When we started planning our event during April 2024, we expected a professional implementation of our intentions as far as how the event would be coordinated and executed, and no change in leadership during the process. But there were 3 changes in leadership during the 16 months that followed leading to the event. This caused the majority of what we discussed with the 3 planners before the final one to be lost in the translation, despite us trying to keep the final planner up to date as much as possible. As a result, on the day of the event, the cleaning and set-up crew was totally unprepared to set up and execute the event as intended - whether it was due to the amateur crew assisting the supervisor (which she confessed herself, referring to them as 'teenagers' who had to be watched constantly) or lack of communication within the staff regarding set-up and other activities. Overall, the event was the most unprofessional display by any hotel we have ever seen. Doubletree was a respectable hotel in our opinion before this experience. Everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong - and I will start from the beginning.
Hotel rooms: The room that the bride and groom got the night before the event was not cleaned up. There were slices of half-eaten pizza on the counter, other garbage around the room, and the bed was not made. When they called the front desk, someone came and removed the large garbage and made the bed - and that was it, no further cleaning. The same day, the room for another guest was leaking from the roof, and the bed was soaking wet. She sat down on it without realizing and wet her clothes immediately and completely. Two of the guests we were paying for the night before the event did not get the 2 Queens Bedroom we arranged for them and promised to us by Reservations, and they got the 1 King Bedroom instead. This was unacceptable as each of these guests had 4 family members - and this was the reason the 2 Queens Bedroom was arranged for them. Also, the groom's brother had check-in issues with his event night reservation. There may have been other issues with hotel room check-ins which I am not aware of.
Set-up the morning of the event: The set-up was supposed to begin at 11 am according to the banquet event order (BEO). However, cleanup of the event from the previous night did not begin until noon, and the crew supervisor was extremely overwhelmed as she did not have any help, or the table layout from the event coordinator, to set up the tables. This was due to lack of proper communication between the two of them. Eventually the supervisor had to go into the coordinator's office and obtain a copy of the table layout. Seeing the former in panic mode, we tried to help to speed up the task. However, one of the round tables my cousin and I tried to move was not locked as it should have been by the hotel personnel. The moment we tried to move it, this heavy unlocked table folded and fell just under my right knee, slid down my shin, and stopped just above my feet - pinning my feet underneath. It was so painful that my eyes teared up as I was writhing in pain. The supervisor filed an incident report as it happened on hotel property due to hotel negligence. I sustained cuts under my knee, on my shin, and above my feet. My cousin and his wife put ice on the injury for about 10-15 min., and the supervisor put antiseptic cream on all 3 injuries and waterproof band-aid on the below knee and above foot cuts. After about half an hour, I was able to walk again without assistance.
The Event: There were numerous issues administering the event itself. The appetizers were supposed to be served around the room by hotel staff walking around with them. Instead, they were all laid down on buffet tables. The quality of all 3 of the Empire dinner plates had deteriorated substantially from our menu tasting 6 months earlier. Despite my numerous emails to the final planner stating the mint jelly was to be served on the side of the lamb chops instead of on top as at the menu tasting, there was no mint jelly served at all at the event - only the lamb chops. The lamb chops in the menu tasting were thick and juicy, but the lamb chops served at the event were thin and dry. Despite my numerous emails to the final planner asking that dark meat be served for the Chicken Marsala, white meat was served. And the Norwegian Salmon was just as dry at the event as it was at the menu tasting. Then, when it was time to set up the outside caterer's food on chafing dishes and burners after dinner, as was discussed during our meeting with the hotel and the hotel assured us they would do, nothing was set up. When we asked the supervisor why, she said the outside caterer was supposed to do that and they didn't - and no one told her the hotel would do so. It seems she forgot what was decided at the meeting. If the coordinator was supposed to remind the supervisor about it, this was another major miscommunication between them. However, the supervisor did call the outside caterer in the midst of the event - and the latter had to come to set up the chafing dishes and burners so the guests could serve themselves. The outside caterer charged us a substantial additional fee to do this. Then, when it was time for the supervisor and crew to cut the cake for the guests, no one from the hotel was to be found. Finally, after we actually had to remind the supervisor to cut the cakes, the cakes were cut after a long delay. The cut pieces were set on a table - and guests who saw them had them, and the guests who missed seeing them did not. The supervisor worked hard but was overwhelmed due to short and amateur staffing, and a lack of any kind of structure or communication.
Summary: There were numerous serious negative issues regarding the handling of our special event by the hotel, and this is far below the standards we expected from Doubletree. This was supposed to be a fun, worry-free, and memorable event for us. Instead, it turned out to be one of the most stressful evenings of our lives.
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