Chaminade

We just had our Wedding at Chaminade. Many of our friends asked how we found this place? It is really a beautiful resort hidden away in the hills of Santa Cruz. The views are absolutely breathtaking,especially the ceremony site. I loved that the package at Chaminade includes everything from appetizers to linens. We had the Taste of California Buffet and many guests came to tell us that you never expect much from wedding food but that ours was amazing!Another plus is that they let the reception go till midnight,and they have an on-site coordinator,but because we had a Photobooth & Candy Buffet I hired an outside coordinator as well. My only gripe was that I had talked to their coordinator many times in the year before and she assured me we could have an afterparty in our room with the Bridal Party and it would be no problem. Well, within 10 minutes of coming back-we were only sitting around talking!no music playing or anything,we had security at our door kicking guests out.I was very unhappy about that after being assured for so long that it was no problem.So just be aware of that and don't plan an after party in your suite like we did.If they had told me it would be a problem we would have made after party plans.

this review is for the spa and resort @ chaminade. my generous bridesmaids spoiled me with a getaway bachelorette weekend and one of the things we did was come to chaminade for spa treatments. the resort is lovely, really sprawled out, hidden away in the hills, natural and serene with beautiful views. my bms treated me to a body wrap. there are two kinds, i had the green tea one. it was fabulous. for 90 minutes, your entire body and face is exfoliated, moisturized, massaged and pampered. they had massages which i think they all enjoyed. afterwards, you can hang out at the private spa patio with a jacuzzi, koi pond and beautiful views. we sat there for a while to take in the scenery. only complaint would be that it's kind of small, only two lounge chairs available. there are also many other things you have access to if you get spa treatments like the fitness center, pool, hiking trails, etc but unfortunately we didn't take advantage of any of those things. thinking back, i wish we would have to get the most for our money. the locker room is very nice & clean with showers and a steam room. and the staff was very friendly. note that they include gratuity in the cost so anything you want to give on top of that is up to you. we also stayed overnight in their hotel which was very nice. we had a double room on the top floor. the beds were so comfy! the next day, we had champagne brunch at their sunset restaurant. there was everything from breakfast foods (pancakes, belgian waffles, eggs benedict) to prime rib and a salad bar. to be honest, the food wasn't the absolute best. the pancakes were completely dried out and the bacon was burnt to a crisp; but they did have a great dessert bar with a chocolate fountain and tons of stuff to dip in it! overall, a great experience!

Chaminade resort has been one of the most horrendous experiences we have had ever. After we started working with them the first few months seemed great but as we got closer to the wedding things started to fall apart. Our guests would call in to book the rooms only to be told that the price was $230 per room per night with a 2 night minimum and we had negotiated for only 1 night minimum since some guests wouldn't be staying more than one night. Then their website dropped the price of the rooms down to $189 and they were told basically the negotiated price was for $230 night and that is what they would be charged. We first contacted them about it and they were unwilling to compromise so we informed our guests to book without telling them they are part of our wedding. We requested management intervention and after negotiating we were able to get the room rate down to $179 a night.

We all know the economy is bad and people are being laid off in all walks of life. Times are tough and it is no different for us and our guests. We originally invited around 250 guests thinking we would end up with about 150. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. The economy has taken a toll on our families and friends and we now only have about 100 coming to the wedding and it seems to be shrinking as time moves on. We contacted Chaminade to explain our situation and if we could work out a deal for the same cost but without having to meet the minimum due to the economic times taking a toll on our family and friends. Chaminades response was to raise the kids meals from $40 dollars a plate to $114 and vendor meals from $40 dollars a plate to $114 a plate. Then charge us $114 per person for each person not coming up to the $125 minimum. Then responding with, we are a business and are trying to operate a business and there was plenty of others who definitely would have made their minimum but we chose you instead. It was the other way around, Chaminade wasn't our first choice and no one had booked that day 9 months in advance when we started our planning and booking, the primary place we wanted unfortunately didn't have the rooms available to meet our needs. I can definitely sympathize that they are running a business but what I found interesting is all our vendors were more than willing to work with us and we made changes in line with the growing economic downturn with the exception of Chaminade. They were completely unwilling to compromise or even acknowledge there were problems. We contacted them separately about room availability for the night of our wedding and they were not even close to being at capacity for the weekend. They may be a business but hopefully a business that is failing at a rapid pace. I wouldn't recommend the resort to anyone, nor would I recommend having their wedding there.