Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa

The Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort was the first (and only) venue we looked at and I immediately knew this was it. The Hilton’s beautiful property is meticulously maintained and we could tell the chef takes pride in his work. However, after finalizing our contract & putting down the deposit, our experience took a turn for the worst. Since my parents are from out of town, they arranged a trip down to Florida from New York to see the venue & to meet Hilton’s event coordinator (Jason at the time). A few days before our meeting, we checked in with Jason to confirm our appointment. Radio silence. After hearing nothing, we decided to talk to the front desk regarding our appointment. We were informed Jason did not even work at the Hilton anymore! There was no communication from the old or new planner & this was especially frustrating as my parents had taken time out of their schedules and drove from NY-Marco Island for this meeting. The process of working with the Hilton’s new planner was also very unorganized. We waited weeks to receive responses & were constantly told that our emails somehow went to a spam folder whenever we tried to follow-up. I understand wedding planning can be stressful, but even arranging our room-block was like pulling teeth. After a few months of working with this person, she left and we were assigned a new coordinator, then another. Making this a total of 4 planners that we’ve worked with before even having our wedding! Each time we were assigned a planner, we’ve had to review all our information again because the new person would have 0 details, other than the date. With how things have been handled so far, we would feel the need to pay extra for a day-off wedding coordinator to ensure our day runs smoothly, as we have lost trust and confidence. We tried to stay positive with the given situation, however the resort never acknowledged how we were treated with their lack of communication and poor customer service. As the current pandemic is greatly impacting our wedding, I spoke with coordinator #4 to confirm a back-up date. At the time we were reassured the Hilton is allowing Coronavirus wedding reschedules with no penalty. With 95% of our guests traveling from all of the country & internationally, we did not feel comfortable putting our loved one’s risk, especially those who are immunocompromised. After these considerations & many dates filing up for 2021, we informed the coordinator we would like to move our wedding to the confirmed postponement date. A few days after not hearing anything, we received communication which repudiated what we were originally told. Now, switching to our confirmed postponement date is apparently not a guarantee and we could still be liable for our deposit PLUS loss of use. We are also unable to communicate or confirm our wedding date with the venue, as management isn’t allowing us to discuss the matter until almost June. Prior to going back on their word, I already coordinated the new date with my vendors, which were all more than accommodating and understanding. In this period of wedding limbo, I’m unable to communicate with our guests that are trying to make travel arrangements. With everything we’d be through so far, I really anticipated a much better experience with the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort. Moving forward, I hope our venue can turn these negatives into a positive so that we can actually count on the Hilton for the most special day of our lives. Will provide update.

I contacted Hilton at the end of January for my small April 2020 destination wedding (I’m from Chicago and 9 months pregnant and wanted to get something booked before the baby comes). Brittany was quick to respond at first, sharing a lovely “intimate affairs” menu for wedding parties under 40 guests @ $90/plate. We scheduled a call and talked on Feb 4th. Brittany was super helpful answering all of my ceremony/reception/general questions. I shared there would be 24 guests, on Saturday, 4/25 and she confirmed that day was available. She said that for the price, we were able to do our reception dinner on the Deck @ 560 (their outside restaurant) and we could pick between a two hour open bar or do drinks a la carte. I asked multiple follow up questions about the type of decor I was able to bring to the restaurant, where it would be moved if it rained, a handful of other questions related to the ceremony, and the discounts for their room rates for small weddings. I got super excited after my conversation with Brittany and started following their Instagram and mentally planning around their venue. After getting a few things financially in order I decided I wanted to put down a deposit 2 after our conversation. I emailed Brittany both through The Knot messaging system, as well as their website email and where my email went unanswered for a week. I heard from girl named Jessica who asked for my contact information to set up a call. I responded to Jessica and that email went unresponsive for another 5 business days. After not hearing from their events team, I took it upon myself to call the hotel directly - I was given a managers voicemail. When the Manager Andrew finally called me back, he was monotone and hardly apologetic stating “they’ve had a lot of turn over”. To make things worse, he proceeded to tell me that the Saturday minimum was 15k and that I would not be able to host my reception on the day I had already been approved for. He then told me then Sunday - Thursday carried a fee minimum of 5k (my 24 guests + $90/plate equates to half of that) Andrew had a very “it is what it is” tone and appeared to offer no solution at all. If I was given this information upfront I would have been able to explore other options, instead of being blindly mislead during my first conversation with his team. I wasted a month of my time and planning which under normal circumstances wouldn’t have been a huge deal if you didn’t have a baby on the way. Him and his team were extremely unprofessional and misleading. They do not have it together. If you are planning remotely, I advise to stay away from Andrew and his team.

Jason Gannon with the Hilton Marco Island is the best! I can not explain what a wonderful experience it has been planning my wedding at the Hilton. Jason has gone above and beyond to help me with ever little detail. From the second I called the Hilton Jason made me feel comfortable and like I was number one on his priority list. I know that the Hilton is a very busy place but everyone has always been more than helpful! Looking forward to my wedding on November 5th at the Marco Island Hilton. I will update with pictures!

We have yet to have our wedding, it’s coming up in a short six weeks and I truly feel like the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa has helped calm nerves when needed. In the midst of a complete remodel, they’ve responded promptly to questions and helped ease any nerves we might have. Their accommodations are second to none. It’s a complete day to night makeover and it’s gorgeous. We are counting down the days until our wedding and very eager to host our guests at this beautiful venue.