Complaint Review: Scottsdale Cottonwood Resort and Suites - Scottsdale Arizona

My family has arranged and held many events at The Scottsdale Cottonwoods resort over the last 20 years. It was a given that my wedding reception would be held there as well! We got together withy a coordinator (Stacey Turner) and laid out all the details and ground work. Everything was good to go and verified and REVERIFIED via email, paper, and verbally. The arrangements were made approx 9 months prior to the actual event taking place. Below you will find bulleted information detailing how the evening went:

The guest bedroom was locked without notifying us of The Mother and Father of the bride were to sleep in the main house in the guest bedroom.

We were not told until THE EVENING OF THE EVENT that they had been remodeling and piled a ton of stuff in there so they would have to sleep at the hotel in a room across the way!

They had made special arrangements regarding the sleeping arrangements in the house. Another couple was going to sleep in the second bed in that room. Also, my mother was going to use that room to get ready for the reception so I could have my room (the main room) to myself.

Top shelf liquor was documented and requested-Well Liquor was presented. The reason that nothing was said during the event is because myself and the groom are the only ones who would have known there was a problem as we were the only ones who new these details. My mother is not familiar with what is...and isnt top shelf.

Champagne was to be provided and ready at the start of the event for the champagne toast that evening. We were advised RIGHT BEFORE the champagne toast when we asked where it was, that the case was dropped and therefore there would be none. NO one offered to bring another case OR refund a monetary amount for the inconvenience and embarrassment of not having champagne for our guests for the bride and groomchampagne toast.

Included in the bar was Tequila ( again not top shelf) but no mixer was present o Not only was the Tequila there only a generic Jose Quervo, but when guests asked for a margarita or anything that is made with Tequila, they declined the drink because there was no mixer. What sort of bar do you have at a party with no mixers?

The food that was brought in and catered was amazing, but none of our guests really got any food.

SEVERAL of our guests including the mother & and father of the bride AND the groom himself, complained that every single time they got themselves a plate of food or evebn a drink sometimes, it was taken away as soon as they turned around to talk with someone or got up to get a drink from the bar or inside the dining area. Some didnt even sit at a table, they were at the tall tables, they would turn around to talk with a guest, and when they spun back around their food was gone.

They literally had begun taking down the food LONG before the event was even scheduled to be over. It was taken down at the time it was to START being taken down.

We were charged for additional guests without telling us.Stacey Turner took it upon herself to charge us for an additional person. When we asked why she advised because the DJ brought an MC and she didnt think we included him because we did not specifically tell her there would be an MC alongside the DJ.

There has been zero cooperation from The Cottonwoods to rectify the situation. Since October 10th (the day of the reception) we (I and my mother Diana Meehl) have been trying to get our money back and explanations for the horrible experience we had there.

Stacey Turner has been very reluctant to answer emails and provide a solution in a timely manner. She has taken up to a week to answer nearly every correspondent sent. We were offered a free stay at the hotel in Scottsdale for our inconvenience which is not even close to a fix for the given issues that transpired that evening. The evening was supposed to be one that I would never forget and unfortunately I wont now, that is for sure. I did not get to eat any of the food and either did the groom due to the fact that it kept being taken away from us by the event workers. Myself and many of my guests had horrible hangovers and stomach aches due to the crappy alcohol served. Myself as well as my family and friends do not mind paying an extra dollar or 2 for a drink made with good liquor. It was incredibley embarrassing to have served what was served at such a beautiful and expensive resort in Scottsdale. The lack of champagne for the toast was another HUGE embarrassment, who does not offer champagne to their guests during the toast at a reception?? Only the bride and groom had champagne which my mother had to go get from the local gas station! In the beginning, even though I was furious about the events that transpired I was more than willing to try and peacefully work something out with The Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort, but due to their lack of care, empathy, and urgency to this matter I am taking the next step. I do not intend of paying ANYTHING for the bar and I want 50% back on what I paid total for the event which was over $3,500.00 for the total and complete embarrassment caused in front of my entire family and all of our close friends.