My fiance and I were very excited to host our wedding reception at the Majestic. We booked nearly two years in advance, as we planned a long engagement to help ease the planning & coordination, as well as giving family from the east coast a chance to attend. We had our pick of any venue we wanted since we were planning so early and were thrilled to have the opportunity to hold it somewhere that was all inclusive for setup, catering, etc. As well, we were booking in the 2012 rates, which nearly doubled after they completed renovations in 2013.
After 14 months of our reservation, we received a phone call notifying us that the catering manager who booked us, had double-booked our wedding date. When we signed our contract and paid the entire site fee, not just a deposit, the manager had told us the only other weekend booked was the one prior to ours and that no one else had asked about our date. However, that apparently wasn't the case, as the other wedding party had booked a week prior to us (or so the hotel says).
We had also received an email at least 9 months prior to this phone call from the Director of Catering/Sales to notify us that the manager who had booked us was no longer with the company and that he wanted to check in and see if we had any questions. If that was the case, then they also had to send the same email to the other wedding party at that time, and therefore could have found the double-booking at that time.
They directed the mistake to their previous manager, and apologized for the error. They told us they wouldn't book additional dates until we figured out what date we wanted to reschedule to, but for us that wasn't an option. We had family with flights booked, additional post-wedding cruises booked, photographers, churches, DJ, etc. on top of already having sent out save-the-date cards.
We then went in person, the following weekend, to notify them that we had scrambled to find another location (from our now very limited options) and that we wanted our money back, which they willingly returned. We spoke with the Hotel Manager who mentioned their Owner/Director was away at a funeral, but that he would get back to us the following Monday regarding their thoughts on how to "make up" for breaking our legal contract. It has now been over a year and we still have heard absolutely nothing back from them. (They commented on other sites that they offered a cost-free rental at another date, but this was not the case.)
Either they really screwed up and failed to catch it for 14 months, including when we made multiple visits, exchanged multiple emails and they had plenty of occasions for finding the error, or they booked someone over our date because they would make more money from the 2013/2014 rates and told us otherwise. Both of these make for a HORRIBLE business operation. They are lucky we are not litigious people, but unfortunately for them, all 230 people from the area that were invited are now completely aware of how poorly ran their business is.
Mistakes happen, but this was piss poor and no contact was made after.
I highly recommend you don't trust them for any visits/events that you wish to hold in Anacortes.