Amara Cay Resort

Beautiful resort for both a ceremony and reception that was private for our big day! Andrea and Amanda were great to work with and the staff at the resort were so accommodating to our guests and needs!

Our wedding at Amara Cay was beyond disappointing with everyone we dealt with along the way. Brides beware. You feel like a second rate guest for your special day. Months in advance I requested a certain room, we didn’t get it. I asked for a steamer to be in our room when we checked in (to steam my dress) it wasn’t. After many phone calls the day of check in and the next day finally the next day (day of the event) they brought it up. I asked for our room to be cleaned after getting ready for my wedding with my bridesmaids in our room, they assured us they would. We came back to our room after our wedding to a dirty room and clean towels in a trash bag that were thrown on the couch. The tiki bar service was terrible and under staffed. Expect to wait 20 mins for a drink if you’re staying during the weekend. We waited 20 mins to get checked in because the front was understaffed (no wonder no one ever answered the phone when our guests we’re trying to book rooms) We were suppose to have our wedding rehearsal on the beach at a set time that was reserved. We had to ask guests to move as they were eating and sitting in chairs in the part of the beach that was suppose to be cleared. Andrea, our “Event Coordinator” we could never get a hold of her. I had to resend numerous emails multiple times to get her to respond. I think I had about 3 phone conversations with her total through our whole wedding process. Thank god we had a wedding planner that she seemed to respond to. After addressing these things with Lauren Clevenger the General manager she wrote us an email that basically said we could really care less about your experience. We treat our guests well. We got your money hope you decide to stay with us again in the future. We chose this place to have one of our most memorable days, and they wrote us off and treated us like second rate guests. Amara Cay isn’t a resort. I’ve stayed at holiday Inns that treat their guests better. There’s no spa, no one helps you with your bags. There were no towels at the pool. I’m not sure other than serving food what resort experience they provide. It’s not the customer service. If you’re just going to stay, it’s not worth the prices they charge. It’s on the water. There’s your one perk. Most of our guests complained their rooms were damp and very humid. If you’re looking into having your wedding here and expecting great service, look elsewhere. It’s far too expensive for what they provide.

Amara Cay was the worst place to have our wedding at. They screwed up virtually every single detail, weren’t available to discuss, fix or improve anything they messed up - worst of all - no apologies or attempts to remedy any of it. They messed up the dates we were supposed to stay there, gave us the wrong room even after numerous guarantees to make sure we had the right room. Overcharged for our block of rooms we set aside, outright lied about what rooms we could use and for what purposes, and that they only had one event per weekend. Andra Hammet in particular told this, among many other outright lies. She also messed up our arrangement for the reception, didn’t have the beach cleared for our rehearsal, mislead us regarding the food for the reception and was magically unavailable any time we tried to call her. She also refused to allow us a food tasting for the event “due to covid”, however when we showed up to sign our contract, she was literally too busy doing a tasting for another group. The GM, Lauren Clevenger basically told us tough luck when we brought all the issues to her attention. Not to mention the front desk staff whom was rude, the kayak rental attendants who yelled at guests asking to leave their shoes onshore, the bartenders who were seemingly drunk and couldn’t fill drink or food orders, or - the brunch we spent thousands on for Friday that was missing agreed to items and also set up incorrectly. This was a sh&t show from start to finish. This wasn’t an isolated incident, if you see a reply down below its BS as they have already replied telling us to basically too bad, thanks for spending $40k with us. Amara Cay is no resort either. It’s a churched up holiday inn. No spa, no real restaurant, snappy old small rooms, and horrid customer service form the top all the way down. Andrea Hammet (in charge of events) and GM Lauren Clevenger are both awful in the career roles, with no care for their customers basic happiness. If you can’t do what you agree to, or we pay for - don’t agree to it then. Oh! Andrea also told us we could use sparklers as a send off as long as it wasn’t near the tiki. That was also a lie. We are currently considering legal actions for fraud as well. This was abhorrent.

Wow what a gorgeous wedding venue! Amara Cay treated us like VIPs throughout the whole experience. Andrea’s attention to detail was exceptional. The food was phenomenal, we had compliments from all of the guests on the food. So glad we had our wedding there!