Berkeley Hotel Asbury Park New Jersey

My daughter`s wedding is there next weekend (May 17) We have several out of town guests coming and I am getting very nervous. Over 25 rooms booked for guests. I`m sure the actual wedding will be fine and the ballrooms look very nice. My concern are the hotel accommodations. We just paid the final amount for the actual wedding and I`m having a hard time getting the wedding coordinator to discuss the guest rooms that we were assured would be ready for our event. We booked August, a year ago. I just read reviews on Trip Advisor and I am very concerned.
I will be more than happy to let you know how it went.

I recently attended a wedding at this hotel. I cannot say enough. It was beautiful, and although I did not stay over, I know people who did and enjoyed the hotel and the room immensley. The Hotel recently went through a renovation, and although they are still working on some stuff, (pool & restaurant) the rest of the place was great. I`ve already made reservations to spend a weekend here at the end of the summer.

Besides this hotel needing landscaping really bad, I had a very good time at this rennovated hotel. I went to a wedding back in April, and the hotel staff was fabulous. The catering manager even helped with the coat check, and the front desk staff was helpful. I wish I was 20 years younger and getting married again, I would have my wedding there!!!

I had my wedding at the Berkeley Hotel in the crystal ballroom and it was fabulous...I agree with needing landscaping, but the catering manager made sure that all of my needs and issues were 120% taken care of! I was very nervous because I know the hotel just openend, but I am very thrilled that I had my wedding there!!! I did have over 40 guests staying over and there was only 1 issue, (not enough blankets) so, for a new hotel I would go back anytime! I even sent the catering manager flowers and the front desk staff a card!

I had my event there last Thursday, and it was a big hit to my guest and staff members. I am very happy that I gave that historic hotel a second chance. I had an event there back in 2004, and it was a DUMP!!! The new owners did a wonderful job, so we are going back for a holiday party this year. As for the staff, the front desk was alittle rusty (slower) but the sales/catering manager was wonderful to work with and helpful. The women who was the manager of the new hotel was very professional and new the hotel 100% she managerd her staff very well. See you in 2008!

O.K. As promised here`s the scoop on how my daughter`s wedding went. Important note. Due to the fact that the Berkeley does not have a resturant or bar yet; they also do not have a catering department. The Event Coordinator for the Catering Company that the Berkeley uses for their events is awesome! and yes, does everything above and beyond anything you can imagine to make your event wonderful. (note this is an outside vendor)

When it comes to the actual Berkeley; guest rooms, renting the ballrooms etc. This is a different story. I will avoid being too harsh. Just make sure you have every last detail in writing before paying anymore money. (this includes when your guests can check in and if there are any "extra charges" for anything) Don`t take their word for anything. Read every word (small print) in the contract and make sure you understand everything and you spell every last detail out. (things like is the dance floor extra?) and what does it mean by vendor insurance?....... We were told of several last minute charges the day before and day of the wedding. We were even charged to have the hotel hand out the amenity bags that I put together for our guests that stayed in the hotel. Since there isn`t a resturant or bar, I wanted to make sure they at least had something to drink and snack on when they arrived. It wasn`t much and we paid it; but the current General Manager of the Berkeley is not a hospitable person. She made as many things as difficult as she possibly could. I must say though that there are some employees that were wonderful and made sure everything worked out in the end. Just beware and if you have any questions, ask the catering company for help. They were wonderful! The wedding was beautiful and everyone had a great time.
Not sure when your wedding is; but the air conditioning does not work in the guest rooms yet. It was cool this weekend so we were o.k. This renovation hopefully will be complete for your event. Other than that the guest rooms are beautiful. As parent`s of the Bride we were disappointed in our room but paid extra in the end to upgrade. It`s a beautiful facility -- and will be a shining star for Asbury Park if a few "bad apples" don`t ruin it.
Good Luck

In reply to your last post, I have catered 3 events at the "new" Berkeley Hotel. I also own 3 other locations in New Jersey. ( In The Berkeley`s Defense) I have herd just about the same complaints. If you are working with outside vendors anywhere...they ALL need to have updated insurence and liablities, period! I tell all my Brides that have there Wedding at The Berkeley that this is standard, and is required at all locations in NJ, NYC and PA. Since I have been in the business for over 20 years, I have never had any problem with a band, DJ, photographer, or planner on giving me insurence! I tell all my clients that if a certain vendor gives a hard time about insurence....than they are hiding somthing and they are not professional! I have also herd of Hotels charging for handing out gift bags...some locations have the right to charge if it means taking time away from there staff from making reservations,sales calls, and customer service. I am not saying I agree, but I understand there point of view. As for the ballrooms, they are fabulous! I have never seen such wonderful ballrooms as The Berkeley Hotel does. I have also worked with the Berkeley`s Catering department often, and they always do a fabulous job on details and communication. I plan on Caterering events at The Berkeley for many years.

I am looking at the facility tonight for a wedding. It looks absolutely gorgeous. I am curious as to which caterer you could recommend and what the price estimates are.
Also, did all of your guests stay at the hotel? Did they give you a discounted rate for guests? I assume you need to find a more budget-friendly hotel for some of the guests?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!

The caterer to use in this area is Merri Makers. Hands down. Believe me, I have had other catered events (out of state) and Merri Makers are the best of the best. You cannot go wrong with them and they went above and beyond in every aspect of their service. They are worth every cent you pay. In this day of poor service; this company knows the value of doing it right. Also our florist was excellent -- most beautiful flowers ever -- Flowers by Farrah.

As far as the Berkeley. Not all of our guests stayed at the Berkeley. The coordination was very poor and several of the guests were told they could not get the contracted rate because they did not book within 30 days. (even though we had signed a contract) I was able to get the guests that notified me of this the correct rate after painful discussion. But many just made reservations elsewhere. Also, we had guests that booked online and they received a much better rate than what we were given for the event. When the guests contacted the hotel to tell them they were part of the wedding group. The Berkeley then tried to charge them more. We of course insisted that these guests receive the online price -- but we were not allowed to include them as part of our booking; therefore they were not counted as part of our rooms to qualify for comp rooms. The ballrooms are beautiful and it was a great location to have the wedding. We used three ballrooms and our guests really enjoyed it. The convenience of staying at the Berkeley is great. They just need to get their act together. We checked in on Friday (the wedding on Saturday) thought the event coordinator was going to help us with rehearsal and be there throughout the event -- turned out she left for the weekend -- never to be seen again (kinda strange -- why have a coordinator that doesn`t coordinate) I could go on and on about how disappointed I was with the service from the Berkeley. Just beware and make sure you assume nothing with them. (hospitality is not a word they are familiar with) Very sad considering it is a great place. Also, you might want to check out the air conditioning, and request rooms with new windows (the rooms with old windows howl really bad) and hopefully the restuarant and bar will be open for your guests. Good Luck

Thanks Sandra!
It might make sense to just book a block of rooms elsewhere, based on what you are saying. Are there decent hotels close by?
We are planning on May 09, so hopefully it will be better coordinated by then!
Thanks again for your help.

Depending if you have children or not. There is a hotel down the beach (but would not recommend it if you have children that will be at your event). -- Walking distance if you don`t mind a hike. This is where we ran into our problem. My daughter had her heart set on the Berkeley and the beautiful ballrooms. We also had many out of town guests with no transportation. Depending how many guests you need to accommodate; there may be some private bed and breakfasts in the area. Early May is before season and you could probably arrange these fairly easily. Ocean Grove has some lovely homes. I wish I had looked into doing that. You could also probably arrange some kind of shuttle service to and from the Berkeley for your guests. There are several nice (branded hotels) within the general area -- just not out at the beach. We usually stay at the new Residence Inn that is about 10 miles away when we are in the area to visit our daughter. The rooms at the Berkeley are very nice and like I said in my previous post; my only reason for not recommending the Berkeley for accommodations was their General Manager and Event Coordinator. If they replace these two people (who unfortunately you have to deal with to coordinate everything for a wedding event) with anyone who has any kind of knowledge of customer service; it could be great.

Hello Rina, I had my Event at The Berkeley Hotel a few weeks ago, and I LOVED everything about the ballrooms, rooms and staff. I worked with a very nice front desk staff who put aside a block of guest rooms and there Events manager. She was very helpful in the planning process and everything I wanted was done. I feel if you go into a wedding or event with a bad attitude and no class, than you won`t see how great everything is around you. I had my wedding at ther Berkeley in asbury park, and my only 2 concerns was there landscaping and they had no sign. The no sign made it really difficult for my guests to find. Besides those minor problems, we had a wonderful time! I read about there events, fabulous staff and ballrooms in the knot and the coaster magazine, the event manager had a great write up and it was voted one of the best places to have a wedding. I will say that its not for everyone because theres alot of work involved, but its your day and hopefully you will only do it once! : )
I also stayed at the berkekeley the weekend of May 16 2008 and we had gotten a chance to see a wedding take place before it started. My future husband and I stayed over so we can finalize our contracts and work with other local vendors in the area since we are from out of state. Anyway, when you speak to the event manager don`t forget to ask her if theres going to be another wedding or a wedding block because when we all stayed over on May 16 weekend there was such a terriable group of drunk loud people making a mess and destroying things,running down hallways and seemed like they were from a place of no manors. But, we complained to there helpful GM and she moved our room. So good luck through this planning process and feel free to contact me if you need any help with the berkeley reception hall! Good luck!

I also had my Bar Mitzvah at the berkeley hotel 1 month ago and I had a wonderful time and I had no problems. I actually booked my other Bat Mitzvah for 2009. The service was great, and very clean. Some people with a lower class level might think otherwise.

I had my daughthers wedding there last weekend and I was very happy with everything. It was the best day our there lives and I already had 20 people come up to me and ask me who I should contact there to have an event. So, my family and I are very happy. The events manager was very helpful and when our caterer wasnt there to help out with our ceremony, she was there to help in any way.

RE: Rina, I had my wedding block booked at the berkeley and everyone loved the NEW rooms : ) I would not send them to the other hotels that another partypop user has recommended because those other hotels are very old and really far away. I booked a discounted group rate with reservations last week and the rates have lowerd since the end of May! So i think the rates are $149-$195? So, I think thats a great rate for a brand new beach front hotel with bagals and coffee. I wouldent go to any other hotels, guests may not want to drive home drunk. You get what you pay for!

Regarding last 4 posts.
LOL

Good Luck and Congratulations on your Engagement!

Thank you to everyone who replied. This is all really helpful!
Rina

Just an FYI... I had originally booked my wedding at the Berkeley and was told that if I had canceled, I would receive my deposit if someone else had booked the date. Well, someone else did book the date and I am still not receiving my deposit. I now can only receive the deposit a week after the event takes place - one year from now. I am glad that the above has had a great experience, but I do warn others who are looking to host an event here. They are completeley unprofessional and will not return phone calls, emails etc. Besides the fact, that the catering manager either lied about the facts of the deposit, or has no idea what she is talking about. We are now out the money when we were told we would not be.

Also, if you are looking to review the Berkeley hotel, I would go on Trip Advisor. Personally I would never let my guests stay somewhere that i wouldnt feel comfortable staying in myself.

I loved the Berkeley the first few times I visited, but the way the "professionals" behaved and the fact that this was their business but did not seem to care about even the slightest details seemed strange to me.

Good luck to anyone who chooses the Berkeley and I hope everything works out for you ...but you have been warned.

I had my event last night at the Berkeley Hotel and it was a great event. I have to say, I had no problems or issuses with anyone at the berkeley or there events staff. I had a really wonderful time and so did my guests. I did read the tripadvisor reveiws and I thankfully dident have any issuses like other people have. I had a very smooth planning process with there event manager and caterer. I would recommend thbis place to others.