We had the most amazing winter wedding at the beautiful and unique W Bellevue. We had both the ceremony and the reception in the ballroom space, with the cocktail hour in the open area upstairs and photos in the Living Room bar. We were even given a heavily discounted upgrade for the breathtaking Extreme WOW Suite to use as our wedding suite, which we also used for a pre-ceremony event and bridal photos. The food and drinks were amazing as well, with custom appetizers, cocktails, buffet, and desserts. Our guests couldn't stop raving about the beauty of the entire hotel, the awesome food, and the amazing staff. The location also makes for easy access for in-town guests and plenty to do for out-of-town visitors, and we were able to do a combination room block with the Westin next door (same ownership), which was nice for guests who wanted to save a bit of money and stay somewhere simpler. Be sure to warn any W guests about the all-glass in-room showers :).

We would like to especially recognize the hard work of all of the hotel staff, especially our coordinator Lauren, chef Thomas, and banquet coordinator Can. All three of them went above and beyond to do everything they could for us and our guests.

However, we did have some issues. We initially dealt with a sales person who made many promises that fell through between the pitch and the contract. We almost ended up ditching the venue after several details we were promised got changed in the fine print of the contract, but we are glad we stuck with the venue in the end! We also had issues with the room blocks, as the hotel's website didn't work right, the block ended up filling up (it was supposed to grow automatically), and people who booked by phone had lots of issues. Eventually, the publicly available room rates for pre-paid were cheaper than our block, which was supposed to be a discounted price, and resulted in some guests booking on their own. In the end, though, everyone who stayed at both hotels loved their rooms and the hotel staff.

In terms of value, it was nice to have everything we needed, including an open bar, offered at a fixed per-guest price. We had some special needs, such as kosher meals and kids meals, that were taken care of at a cheaper rate. The chef allowed us to add an extra entrée on the buffet and a few other small add-ons without extra charges. The hotel did want to charge extra for some small things, such as a $5 for gift bags for hotel guests (which we couldn't do anyway, because many people booked outside of the room block). I think overall, though, we got a pretty good deal on a per-person basis given everything that was thrown in, and we also got enough Marriott Bonvoy points (6 per dollar) to travel free for a very long time to come.

In the end, despite some small hiccups, we're thrilled with out experience at the W Bellevue and would not hesitate to recommend it. Just read the contract carefully.