We found the Inn at Pelican Bay by accident while exploring venues for our daughter's wedding on October 7, 2017 in Naples, Florida. We had planned to stay one night hoping it would be a convenient place for our out of town guests. Arriving late we were greeted by Toni who offered us a newly renovated lakefront room. In the morning we met Kay, the director of Group Events. Kay mentioned the courtyard space was available for the wedding. The Inn did not provide onsite catering but Kay confidently recommended Artichoke and Company (please see our review for Artichoke and Company). While continuing our search for a beachfront wedding venue we realized the Inn was the perfect place.

The Inn at Pelican Bay is an elegant, boutique hotel with friendly and caring staff. Rooms are beautifully appointed and in immaculate condition. Our guests traveled from New York, Chicago, Virginia, California, Connecticut, Texas and other areas of Florida. Every guest raved how wonderful the experience was. The management and staff made every effort to accommodate all of our needs including a Friday night “Meet and Greet” and Sunday football gathering with the groom.

The wedding was spectacular! Our guests were greeted as they entered the courtyard with wine and appetizers. The ceremony took place lakeside at sunset. Tikki torches lit the walkway for our bride and groom. A cocktail reception for 110 people with live music and dancing followed. Canopied by trees with lights suspended from the branches, the courtyard is an intimate lakefront gem perfect for a wedding.

Thank you Kay and your wonderful and professional staff,

Cathy and Brad Goodman

The Inn was a beautiful venue for our handfasting ceremony. The water fountain and patio area for the reception added special touches to the event. The bridal suite was not what we had been told it was going to be, it did not have a hot tub and its patio was under construction, but overall the Inn provided a beautiful place to hold our ceremony and reception.

There is no listing here for the Pelican Bay Foundation, which is who hosted our ceremony and reception. In order to use the Foundation sites, we were forced to use the Inn at Pelican Bay for our guests. I would never have used this hotel otherwise.

The sales manager was rude on several occasions. He also would tell us one policy, then turn around and contradict himself the next day. He explained policies incorrectly, so a few days later when we went to finalize details, several surprises were in store. He lost my MIL's credit card information which caused embarrassment and hassle the day before the wedding. Additionally, several of our guests reported back to us what a hassle it was to book their rooms at our group rate - they got the run around and we heard from two that they were actually charged a higher rate for a room that others were paying our group rate for.

Let me tell you, it was INCREDIBLY frustrating working with the Inn. If I had not been required to use this hotel to have my wedding at the Foundation, I would have run screaming. A hotel should not be the reason for bridal breakdowns.

The Foundation did pretty well with the ceremony and reception. The beach ceremony was set up as promised. There was a little confusion over transportation to the beach, but in the end it worked out. The coordinator I worked with there (who no longer works for the Foundation, to their credit) was scatterbrained and impossible to get a hold of when needed. She would promise to meet me somewhere and not show up. The first time I met her, she reeked of alcohol as if she just came off a multi-day binge.

The reception room is nice but a little generic. Not a big deal though. However little things were not set up as I had specified (e.g., different favors for children and adults, explicitly laid out on the seating chart I gave them, not hard to do - also my cake topper was sitting on the table next to the cake when I walked in, rather than on the cake). Overall it was fine. The servers handed out our alcoholic hard cider to the kids in the room who then started crying when they essentially drank champagne when they thought it was apple juice. The food at least was amazing! No complaints about the catering.

I guess the best point about Pelican Bay is the price. That is why we ended up there since Naples is such an expensive place to get married. It was relatively cheap compared to the other full-service places with beachside ceremonies. However, when you think of "value," you think of cost versus the service received - well in that case VALUE actually sucked. In terms of the way we were treated and the service we received in the end, I really feel we overpaid by a LOT.

I am hoping that with the new coordinator person at Pelican Bay, things will turn around, and hopefully the next bride will have a better experience working with someone new. The sales manager at the Inn is still there, however. And he is the reason for 80% of my frustration with my wedding experience. The fact that this review is for the Inn itself is most of the reason for my super low rating - if I could review the Foundation separately I would give them a 3.5 overall. Which isn't *awful.* It's too bad because the place has so much potential when you see it...