Zachari Dunes on Mandalay Beach

lieves hospitality is a craft, this experience was especially heartbreaking. The setting is beautiful, but the service and execution fell far below what I expected. There’s so many balls but here’s just a few: • Champagne, my fav drink & something discussed in advance, was N/A during our fully hosted 5-hour bar package. My girls had to go to my room and bring MY champagne I had purchased to supplement the bar. Mind you, I asked weeks ahead of time if the banquet menus are correct of if I needed to swap anything out before printing… I was assured it was as stated. $$$ Our names were spelled so incorrectly on signage, nearly recognizable honestly. 3-5 family/friends told staff, yet it was never communicated or corrected. • A high chair for my nephew was missing despite being on the BEO, diagram, & communicated multiple times. It took 30 min to get -  Our ceremony was overset by 20+ chairs (affecting our wedding pics) No steak knives were provided even though more than 70% of guests ordered steak, leaving them struggling with butter knives or literally eating like carnivores. • There was no warm welcome. No congrats, no special acknowledgment, & very little sense that we were there celebrating one of the biggest weekends of our lives. The guestroom experience was probably my biggest disappointment. Multiple guests complained about dirty rooms, poor service, and feeling nickel-and-dimed, including Gold & Diamond HH members. My husband was placed in a poor room despite communicating his reservation details ahead of time and specifically requesting he be marked as a VIP because he WAS. Groom, Diamond member, & payee I was also told the hotel would “take care of me” with a 2 bedroom suite for the weekend. That was not honored, despite suites remaining available during our wedding weekend. Slimy  Our room block was wrecked. I had repeatedly raised concerns during contracting because several family members are Hilton employees & had access to employee rates. Online rates remained lower than our contracted block rate months/weeks out, creating the exact issue I had tried to prevent. I had asked more than 5 times for a reasonable 1PM checkout the day after the wedding and was assured it would be accommodated. On Sunday, FD knew nothing about it AND repeatedly told us no. As someone who works in hotels, I  understand late checkout is availability based, but after hosting a wedding & room block, with a Gold & Diamond member in the room, & assured it was handled, I was floored. Only after asking for a manager was the 1PM checkout honored with disdain.  That was the straw that broke my grace. Until then, I had overlooked a lot because I understand hotel operations and know mistakes happen. But the pattern of missed details, poor communication, & lack of recovery became impossible to ignore. What stays with me most is how we were made to feel. I booked this hotel because I trusted Hilton & believed we would be cared for. Instead, I felt like our wedding was a burden I do not expect perfection. What matters is communication, ownership, recovery, and making people feel cared for. I truly hope future couples are treated better than we were, for their sake and for the future success of the hotel. I just wish the hospitality had matched the setting.