Monticello Grand Ballroom

Working with Aviator Hotels and Suites and the Monticello Grand Ballroom was a complete rollercoaster full of good and bad moments. Let's start with the bad, during the 14 months we were working with Aviator, we went through 3 venue coordinators and an ownership change. Although, the new ownership promised to honor the promises made by the previous owners, they ended up reneging on several things. First was doing a plated dinner, the new ownership was willing to do it, but said due to short staff (usually they only do 75 guests or less and we had 130) dinner would take significantly longer and eat up a large chunk of our reception. Second, was use of the sound system, a couple months before the wedding we were told their sound system didn't work and that they had no intention of fixing it before our event. Luckily, I was able to purchase a few bluetooth speakers and a microphone for under $100 and it all worked perfectly. Third, the set up of our ceremony and reception changed 3-4 times, although the final set up worked great, there were a lot of headaches having to constantly readjust plans. Next was the day of the ceremony/reception, our coordinator was unable to work that day due to a personal conflict (understandable, we all have personal lives and some things need to be prioritized), but the person who was left in charge for the day, then decided to call in sick without telling us or the coordinator. This left a complete communication gap and no-one to coordinate the staff. We were supposed to have a champagne toast as part of our package that never happened, we had to practically beg the kitchen staff to take our cake to be cut to be served, so we could move the reception along, among other issues. I ended up spending a good portion of my wedding reception organizing the staff instead of enjoying the day with my new wife. This was the biggest gripe i had and consider it completely unacceptable and if it weren't for the good parts I'll list below, this would be a 1 star review. Next is the hotel, we were given a complimentary suite with our wedding package and told that they hotel is pet friendly, which we were excited about because it meant our dog could be included in the wedding. What we were surprised to find out at check-in, is that there is an $80 "pet fee" that was not disclosed before. I understand the fee, maybe not the price, but either way it's something that we should have been informed about prior to check-in. The rooms themselves are out dated, and the furniture is in dire need of being replaced. The key for our door would only work intermittently and would need to be swiped sometimes as many as 5-6 times before working and we had to have it recoded at least twice. I'm running out of characters, so let's get to the good because I want this to be a fair and honest review. The staff at the hotel and the reception were absolutely amazing!!! Anna worked hard to come up with solutions to make things work when changes arose. The front desk staff, kitchen staff, and everyone else worked so hard and were so accommodating. They are the true heroes of this story and we appreciate every single one of them. Also, the house DJ company RockStar DJ, Doc did an amazing job and we really enjoyed working with him. Overall, despite the issues, nothing stopped this from being the single best day of my life and ultimately I would consider recommending Aviator, even if it is just because of their awesome staff!