East Miami

My husband and I reserved a room block at EAST for our wedding, and we were truly excited for the opportunity to share EAST's beautiful property and amenities. Our overall experience was unprofessional and disorganized. Here's why: 1.Event manager was nowhere to be found when our event (rehearsal dinner) was supposed to begin, and it was raining on our outdoor event setup. We called her multiple times and left her multiple voicemails. There was nobody that could tell us anything about our event. We just saw people cleaning off tables and taking things to their staff backroom. We were panicking not knowing where our food was going to be served or even offered. The event manager's overall demeanor and customer service throughout the planning process was apathetic. After about 20 minutes of trying to find someone, we found Juan who was unaware of many details of our event, however; he and his staff did an incredible job of adjusting and accommodating to make up for the lack of information from the event manager. Better communication is crucial when hosting events at a site, especially for the price here. 2. Event manager informed us THE DAY BEFORE our wedding that we are unable to take any pictures on site on our wedding day. We had to change our entire itinerary leading up to our wedding. We had planned to do our first look on site and take a few bridal party and family photos before heading to the venue. Event manager did not give any options or accommodations to myself or our planner. Our planner has had many of her couples stay at EAST, and she said she has never heard of this. 3. As a result of having to change our itinerary for our wedding day, our planner revised that I would drive to the venue with our planner (utilizing EAST valet services) following the shuttle that would take the groom, bridal party, and families. There were major issues with the valet; our planner and I waited outside over 25 minutes for our planner's car. Our photographer and videographer waited around or over an hour to get their cars from the valet missing our first look and time allotted for family and bridal pictures. Our vendors were unable to provide an hour of services that we paid for directly because of EAST Hotel Valet. Valet responded to our photographer's plea to show some urgency as she is missing the wedding, and was met with: "we're busy, there's nothing we can do." Couples should be compensated for services that their vendors are unable to provide due to poor service. Upon hearing our photographer had the same issue with EAST valet two weeks after our wedding, I feel obligated to warn other couples! 4. Many of our guests had major issues with their key cards; several guests had to go to the front desk multiple times a day because they could not get into their rooms. We directly expressed our concerns to the Director of Catering and to EAST main email posted on their website approximately two weeks ago, and we have NOT heard back, We had 33+ rooms on our room block, many booking 2 or 3 bedroom suites and hosted our rehearsal dinner on site. Our experience at EAST tainted our wedding weekend and is the sole reason that our photographer and videographer missed the time we allotted for our first look, bridal party pictures, and family pictures on our wedding day. What's more disappointing is the lack of service and overall care for guests and couples that choose to share one of the most special weekend of their lives at EAST Hotel.