Hotel Contessa

I fell in love with the Hotel Contessa 5 years before my wedding when my cousin toured it while searching for venues. When it was my turn to choose a venue, we looked at quite a few other places, but I kept coming back to the Contessa with it’s gorgeous lobby, patio, access to marriage island, view of the river, and river level reception room. We were treated wonderfully by the staff at every step of the process, even though they were going through the process of adjusting to new ownership and staff changes. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to all the wonderful staff members who were so kind and treated us like family. Monica, Rosa, Victor, Mauricio, Joe, Luz, Elise, Patricia, Toribio, & Natalia were all so wonderful. I’m sure I’m missing some names! Setting up the hotel block was incredibly easy and flexible, and the rooms are gorgeous. Our wedding suite had a living room area with plenty of room for getting ready, and the staff delivered some champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to our room after the wedding. When we got there, one of our guests needed to change rooms to be closer to us because they had a toddler with them, and the front desk was so quick and gracious with moving them into a new room. The staff worked so hard to make sure everything was exactly as I imagined it and set up the reception room and patio so beautifully. The river level reception room was the perfect size for 70 people and a DJ, and it’s so pretty on its own that we barely had to do any decorating. Because it’s a hotel right on the river, it was also a perfect hub for hanging out all weekend. Guests would use the river level lobby to hang out, get drinks and catch up, and then explore the riverwalk. It was so easy to spend more time with guests individually as they came and went through the lobby, and it made getting ready the day of so simple because we didn’t have travel between getting dressed and the ceremony. We had live music for the ceremony and cocktail hour, and it was an easy process to get our guitarist set up on the patio. The drinks and food were all delicious, and given how prices have been going up for so long now, it was honestly a pleasant surprise at how affordable it was compared to other venues/caterers given how fancy everything felt. We had an open bar for cocktail hour and dinner, appetizers, and a complementary vegetarian option, so we didn’t have to worry about making sure our guests had options. The staff also went out of their way to make sure we ate because you so often hear about how the bride and groom missed out on food during the wedding (shout-out to Victor and Mauricio!). Honestly, everything was so perfect, and I can’t recommend them enough! If you have the opportunity to have your wedding at The Hotel Contessa, you definitely should.

Monica was absolutely amazing and we couldn't have done our reception without her help and guidance. The Anaqua room was unbelievable and well decorated for our reception. I could not recommend Monica and Hotel Contessa more for your wedding and reception needs!