My daughter's wedding at this venue was spectacular. The Ritz reserve and shoreline setting proved to be an incomparable location for this destination event. The service was impeccable and the food and drinks were consistently great during all the wedding events. This is the perfect place for a luxury destination wedding.

The venue is beautiful and I was so so so excited to book it for our big day. It was a bit pricier than I wanted but I thought 'it's the Ritz Carlton' and the price will be worth it. It would be worth- (what one assumes) the better service and extra care for our day and leading up to it. NOT THE CASE! After a virtual tour of the venue, we picked a date and we were ready to sign the contract. The salesperson we had been speaking to (who was lovely) now said she would forward our details and agreement to the staff/event team directly at the hotel and they would send me the contract within the week. One week went by, and I figured no big deal. Two weeks goes by I reach out the the salesperson and she assured me they would send it soon. Another week goes by, I email the salesperson and the hotel team directly to find out the status. A week later they respond, again saying it will come soon/within a week... but that they need all the email and text messages on what THEIR salesperson and I agreed on. I got through the painstaking process of sending screen shots of messages and forwarding a bunch of emails. THEN, another week goes by and nothing. I am getting concerned and still confused at why it is taking so long and what venue isn't eager to lock down a contract. Finally, after a few more email follow ups and two months later I get a contract that is completely wrong. When I notify them that the contract is not what the salesperson and I agreed to, I got a rude email back explaining that if it wasn't in the email or text it didn't matter and that they have plenty of people eager to have our date, and that if the contract wasn't signed by the next day I could lose our date. I am preparing to spend $50,000 on just the venue and that was the response I got!!! In reality it shouldn't matter if I was spending $5, that shouldn't be the response. What is more, is that I have been following up with them for months for this contract and after they finally get around to getting it to me I am pressured to sign it now or else. I PROMISE our agreement with the original salesperson was reasonable-- not asking for discounts on the venue fees (there are plenty), food minimums, or anything! We were specific about how we wanted to divide up our room block. Nonetheless, since the venue is what I have envision for my wedding, I simply asked if the salesperson was still working there and could simply confirm our conversation on the room block (which was over the phone) and noted that I am sure many couples were as excited as we were when we first started this process but that excitement has dwindled to concern and doubt. I asked to have a conversation/call to hopefully clear up this confusion and clear up some of my concerns. I never got a phone call, but rather got another email back just asking for correct dates for the hotel room block. Eventually, we just got another contract back with correct room dates ( I was just happy to finally have the right hotel dates and possibly just move on to more planning, since this has held me back from other planning for over two months now) but NOW the contract had the wrong wedding date and there were fees I did not see before/no one had mentioned to me. Notably a $2000 fee if we did not go with their preferred audio provider. When I asked them to correct the wedding dates and about the fee. Yet again (this time though more timely), I got another email saying the wedding date would be corrected and not explaining the additional fees but essential repeating what the contract said about them. I have now spent 2-3 months on this venue, hoping to make it work because it is what I envisioned... but am now realizing do I want to have a day that may look lovely but the experience is awful (not just on that day but this whole process). If this is the experience just trying to get and sign a contract, what will then next few months of planning be like? I am not an emotional person but have wanted to cry at least twice over this. I may now have to start from scratch, after telling people the wedding date we may need to pick a new one -- potentially further out.