Breckenridge Lodging & Hospitality

Breckenridge Hospitality is a subsidiary of Vail Resorts and managed everything from our hotel rooms, wedding reception and rehearsal dinner. Our experience with them has been pretty horrible from beginning to end. The end result was OK. But the process was so completely frustrating that I would NOT recommend them, especially at Breckenridge. I’ve heard that Vail Resorts at other hotels aren’t as bad. Overall, our main issue is with communication. We were told things initially that they refused then to support when it came up later. We had to do a lot of negotiating, which just left us feeling like we were being nickeled and dimed. This was frustrating as we were spending thousands of dollar at their business during the off-season, and they wouldn’t budge on something that would end up being less than $100.When we first visited Mountain Thunder, we fell in love with the rooms. And we loved that they seemed so accommodating to us since we were getting married in the off-season. They told us that they wanted to be up front about costs so there’d be no surprises. They were great about getting back to us with answers to our questions, however minor.But once we signed the contract, we received poor customer service. They wouldn’t return phone calls or emails. I would have to call repeatedly to get questions answered. And then we started to find out about extra costs -- $5 for chair covers, extra for colored linens, extra for set-up of chair covers, extra for renting cake-cutting utensils. We went in for a tasting, expecting it would be conducted by the head chef. Instead, we were surprised when we arrived and got the sous chef. Our contact person ended up leaving (I think she got fired). And that’s when the real trouble started.The new contact person was a lot better at responding to questions and calls and emails. But Breckenridge Hospitality would not honor our original agreement. We had an initial cost estimate based on our tasting, and they changed the prices on that. We had a list of available liquors, which they then told us was not available. We were extremely frustrated at having been told one thing only to get something else. And we were frustrated that these changes were likely due to the first person being incompetent, and we were being punished for it. Eventually, we worked out an agreement with Breckenridge Hospitality. But the entire process was infuriating, especially since we were basically filling up their hotel on a weekend when it’d be empty.Here’s the breakdown of how things actually went:Mountain Thunder Lodge – lodging – ExceptionalThe rooms themselves are what convinced us to have the wedding here. They did not disappoint during our wedding weekend. Spacious & comfy rooms. Mountain Thunder Lodge – reception – PoorThe main disappointment was our food – it was not the same as our tasting, was not as good as what we had during the tasting. Very disappointing. Service staff was not helpful in setting up. They did not get communication from the coordinator about what we needed for setup, and it took my matron of honor badgering them in order to get what we needed. And they weren’t responsive when my sis asked for something to wrap up some of the kids’ chicken nuggets for later (they were jet-lagged at the wedding). The appetizers were great, but that was pretty much it.Park Avenue Pub – rehearsal dinner & welcome reception – Above averageBreckenridge Hospitality closed down the entire pub for us from 6 to midnight. We had our rehearsal dinner there first, with a buffet that was awesome. And then we opened it up to all our guests and had an open bar, with a sandwich buffet. The buffet, again, was awesome. The bartenders were great – lots of fun and really helpful. The only glitch was that it was supposed to be a limited bar – at their request – and they ended up letting a few people order some higher-end liquors.Again, overall, the end result was fine. But the communication leading up to the wedding and then after the wedding has really left us frustrated. I would not recommend using them.