding their service a piece o'crap! So bad, that they had to return money to me because their staff didn't serve drinks, didn't man the bar...I paid for an ice bar with a luge and they refused to use the luge for the guests, the wait staff was sooo rude. Then, when they knew I would cause a ruckus over their crappy service, and that I was on the knot, they returned money to keep me quiet. So it's amazing to me that they would let her have it for free, and not even budge on a 25,000 minimum..on a freakin Sunday! I'm soooo over that place...it's a decrepit Caesar's Palace looking ballroom with a mall inside!

rrive008

oh $hit!

Kitty315

To those of you who booked the Rotunda.. if you feel it's TOO MUCH for you and you're not 100% happy with the place (nothing to do with shady upgrades) and can still find something else.. go for it! If you can't afford to lose a penny from the deposit, then stay.. if you can. If in the end your heart tells you it's not the place for your special day, you may want to rethink this. If you do bring it up to your current vendors/venues.. GL! =\Ursula - That's really screwed up. And even more screwy to use your wedding to promote themselves.. with the horrible service they gave you. A shame too since it was such a beautiful wedding.

angie74

ups- they should have never used your wedding for their advertisements without a written consent from you- that's really crappy

ups783

Last I heard that's what they did. They have a photog come and photograph weddings that include all the elements (Lighting, Draping etc.). I loved my wedding, but little of that has to do with them. When I tried to negociate, I was told they were trying to compete with the Biltmore. However, to charge Biltmore prices you need to give Biltmore service. Jaime, Anaya etc. and other knotties are having their weddings in sleek, modern SoBe hotels for minimums that are around what we paid for something in the gables business district. I blame myself for not doing my homework, but I still think that they have shady practices.

[Deleted User]

I wasn't going to say anything... but they are the HARDEST people to negotiate with. I was a Colonnade Rotunda bride and long story short -- I am not anymore. They have wonderful service when they take your deposit...and HORRIFIC service when you have a problem. They do not budge WHATSOEVER after you sign your contract. When I met with Ivette in January the minimum for the Rotunda was $28k for Saturday and $15k for Fridays and Sundays (for the month of March 2010) ... this ended up changing a month later to ridiculously lower and we were STUCK with the minimum we signed for. No budging. No changing. No negociating. Then the chivari chair and charger packages were added... for the price we signed for. Again... No budging. No changing. No negociating. If we wanted that we would have to pay the upgrade. Thats all I'm going to say on that. Ladies looking at the Colonnade: Be careful, look through your contract over and over AND OVER and DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY until you are SURE you are getting everything you want and for a fair price.

vigi76

I am getting married in the Rotunda and I still LOVE the venue.  I picked the venue on my own before knowing which knotties were getting married there.  I was looking for a Jan. 2010 date and was told it was 25K for Saturday, but if I moved to April, I could have it for 15K. I moved to April (and the date actually works much better for us).   I agree that Westin is a business and from what I have seen, all venues are giving better deals than when I booked (they did not mention the $10K, although I would not have been able to do it in July).  That is the whole point of a contract -- someone takes a risk.  If the economy was better, I am sure they would no longer offer it for $15K or even $25K.  I know it stings when someone got a discount based on wrongful behavior, but those of us that picked the place did so base don our budgets and what we liked. We should not let someone else's behavior change how we feel about the place we picked to get married at!All the knotties who have gotten married there only have praises.  My advice is to forget about what happened -- what matters more is that your event is executed without a glitch    Just my two cents...

ups783

I didn't pick based on Michi's recommendations, and I had plenty of glitches on my day. It irks me that they charged me up the butt, messed up on countless of things (including not deliveing on the amount of cocktails they promised), use my wedding for promotion and ton secure business, and then give the same thing for free to someone because their a mod on the knot? Umm...yeah.The place is beautiful, but not worth $25k. Learn from my mistake.

arlete

Ursula, your wedding was beautiful! I'm sorry you went through this. I don't recall whether or not you posted Vendor Reviews after your wedding. If you did, then I'm sure girls who read your reviews thought twice about booking the Rotunda. This is why vendor reviews are helpful to us knotties. I also booked the colonnade (merrick room) and was told that the Rotunda was $25k minimum for december. Fi and I would not be able to meet the min. unless we fed guests lobster twice. I actually wanted the smaller room (colonnade room), but Fi really liked the Merrick so we negotiated to a min. that we were comfortable with. I did my research, booked a venue that I liked and could afford, negotiated, and so far have received great customer service from the venue. Now lets see what happends after december 27.