The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay Reviews

Reviews

• Devon Sent on 12/29/2014
  5 out of 5 rating

  5.0
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Beautiful location, wonderful staff , and excellent food!

  Beautiful location, wonderful staff , and excellent food!
• Kristin Sent on 10/04/2011
  4.9 out of 5 rating

  4.9
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    4.5 out of 5 rating
    4.5
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  We held our wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay in September of 2011. The property and the view are absolutely stunning, and the weather was perfect. The staff at the Ritz made sure that our guests, my husband, and I were taken care of and treated well. It truly felt like a fairy tale! Our assigned wedding coordinator, Lesli, was fun, personable, and easy to work with. She made sure that planning the wedding was a positive experience and was able to calm a very type-A bride! I would definitely recommend this dream venue to another couple. However, I did not give the Ritz a perfect score for value, as I felt that some of the prices were extreme (although it's the Ritz-Carlton, so that wasn't a surprise!). Also, we had a few problems with payments during the week of the wedding, as I had made it clear that my mother was going to pay the final deposit, but the Ritz-Carlton charged the deposit to my husband's credit card without informing us. This caused us to have to borrow money last minute from a friend (that was quite a stressful scramble!) in order to book our honeymoon hotel, since the charging error took a few business days to correct at the bank. When the hotel finally corrected the charge, they tried to charge my mother QUADRUPLE what the final deposit balance actually was. Luckily, my mother checked the bill carefully and was able to report the error before she was charged way too much money! These errors made for some stressful and tense moments that took away from our wedding weekend, but other than those mistakes, I can't say enough about how amazing the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay is as a wedding venue!

  We held our wedding at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay in September of 2011. The property and the view are absolutely stunning, and the weather was perfect. The staff at the Ritz made sure that our guests, my husband, and I were taken care of and treated well. It truly felt like a fairy tale! Our assigned wedding coordinator, Lesli, was fun, personable, and easy to work with. She made sure that planning the wedding was a positive experience and was able to calm a very type-A bride! I would definitely recommend this dream venue to another couple. However, I did not give the Ritz a perfect score for value, as I felt that some of the prices were extreme (although it's the Ritz-Carlton, so that wasn't a surprise!). Also, we had a few problems with payments during the week of the wedding, as I had made it clear that my mother was going to pay the final deposit, but the Ritz-Carlton charged the deposit to my husband's credit card without informing us. This caused us to have to borrow money last minute from a friend (that was quite a stressful scramble!) in order to book our honeymoon hotel, since the charging error took a few business days to correct at the bank. When the hotel finally corrected the charge, they tried to charge my mother QUADRUPLE what the final deposit balance actually was. Luckily, my mother checked the bill carefully and was able to report the error before she was charged way too much money! These errors made for some stressful and tense moments that took away from our wedding weekend, but other than those mistakes, I can't say enough about how amazing the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay is as a wedding venue!
• Jeremy Sent on 10/07/2009
  4.8 out of 5 rating

  4.8
  • Quality of service
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Average response time
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Professionalism
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0
  • Value
    4.0 out of 5 rating
    4.0
  • Flexibility
    5.0 out of 5 rating
    5.0

  Nice service and ocean view!! Amy is the best wedding consultant ever!!

  Nice service and ocean view!! Amy is the best wedding consultant ever!!
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• Lisa Sent on 08/04/2008
  2.6 out of 5 rating

  2.6
  • Quality of service
    3.0 out of 5 rating
    3.0
  • Average response time
    2.0 out of 5 rating
    2.0
  • Professionalism
    3.0 out of 5 rating
    3.0
  • Value
    3.0 out of 5 rating
    3.0
  • Flexibility
    2.0 out of 5 rating
    2.0

  To be fair, The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay hosts many, many weddings per weekend. That said, your wedding contact here will not contact you or return your call within a week or even two or three weeks. In fact, it is very hard to get in touch with anyone here (after you signed your contract) who doesn't seem frazzled or overwhelmed and too busy to speak to you. The draw at the Ritz HMB is the beautiful ocean view. The service is okay and the food is not bad, but the setting is amazing (on a clear, sunny day) and what makes this a great venue.
  
  By the way, the manager at The Ritz had the nerve to approach me the night of my wedding asking me if I would shut down my band if they gave me $1K. It was a very unpleasant experience and the conversation took precious time away from my beautiful and costly wedding!

  To be fair, The Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay hosts many, many weddings per weekend. That said, your wedding contact here will not contact you or return your call within a week or even two or three weeks. In fact, it is very hard to get in touch with anyone here (after you signed your contract) who doesn't seem frazzled or overwhelmed and too busy to speak to you. The draw at the Ritz HMB is the beautiful ocean view. The service is okay and the food is not bad, but the setting is amazing (on a clear, sunny day) and what makes this a great venue.
  
  By the way, the manager at The Ritz had the nerve to approach me the night of my wedding asking me if I would shut down my band if they gave me $1K. It was a very unpleasant experience and the conversation took precious time away from my beautiful and costly wedding!
• Tiffany Sent on 07/06/2016
  1.5 out of 5 rating

  1.5
  • Quality of service
    1.0 out of 5 rating
    1.0
  • Average response time
    3.5 out of 5 rating
    3.5
  • Professionalism
    1.0 out of 5 rating
    1.0
  • Value
    0.5 out of 5 rating
    0.5
  • Flexibility
    1.5 out of 5 rating
    1.5

  I wouldn't recommend booking with the Ritz HMB.
  1) The staff is extremely corporate. They have unstated fees that you don't think of when you sign unless you know to ask prior (corkage, cake cutting, additional setup hour fees, fees incurred if you want to use their ceiling for lights/chandeliers) and look to take money wherever they can. If you sign, keep the menus you signed with as paper copies because their menus update and you could easily be charged the new menu fees (I had to screenshot my menu to get the lower prices). They won't even validate your bride and groom parking on your wedding weekend after spending $50k+.
  2) Food was subpar. You spend all this time picking out your menu based on the amazing tasting you have, only to realize the food served to your guests isn't close. We had to complain to the head chef to get no better answer than "This was exactly what was served at your tasting." Take ZERO responsibility. I have pictures showing how the colors were different. I had pictures of my guests food versus my food served showing the difference in quality (they tried to give us -bride and groom- nicer scallops to make up for it, and I saw my friend's plate which looked nothing similar).
  3) There unprofessionalism in dealing with the criticisms was absurd. ALL my vendors except the Ritz took our feedback seriously and either took responsibility by refunding me a portion OR gave very valid explanations. The Ritz says "Sorry you feel that way" and offered very few airline points. They tried to bring up points which they conceded on in the past, but that shouldn't be used to cover up dissatifaction later when that was given on good terms earlier. I'd prefer them admitting they can't do anymore than give that corporate response.
  I'm only writing 1 bad review for my vendors and that's for the Ritz.

  I wouldn't recommend booking with the Ritz HMB.
  1) The staff is extremely corporate. They have unstated fees that you don't think of when you sign unless you know to ask prior (corkage, cake cutting, additional setup hour fees, fees incurred if you want to use their ceiling for lights/chandeliers) and look to take money wherever they can. If you sign, keep the menus you signed with as paper copies because their menus update and you could easily be charged the new menu fees (I had to screenshot my menu to get the lower prices). They won't even validate your bride and groom parking on your wedding weekend after spending $50k+.
  2) Food was subpar. You spend all this time picking out your menu based on the amazing tasting you have, only to realize the food served to your guests isn't close. We had to complain to the head chef to get no better answer than "This was exactly what was served at your tasting." Take ZERO responsibility. I have pictures showing how the colors were different. I had pictures of my guests food versus my food served showing the difference in quality (they tried to give us -bride and groom- nicer scallops to make up for it, and I saw my friend's plate which looked nothing similar).
  3) There unprofessionalism in dealing with the criticisms was absurd. ALL my vendors except the Ritz took our feedback seriously and either took responsibility by refunding me a portion OR gave very valid explanations. The Ritz says "Sorry you feel that way" and offered very few airline points. They tried to bring up points which they conceded on in the past, but that shouldn't be used to cover up dissatifaction later when that was given on good terms earlier. I'd prefer them admitting they can't do anymore than give that corporate response.
  I'm only writing 1 bad review for my vendors and that's for the Ritz.
• Christine Sent on 07/20/2015
  1.1 out of 5 rating

  1.1
  • Quality of service
    1.5 out of 5 rating
    1.5
  • Average response time
    1.5 out of 5 rating
    1.5
  • Professionalism
    1.5 out of 5 rating
    1.5
  • Value
    0.5 out of 5 rating
    0.5
  • Flexibility
    0.5 out of 5 rating
    0.5

  I would not recommend getting married at the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay location. The price was steep as we already knew, but did not have great customer service to compensate for that price.
  During our dinner tasting, we were presented with what the actual dish would look/taste like, and then our smaller tasting portions. When the actual dinner came around, the food did not look like what was presented at the tasting and didn't taste like how it was presented at the tasting. It was overly salty, cold, and actually a couple of our guests mentioned they didn't even have any scallops when their appetizer came out. They mentioned this to the waiters & a new dish was brought out to them with the scallop, but this really shouldn't happen at such a prestigious restaurant/hotel. Soup that was presented as being served table side in a pitcher was served pre-poured. Not a huge deal, but I am annoyed that I was told that the soup would presented a certain way and the day of, the chefs cut corners and chalked it up to "I forgot to write in my notes that was how it was supposed to be presented". When I worked in a restaurant, we made sure we double checked every item before the plates were distributed to the public. Quality check did not happen throughout our dinner and that is incredibly disappointing.
  Guests were also not directed to the Ocean Lawn after they valet parked their cars; they ended up wandering around the hotel lost and some even wandered into our Bridal Suite as we were getting ready. No signs, no greeter, no nothing.
  Really incredibly disappointing experience and I highly recommend you save your money and find a different venue. Lack of responsiveness, lack of overall care, lack of professionalism. Our wedding coordinator even left at 8PM when our reception ended at 11PM without finding a replacement in case things went way south. Emails we sent were often unanswered or took way too long to receive a response.

  I would not recommend getting married at the Ritz Carlton, Half Moon Bay location. The price was steep as we already knew, but did not have great customer service to compensate for that price.
  During our dinner tasting, we were presented with what the actual dish would look/taste like, and then our smaller tasting portions. When the actual dinner came around, the food did not look like what was presented at the tasting and didn't taste like how it was presented at the tasting. It was overly salty, cold, and actually a couple of our guests mentioned they didn't even have any scallops when their appetizer came out. They mentioned this to the waiters & a new dish was brought out to them with the scallop, but this really shouldn't happen at such a prestigious restaurant/hotel. Soup that was presented as being served table side in a pitcher was served pre-poured. Not a huge deal, but I am annoyed that I was told that the soup would presented a certain way and the day of, the chefs cut corners and chalked it up to "I forgot to write in my notes that was how it was supposed to be presented". When I worked in a restaurant, we made sure we double checked every item before the plates were distributed to the public. Quality check did not happen throughout our dinner and that is incredibly disappointing.
  Guests were also not directed to the Ocean Lawn after they valet parked their cars; they ended up wandering around the hotel lost and some even wandered into our Bridal Suite as we were getting ready. No signs, no greeter, no nothing.
  Really incredibly disappointing experience and I highly recommend you save your money and find a different venue. Lack of responsiveness, lack of overall care, lack of professionalism. Our wedding coordinator even left at 8PM when our reception ended at 11PM without finding a replacement in case things went way south. Emails we sent were often unanswered or took way too long to receive a response.