Royal Palms vs. Intercontinental Montelucia Resort - Advice!

Re: Royal Palms vs. Intercontinental Montelucia Resort - Advice!

• 1104*Celsius

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Have you met with and toured both places? If so, and the prices are the same (make SURE about extras, because there always are a few!) what does your gut tell you? I'm serious, what does your intuition tell you about working with the people at each venue? Which of the two venues most closely matches your and your FI's vision for your wedding day?Is one more convenient for guests? Is one more convenient to salons for getting ready purposes? Does one have better photography locations? Heck, does one have better reviews than another on TripAdvisor? Go with your gut.

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• melbez1

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Though i have not been to the Intercontinental, I personally can't imagine anywhere nicer than the Royal Palms

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• Gogalina member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  SIA for the length of this post. I've stayed at both resorts & had a much better experience at Royal Palms than Montelucia service-wise. I stayed at Montelucia twice & had terrible experiences both times. The grounds & rooms are absolutely gorgeous. The bell men & pool staff are awesome, so friendly & helpful. The restaurant & front desk staff, on the other hand, are not. During one of my stays, I planned a surprise weekend to celebrate my fiance's 30th birthday. I had the cake in tow, the champagne, chocolate, etc. It was going to be a romantic weekend. Upon arriving at the front desk, we learned our room was not ready. Fine. I asked them to give us another room that wasn't a pool view, essentially a downgrade that cost less, but they looked at me like they were confused. They suggested we sit near the pool, at the bar or at the restaurant to wait for our room. It was June, hot, the winter visitors were gone, the hotel had vacancy, so what's there to wait for? Still, we didn't mind waiting except we weren't sure what to do with the cake/goodies we brought that needed to be refrigerated. I asked front desk if they had a refrigerator we could use to store the items (not even the cake because it wouldn't melt at room temp if we left it with them inside the lobby). They were confused. Finally, a light bulb went off & they recommended I use their employee refrigerator. Suddenly they realized it was too small. At that point they were out of ideas & suggested we wait. They even made it seem like having the cake/goodies in tow was our problem. Aside from this & many other experiences with the front desk, they seemed very hesitant to handle issues that came up at check in. They made mountains out of molehills. Can we get a refrigerator people?! I'm not asking for a glacier. The staff at the front desk is extremely young, seemingly inexperienced & appear to care more about accessorizing their mandatory black attire than helping their paying clientele. I don't know if such service translates to the events staff, but knowing the first place your customer stops is at front desk, you'd think they train these people to handle minor problems. The restaurant staff is not any better. We waited for a table in an empty restaurant. We asked for refills or ketchup only to find ourselves getting them ourselves. The staff even found that amusing that we were helping them do their jobs. Going to the restroom, we'd see our waiter watching gymnastics on TV when he was nowhere to be found in the restaurant. You can't even get made at things like this when it happens, it really becomes laughable & you start wondering if you're asking for the world or if these people are completely inept. However, on your wedding day, when you're paying the enormous amount that Montelucia charges, I don't think you'd find these things amusing. As a matter of fact, we saw a wedding ceremony taking place near the pool. Here's the wedding party/guests all dolled up with a beautiful quartette that you can't hear or focus on because screaming guests & children only feet away jumping in the pool & running all over the place. Come on Montelucia, there's two pools. People are paying tons of money to have their 20 minutes ceremony here. Couldn't they have moved the ceremony or sectioned off that part of the pool until the ceremony was over??? I don't know, that's not five star service in my book.

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• FutureMrsL.R.Allen

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Just a heads up, I believe the Montelucia is in the process of filing for bankruptcy.  You may want to find out about that.  It may not affect the property at all (they may just change ownership) but it could have a big impact on your plans.

  My Bio- Now with professional wedding pictures

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• perfectlioness1 member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Honestly, I would choose the Royal Palms.  I have had a lot of experience booking events with them for work, and they are a DREAM to work with!  I always dealt with Courtney.  I've attended many sit down events there, and the food is fantastic, and the intimate grounds are oh so romantic! 

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• lme1781 member

  

  August 2009 edited December 2011

  Thanks everyone for your advice. We are going to sign our contract on Saturday at the Royal Palms! Very excited

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• perfectlioness1 member

  

  September 2009 edited December 2011

  Hi! I wanted to know if you booked the Royal Palms?  I had lunch there today for work, and it was marvelous and beautiful as ever!  :-D

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