La Playa Hotel

My husband and I had our wedding here last Sunday, October 9th, and it was the most amazing and beautiful venue imaginable! The Director of Catering, Richard Wood, is an all-star who not only made planning the wedding easy and stress free, but he put together our vision flawlessly and I couldn't have imagined anything more perfect!!! We had a Sunday Brunch-style wedding and it was amazing. The food was perfect, service impeccable...I even told Richard that I wanted a bloody mary bar with all of the fixings and he made it happen without hesitation! We were given the Executive Suite for our wedding night and let me tell you it does NOT disappoint!!! There was nothing like waking up after the wedding day to eat our breakfast on the patio with million dollar views of the ocean...aaahhh.....The only reason I rated the rooms "average" is because we had family and friends stay in the regular rooms and they are a bit small and in need of renovation, but they are still just fine! The suite and bungalows, however, are perfection!!! Long story short, if you are looking for a classy venue with stunning views and excellent views, look no further!!!!

It's hard to find the perfect word to describe my formal garden wedding at The La Playa, but exquisite might do. Richard Wood and the entire hotel staff provided us with a wedding one can only dream about. If you're looking for a garden to be married in, only the La Playa will do. The grounds are meticulously cared for and your photos will be stunning. Richard was attentive to our special ceremony requests and made us feel very welcome to this wonderful place. In fact, the entire place seemed to be ours on our wedding day. The Carmel Room was the perfect location for the reception. The doors are open to the grounds which makes the room seem much larger. It's also tucked away from the rest of the hotel for a feeling of privacy. We chose the La Playa not only for the gardens, but for the overall feel of "vintage California". For this, I hope the La Playa never changes. If you're looking for ultra modern this is not the place for you. Careful...most of the La Playa is not wheelchair accessible. But the staff made it possible for my father to easily make it from the gazebo to the reception with the use of ramps. If you're looking for that California feel, vintage architecture, formal gardens, the sound of the ocean, and a few birds and butterflies floating through your special day, the La Playa is the place for you.

The La Playa Hotel was the perfect setting for our July wedding! We had our ceremony at the gazebo in the beautiful gardens, and had the reception in the Poseidon room. The gardens are beautiful year-round, but I have to say it was at its best for our wedding! We didn't need flowers for ceremony decorations because of the lush beauty that was already built-in!The catering staff and banquet captain Antonia were a dream to work with. They made sure no one was neglected during the cocktail hour and reception. They even flanked all the entrances into the garden during the ceremony so that we were in a more intimate, secluded setting with our guests. They were very professional, and everything was perfectly executed on our big day.Richard Wood was awesome to work with! He is the catering manager, but also acted as our coordinator. He worked directly with our DJ to get the timing of the ceremony just right. He also responded to emails and voice mails in a timely fashion, which was imperative to me, since I was planning from Arizona.I can't say enough about this venue. And the pricing was better than other venues in San Jose, even though this is in Carmel, and right by the ocean. Our guests were in awe of the surroundings and beauty, and were able to make the weekend (or longer) into a nice vacation, exploring an area that they otherwise may have never seen!Services rendered:Ceremony VenueReception VenueCatering (including Cocktail Hour and Reception)Bartender/drinksCake

We were very happy with the location and specifically the help of Richard Wood, the onsite wedding coordinator. It was one of the easiest parts of the whole wedding. We liked the staff in both pre-wedding planning and the actual event. We highly recommend...if we had questions, they were very helpful in finding the answers - our band needed a special circuit and they found out if they had it (they did). I especially appreciated that the didn't "push" anything on us, they may have encouraged, but never pushed like other places. I would not hesitate to recommend them.

Richard, Megan, Brad, and the entire La Playa crew are amazing. I could not have asked for a more perfect location as far as organization and fluidity for my wedding day-as well as sheer beauty. I was not stressed, they had everything under control from the moment we went on the site tour to check it out. Everyone who attendened our wedding says they will recommend it too. I used their catering and their cake- absolutely amazing food and quality. I highly recommend the La Playa!