Monterey Marriott

ail.  We hosted our rehearsal dinner, afterparty, brunch, and other small events at the Marriott. The property has event spaces of different sizes; our events ranged from 60 to 240 people.  Our rehearsal dinner and brunch were in the Ferrantes ballroom - this space is stunning, and worked well for both plated and buffet meals (with amazing service for both). The glass walls with views of the ocean and Monterey are magical, and you get the full benefit of being at the tallest building in Monterey. Our afterparty was in the Characters bar, which had space for a dance floor, food, and bar for 100, + a great sound system. Finally, we hosted smaller events in a hospitality suite - this worked well, as it opened up to the pool deck, so we could entertain more casually.  Beyond the venue - the Monterey Marriott team really made our events shine. From the first day working with our catering executive Jamie, we felt that we were in good hands. Jamie helped us scope event structure different ways and showed us spaces multiple times before we signed a contract, so that we could be sure the Marriott would be a good fit for us. In addition, she helped us set reasonable spend minimums so that we could continue refining events while having venues + room rates locked in. Jamie checked in with us throughout the process to ensure we had everything we needed, including following up with us in person the day after our wedding, which we really appreciated.  Our event manager Kimberly ensured every detail was taken care of for our wedding weekend. She answered tons of long emails, texts, and phone calls and kept track of many unique requests over 14 months. Kimberly took the time to understand what was important to us and why we were asking for things, so that she could make our vision come to life. From room layouts, to salad green mix percentage, to being on call for our whole wedding weekend over a holiday -  Kim truly came through and made our experience exceptional.  If you’re considering a room block for your wedding, the Marriott is great to work with, even if all of your events aren’t on-property. Our room coordinator Sandy adjusted details of our booking website to make it easier to navigate for guests, and the Marriott team (including Olivia at the front desk) helped us place guests into specific rooms so that we could keep our party together. An online room block portal let us to track rooms that had been booked, by who, and for how many nights, without needing to request that information from the Marriott team.  Finally -  we’d like to call out the catering manager Joe, who took the time to understand our catering needs and gave recommendations for how we could improve our dish selection and flow. Joe and his team were able to manage all of our (many) dietary restrictions and cook amazing meals for multiple events ranging from 60 to 240 guests.  We strongly recommend hosting wedding events at the Monterey Marriott. For 14 months, we felt that the team was trying to get to know and understand our family and our needs so that they could better tailor our event - a true example of hospitality. Plus, the downtown location with stunning water views can’t be beat. Thank you to the Monterey Marriott team for making our wedding dreams come true!