Cheeca Lodge & Spa

ns for pictures available at Cheeca! Such a beautiful property!

epairs. We were notified in December that they would not be open in time for our wedding. The staff at Cheeca did provide venue alternatives so that we could keep our date, but our hearts were set on having in at Cheeca, so we postponed to October 2018. In October 2018, for our wedding, the event coordinating staff feel short me. I still rate Cheeca at 5 stars, because I think overall this venue has a lot to offer and the location is perfect. BUT, when we originally decided to have our wedding here, our decision weighed heavily on the fact that we connected with the Event Coordinator at the time, Charlene Lopez. . Unfortunately Charlene left Cheeca after the storm and we were assigned a new event coordinator. We did not feel the same connection with Cindy Maguire for several reasons. First, she did not respond to our emails or return our phone calls messages. Second, when an email was replied to, she did not address ALL of the issues, and therefore it took days, weeks, and even months to get responses. She is a very nice lady, but I feel like this position is too much for her. I don’t know if I would have booked my wedding if she was first impression of Cheeca honestly. Third, she is unorganized. The banquet orders were always wrong, even though we would have face-to-face meetings with her and detailed phone conversations. After my wedding, I received an outstanding bill for charges that were discussed would already be included. Again, I had to exchange emails several times to get it corrected. If you plan your wedding here, I suggest you hire a wedding planner or coordinator. It will save you a lot of headache because the back office is a mess. When my fiancé and I checked in on Friday, I was expecting a special welcome as the bride and groom. They didn’t even decorate our room or have a bottle of champagne for us. We were the only wedding that weekend so I was surprised. I called for champagne flutes and shot glasses for our Saturday wedding and it took them a couple hours to deliver them. They didn’t have shot glasses so they brought me a box of brand new wine stemless glasses that weren’t washed. Again, the little things. Other than that (I know it’s a lot, ha ha) I was very happy with the venue. The rooms are gorgeous and the views from the balcony are just breathtaking. I would do it all over in a heartbeat. The wedding was out of a fairytale and we could not have been any happier with the way everything turned out. We had our ceremony at 5:00 at Navarre Beach. Cocktail hour was at Spa Island. And the reception was held in the Sunrise Ballroom. For the time of year (October), it’s hard to predict the weather, but the day was gorgeous. It still very warm around in the afternoon at 1:00pm. But we started the ceremony at 5:00 and the breeze by the beach was perfect. Spa Island was very hot for the guests because there was no breeze. But I just loved Spa Island so I didn’t care (ha ha). Also, the valet staff were very friendly and courteous. Gabriel was a bellman and he went over and beyond for us the entire weekend. The food is excellent. We’ve had everything from breakfast, lunch, snacks, and it’s all amazing and super fresh... The mixed drinks are good, just a little weak. Bartenders could be better especially the ones by the pool.

g I would do that ! I am the Mother of The Bride and this is not the first wedding I have planned, however, our oldest daughter chose to get married where we actually live and that made it a little easier. Wedding planning can be stressful though no matter how familiar you are with your choices, but, trying to book a destination wedding is even more challenging especially if you have never been there before. We finally narrowed it down to The Florida Keys and then Cheeka Lodge after going back and forth with another Hotel Resort. Quite simply at that point, their people made the difference. Charlene, the Director of Catering was the "icing on the cake" for us. She is an experienced professional who knows her business. She is accessible, she returns calls and e-mails immediately and promptly takes care of any concerns. Unlike other venues she takes ownership of your event in every single way. She is thoughful and she is a good listener and pays attention even when you know you are repeating yourself because you are nervous ! It seems like she can even read your mind as she makes suggestions. As I was comparing Cheeka Lodge I called the hotel to ask questions many times and since my husband is a retired hotel general manager I am very familiar with how hotels are managed and always curious about how the employees feel about where they work. Every single person that I encountered was a tenured employee who seemed to love their job and that is really important as Excellence Starts At The Top and you know that you are dealing with the best there is !!

ntastic and extremely willing to help and accommodate. The photos came out beautiful because the scenery at the lodge was picture perfect. I would highly recommend getting married here.

, food, EVERYTHING was simply wonderful. We planned our wedding at the Cheeca without ever having actually been to the property. Although I was nervous about that choice, the wedding coordinators, Alan and Charlene made everything so easy. They were wonderful to work with. They did a great job coordinating with our vendors to assure everything went smoothly. Our guests really enjoyed all the special touches and property amenities the Cheeca offers. Customer Service - From the moment you are greeted by the valet, you are treated with the ultimate level of customer service. Food - All the food we ate on property was incredible. Wedding food is often a little dry and boring but not ours. Our guests are still talking about what a great spread we had at our reception. It was fresh and delicious. Ambiance - The Cheeca is luxurious yet still laid-back and comfortable. The landscaping on property is simply magical. It feels like you are in a private tropical oasis. We had our ceremony on the South Beach and our reception in the Spa Island area. If you are having a small wedding, I highly suggest the Spa Island area for your reception. It is intimate and beautiful. Spa: The spa is not as fantastic as I would have hoped. I was hoping that it was a spa where my girlfriends and I could hang out in the steam room, sauna, jacuzzi, etc on the day of the wedding. Unfortunately, they just have spa services rooms and not the other amenities.I had a hot stone massage the day of the wedding and it was just ok. The spa services are quite pricey. Gym: They workout facility on property is small but nice. They have tv's on the cardio machines which is always enjoyable. Rooms: We stayed in the Premier Ocean View Suite. It was worth every penny. Our first night we hosted a welcome reception in our room. There was plenty of room and seating for about 20 of our guests. Everyone walked into the room and said, "WOW!". The terrace garden tub was so beautiful and relaxing. The room was very spacious Overall: Great place to have a wedding and stay for a honeymoon! We look forward to spending many vacations and anniversaries at the Cheeca for years to come.

he beach ceremony was absolutely stunning with the ocean view and palm trees, we had a steel drum musician playing in the backgrounds, it was magical. The food was out of this world, our guests are still talking about it. On the days leading to the wedding and the actual wedding day, they really made sure that I was relaxed and that everything was taken care of. The are very flexible. Because it was low season, they upgraded us to a gigantic honeymoon suite! We were so happy because the regular Golf View rooms were not that great. I vote to splurge on the suites, they are much much nicer. And because it got a little cold at night, they organized our dinner party on the ocean view balcony at no charge (it was an extra $6000) charge. It was originally supposed to be on the beach ground, so we were quite happy they changed all that for us. I suggest having your dinner on the balcony, amazing view of the sunset, and it also gives you privacy! The resort itself is VERY expensive but if you go with a mindset expecting it to be expensive, it's alright. It's your wedding day, so you're allowed to splurge. You kind of have no other choice here. Start saving now! They have different activities at the resort. My husband went deep sea fishing with the boys and they had a great time, everyone caught a fish, even a barracuda! That night, for the rehearsal dinner, the restaurant cooked all the fresh fish that they caught! The MOST delicious fish I have EVER had! I was so happy my husband was having a great time. On the day after our wedding, we went parasailing, which was so much fun as well. I forgot to mention that when I was organizing everything by phone from Canada, they took quite a long time to answer my questions, phone calls and emails, I was a little frustrated at times. However, when we arrived at the resort, they were 100% there for us, all of the way. They made our wedding more perfect than we imagined it being.

have the Cheeca Lodge to thank for that. They fully executed my vision almost to perfection, making any struggles throughout the planning process totally worth it in the end. I highly recommend this place. The perfect destination wedding location!