Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya - Heaven

I would like to say that the Romantic Dinner Experience with Antonio and Yair was excellent. This was a great experience because of the service we received from these gentlemen. Also Anita in the bakery / ice cream shop provided great service and may be one of the hardest workers on the resort! Thanks to these resort employees for helping us have a great experience. Read less

Oct 14, 2020 As a person who has been a producer in the wedding event industry for 20 years in San Francisco I would like to give some constructive criticism about our Reber/Wood wedding event at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya on Oct 04, 2020. I arrived on Friday Oct 02, 2020, my transportation from the airport to the resort was great, the check in was smooth, my room was ready, clean, everything was great. The Bide and Groom had a limo and they loved it. The resort was clean, staff all have on masks. The resort public restrooms are clean and they continue clean all day. Restaurants are clean, staff all wear masks, there were reservations available, food was good. When you order room service you have to bring your tray into your room, my 84 year old Mom could not carry her tray but the masked waiter brought it in for her. Friday night women went to one restaurant, men went to another, we then met in the lobby, there was a band and DJ, it was big enough that people were able to social distance. One thing we did notice was there were defiantly people NOT wearing masks and the resort does not make people wear masks. Our dinner was very good and the guys said there dinner was great. At 11PM the night club opened, we went to the club and it was PACKED, no one was wearing masks, we did not go in, a potential COVID hot spot. The wait staff in the lobby and bar off the lobby were very attentive, great service. Saturday Oct 03, 2020 19 person welcome party We checked the weather and can see a tropical storm is coming in on Sat night. We were supposed to have a “white party” outside at a gazebo, with a bar and a DJ. My Niece Jacqueline explained to the wedding coordinator that her Aunt Cindy (me) has brought old fashioned white paper products to decorate the gazebo-white paper bells, white paper garlands, custom made white Mexican Papel Picado banners. The resort recommends that we move the party into a small ballroom in the conference center, we had no choice but move the party inside, the storm was intense. So we are a little stressed, we’re on plan B now, I ask the wedding coordinator if she can please arrange 2 pool umbrellas and 2 bases to be delivered to the ballroom and here starts the “No’s”. I wanted to use the paper decorations on the 2 umbrellas to create a space in the empty, ugly ballroom, a space to take photos, to gather around, we have gone from an ocean view gazebo to a ballroom, the resort would NOT corporate at all. I asked if I could get a ladder so we could maybe use the décor on the walls and once again a “NO”. I asked if the lights could be dimmed in the room, they had blazing white fluorescent lights and the answer was “NO”. They love to say “NO” I also had brought and made gift baskets to give out on Sat night. Which now need to go to the conference center. We asked the wedding coordinator to please make sure to bring plastic bags to put the gift bags in because of the rain and wind. She showed up with a cart but no plastic bags. We ended up carrying the gift bags by hand because they would have blown everywhere. The bar service was good, the wait staff was good. The food was safe, they do the appetizers on a plate, 2 plates per person. But they do not give you a napkin unless you ask for one, very strange. At 6PM when the event started we asked that the guests be transported from the lobby to the conference center in golf carts, it was extremely windy and tons of rain and guests in white, women had done their hair, the weather was crazy, you guessed it, no to the golf carts. They did get my Mom a wheel chair. 8PM when the event ended again we asked for golf carts to get people back to the lobby dry and the answer was “no”. Yet we did see other guests in golf carts. When we switched to plan “B” the inside plan, the wedding coordinator did nothing to notify guests of the change, Jacqueline had to it all. Tropical Storm This was a very strong storm. I woke up around mid-night and my floor was starting to get flooded. I took my towels and put them on the floor. Some guests had leaks over their beds. Some guests had plaster fall on their bed. I feel my room only flooding was lucky. There were guests who did NOT get a new room until after the wedding on Sat. My room was not cleaned and the towels were not replaced and the water was not cleaned up until Sat afternoon. I know some of our guests spent the entire day on Saturday trying to get new rooms, with several calls and visits to the front desk. Sunday Oct 04, 2020 Wedding Day Hair and Make Up When we arrived at the bride’s room on Sat for hair and make up the room had NOT been cleaned, it was 1:30PM, and the Groom had phoned housekeeping trying to get it cleaned. We got a late start because we needed the room to be cleaned. The hair and makeup people were so great-we loved them. The resort should have a space for the bride to get ready- not her room. It was way too crowded for all of us. The wedding coordinator should have food and beverage arranged for the room, bride’s and bridesmaids are notorious for not eating. Since I am in the wedding business I took care of all of this. The resort should also offer or arrange for dresses to be pressed, they pretty much just leave you on your own. The bridal suite came with a butler, he had champagne delivered to the room, again this should have been arranged by the wedding coordinator. The photographers and videographers were AMAZING, can’t wait to see the video and photos. Ceremony Because of the weather the wedding ceremony was moved into the lobby of the “Heaven” resort-the adult only side that was closed. This Idea came from the Groom because he had seen a wedding there the day before. The wedding coordinator did not suggest it, the groom did. The coordinator had actually shown them another space and Jarrett said No. The violin was nice, the backdrop was good, chairs, décor, all good. The sound was horrible, no wireless lapel mic, hand held mic’s with play back static. The DJ did not have the play list or what was supposed to be played even though we had turned that in to the wedding department. We gave them an iPod with the music on it and the sound guy was trying to play music off of YouTube. The Groom and myself (I was the officiant) we’re having to deal with this right before the ceremony. Not something we should be doing, the wedding dept. should be dealing with this. They moved the bride with a golf cart but everyone else had to walk all the way over to the other side of the property in the heat and humidity, dressed for a wedding. I once again had to insist that they give my Mom a ride, she is 84. The wedding department should have sent out an E-Mail to wedding guests telling them what time to be in the lobby to take a golf cart, the problem was they didn’t tell guests anything. The bride and I were trying to up-date people about what was happening but why are we doing that? Did the Bride and Groom pay for some service? Reception The food and bar at the cocktail reception was great, again the servers are very attentive, but no napkins!! Once we went into the room, it was very lovely. Draped room, nice linen, nice flowers, great back drop behind the bride and groom. The tables were set correct except our table had 2 place setting for 2 people who did not attend. There were 4 people at a very large 66” table, they really need to get some smaller tables. The dance floor had new white vinyl. The wedding coordinator did reduce the room size because we were down to 19 people-great move on her part. Food was good, cake was very bland. The DJ was great, he played the play list. The bride had talked to the resort about 3 specialty cocktails, the bar did not have the ginger beer for the Dark and Stormy, they didn’t have the jalapeño for the Spicy Margarita, she had bar menus painted and framed and had confirmed with the resort this was OK and yet they completely dropped the ball. The photo booth had the wrong date! The photo booth did have good props. The second your time is up you are OUT, not a second later, that happened on Sat and Sunday night. They sure as hell don’t help you start on time by not helping to communicate with your guests what is happening, not providing any transportation, but they sure as hell get you out of the room when your time is up. Hurricane Delta We all got notices on our doors saying the pool and beach were closed the day before the hurricane, they needed to get the resort ready. Most of us never received the second notice saying the time to be in the lobby to move to conference center. The Bride had to contact her guests and give then hurricane instructions. There were 3 rooms, one for entertainment and to hang out, pretty good social distancing. One for eating, really good social distancing. One for sleeping-pool lounge chairs, right up against each other, HORRIBLE for social distancing. The resort should have insisted people wear masks. There were easily 500 people right on top of each other. But they did keep us safe, they did have plenty of food, they had plenty of water. They kept people calm, they had enough sheets, they ran out of pillows. The staff were really great. The generator and AC stayed on pretty much the whole time. We were in shelter for 24 hours. The resort re-opened the following day. My room was flooded again, they came and cleaned it up a couple days after the hurricane. Almost all Reber/Wood guests have tested Negative for Covid, we truly dodged a bullet considering the conditions in the convention center. My biggest thing with the resort is they need to communicate-it seems like they can’t change gears very well. They need a real time communication program. Not sure why our coordinator had to always say No, we were not asking for anything crazy. Housekeeping, transportation, catering, maintenance, wedding coordinator all need to be able to communicate real time. Also wedding department needs to be proactive instead of reactive. We were also told that Heaven would be open….Heaven was NO way anywhere near being open. That side of the resort is a mess. Would I go there again? Yes. Would I have a wedding there again? NO Read less