Chaminade Resort & Spa Reviews

Lizzie and the entire Chaminade staff made our day so pleasant! We were the videographers here at this venue for a wedding this summer and loved it! We can't wait to go back! The grounds are well kept and the staff was all so friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend!

We got married at the Chaminade on 4/22 and we had the most amazing wedding thanks to Lizzie and the whole Chaminade team! As the bride I felt zero stress on the day of and was able to fully enjoy the day! The venue was gorgeous and the event flowed beautifully ! Our guests enjoyed the food, views & accommodations! I can’t recommend the chaminade & our planner Lizzie high enough!

10/27/2018
We had our wedding at Chaminade and it was PERFECT! Seriously, the most amazing wedding venue, the day felt like a dream. First off, the setting is breathtaking. Nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, you get the feel of nature and views of the ocean, yet it is conveniently close to downtown Santa Cruz. They also make all parts of the wedding planning process so easy, from packages that include meals (buffet or plated), beverage packages, linens/tables/chairs etc., and they even include a wedding cake. A one-stop-shop for everything to create an amazing day all at reasonable prices. Special shout-out to Angela, our wedding coordinator, who made the entire day and planning process seamless and flawless! Angela worked with us for almost a year answering all our questions, accommodating our (difficult) requests, providing great recommendations based on her knowledge as a seasoned wedding coordinator at Chaminade, and coordinated every aspect of the actual wedding day. She is an angel and I think the wedding industry needs to make some clones of Angela.

Every single guest only had amazing things to say about the venue. Many of them were blown away at the beauty of Chaminade and how the entire wedding went so flawlessly (thanks to Angela). Further, many guests stayed at the resort and only had positive feedback to share about the rooms, check-in process, amenities, etc. We are so happy we picked Chaminade as our wedding venue because it lived up to all of our expectations and more. Thank you to Angela, the bar staff, and everyone at Chaminade who contributed to our perfect day at the perfect venue!

We will never thank enough Jules for her help and kindness. We love that venue and all the staff was so nice. Our day was beautiful because of all these people who have worked in the shadow to offer us such a wonderful weekend. They fit in our tight budget, helping us all the time to find the best option. The pictures at the venue are also perfect. We love our wedding. So thanks for helping us to realize this dream.

Angela Edmond was our wedding planner/catering manager, she was fabulous, very organized, very professional, couldn't have been more helpful in all aspects of my daughter's wedding. The set up, ceremony, food, food service, the venue, all beautiful and great. The Bar service and Bar management fell short and could be greatly improved but as far as Angela's responsibilities I give her an A+, guest input was that it was one of the best and most enjoyable weddings they had ever attended. I highly recommend Chaminade with some improvement to the Bar Services.

This was an outstanding place to have our wedding. We had a last minute change of venue and the staff at Chaminade (particularly Jules Reid) was extremely flexible and helpful. We had such a beautiful, memorable and stress free wedding mostly due to the professionalism of our outstanding venue. The view of Monterey Bay can't be beat!

Best place in Santa Cruz to get married, beautiful place, very attentive staff, great food, and the price is fear! We were served by Rebecca, exellent party organizer!

I cannot say enough about how wonderful Angela was to work with throughout the contracting, planning and event execution. She was always so quick to respond and very thorough. She was honest and genuinely cared. And when Angela was unavailable, Laura was always so quick to step in and assist. They are a great team. On the banquets side, Shannon was so kind and always thinking ahead (e.g. asking us our preferences pre-wedding for what snacks she could pack up for us post-wedding). Though the view is incredible at the Chaminade, it is their staff who truly made the difference. It was truly one of the best days of my life. THANK YOU, Chaminade!!!

I know it has been a while since our wedding but I was really bad about writing reviews and I just have to say how perfect Chaminade was for our wedding! Angela Edmund was our coordinator and she could not have been more of a pleasure to work with. The venue is breathtakingly beautitful, the staff is so professional and efficient, the food is delicious, and there are just so many options to make for a perfect wedding! We had our ceremony outdoors on a perfect March afternoon and our reception in the large ballroom and both were flawlessly beautiful to begin with, only made more perfect with the help of the Chaminade staff to decorate and clean up. When we first got a price quote we thought it seemed a bit expensive but after a little comparison shopping found that for all you get it really is a phenomenal value and they truly take care of everything. I cannot commend Chaminade enough for making our wedding day perfect, looking at the photos and video I just know we were so fortunate to have such an amazing venue.

Their connection to vendors and them knowing the layout makes it super easy to plan everything. Most of the vendors just talked with our event coordinator - Angela - so I didn't do much work other than tell them my ideas and pick out what I wanted. Angela is the event coordinator - This woman is so awesome. She answered all of my crazy questions over a million emails. We had food options due two weeks before and then a couple cancelled last minute - she allowed us to remove them and not charge us. Angela and Rebecca had a layout of options we could do and this really helped us navigate through the crazy wedding rehearsal. Their attention to detail on the wedding day is what made it so worthwhile. they took decorations from the ceremony and made it all cute into a heart around the signing guestbook- without even asking. boom...its like they knew what to do and didn't even have to ask. I would never think of it and if I did - it wouldn't look half as cute. I put my bouquet down to enjoy cocktail hour and they then put it on our table and rearranged the flowers/centerpieces to include it. For morning clean up, they put everything in carts so all I had to do was pick it up and roll go. Their packages makes it easy for couples to choose what they need. I didn't feel nickel and dimed like other places we looked at. Shannon was our amazing banquet manager - along with servers/bartenders Rob, Marc, Matt and Garrett. They all introduced themselves and asked my husband and I what we wanted before doing anything. Shannon - For cocktail hour she prepped a plate of all the hor d'oeuvres so we could eat and have drinks. And then when the ceremony was finally over - we found in our room a sandwich, two slices of cake and some more champagne chilled. She knew we were busy greeting everyone and didn't want us to go hungry.The food was great on wedding day. YAY, To be honest, we were not impressed at first during their tasting and asked them to salt our food a little heavier.

Laura was absolutely amazing! I was an out of town bride and Laura really helped make everything go smoothly the entire time. The way Chaminade has their price per head process set up was perfect for me because it cut down on so many of the planning details in 1 step. Laura walked us through each step multiple times and was so easy to work with. She let us choose what was most important to use and took care of the rest. The entire staff on the day of at the Chaminade was wonderful. Everything stayed on time and there was no question that all of our guests were impressed with the venue and the amenities they supplied for the event. Thank you to Laura and the Chaminade for helping give us such a special day!

My fiancé and I visited quite a few places for our wedding venue and when we went to the Chaminade we both fell in love! It is in an absolutely gorgeous area with stunning views, and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. We met with Angela and she answered ALL of our questions, then took us on a tour of the different locations for reception and ceremony. Luckily we weren't too picky on a date so we penciled ourselves in for 9/19/15 and shortly after got the contract confirmed and signed! She was very responsive over e-mail, and the price was right in our budget! We then worked with Samantha to set up the room block for our guests and she made it very smooth for us, we got the link shortly after and started sending it to our close family and friends to start booking!

We had a wedding dinner celebration for our son and daughter in law at Chaminade this summer. Angela Cima-Edmonds was very responsive to questions emails during the 6 month planning process. She encouraged us to go with the larger room which turned out be the best decision as the # of guests was higher than anticipated. She helped us make choices to keep the costs reasonable. Shannon helped us out with all the details during the dinner. The setting was beautiful on the patio facing the ocean on a perfect evening of the summer solstice. Many of our guests were from out of town and were able to experience a taste of Santa Cruz from that evening at Chaminade. Our son and daughter in law were very pleased. Thank you Angela and Shannon.

My husband and I decided in august of 2014 to be married on Tuesday September 9th 2014. Short notice, we know. When we first called Chaminade Resort and Spa and spoke to Laura she was extremely kind, helpful, and patient saying she'd wait for us later in the afternoon to come by and check out the place after we were finished looking at other venues. From the moment we walked into Chaminade and met with Laura my husband and I knew that was the place. It was beautiful yet simple and elegant. Laura was the best thing to have happened to us with having such a short time line to plan our wedding. From the get go she was responsive, prompt, professional, patient...i just can't even say enough great things about her. Also, her coworker Angela was very helpful the few times I spoke to her as well. Chaminade ' s attention to detail and customer service was above and beyond. Do yourselves a favor and book Chaminade through Laura for your wedding or any other event and you will not be disappointed. She is a God send.

Laura was amazing!! She did an phenomenal job of coordinating the wedding and suggesting vendors. She helped me keep on track with the timetable so that everything was done on time. She also was extremely warm, enthusiastic, supportive and fun! She helped make my experience at the Chaminade wonderful!

Chaminade will always hold a special place in my heart for providing an absolutely perfect wedding weekend. If you get the chance to work with their wedding coordinator, Laura Manriquez, you are a lucky person! I was stressed out, not being a planner myself, and I feel like after 1 meeting with Laura she took the stress right away! She is excellent at her job. We were anticipating rainy weather for our wedding and Laura came up with 3 scenarios so we had a plan no matter what happened. It rained all day but at the last minute, as the rain stopped temporarily, we made the call to have the wedding outside and the staff made it happen! She knew it was our goal (and hers!) to get married under the beautiful blooming arbor... and we did!

It was a dream weekend. All the staff was perfectly attentive. The rooms were great. As cheesy as this sounds, Laura made our dream wedding come true. It exceeded all expectations. A huge thank you to Chaminade Staff and Laura!

As a bride, you want everything to be perfect and thanks to Angela and Chaminade, everything was! We looked at many venues for our wedding but Chaminade made the most sense for us.
1. We held the rehearsal dinner on the Sunset Patio/Manresa Room and the weather was gorgeous (our east coast guests were jealous of CA). It allowed us the flexibility to have cocktails on the patio but have a warm spot inside to eat and have toasts. The menus were flexible so we were able to adapt our taste buds with a combo of a few different menus. Plus, our guests were able to continue the party in the bar and then walk back to their room. Win-win
2. The reception was great! I had LOTS of "extras" (pictures hung in hallway and bathrooms, cookie table with pictures,etc) that needed to be set up and Angela didn't even blink an eye. The room looked great (ordered lights from Eventscapes) and the food/wine was delicious. We had 2 chefs as guests at our wedding so we were a little nervous but the steak/lobster did not disappoint (along with the other meals too). At the end of the night, they put everything in one spot so we could gather it the next morning - made our lives so easy.
3. Angela will be your savior! She was quick to respond to all my emails/calls and put my mind at ease at every step. She actually made planning fun! She gave suggestions but never pushed and definitely did not take over at all. Tastings were set up and presented so professionally.
4. The venue: the view is spectacular but the peace of mind of having your guests able to walk back to their rooms was the best. The staff was helpful and accommodating for my guests and for me.
5. The gal that coordinated my hotel rooms was less than helpful but left Chaminade 3 weeks prior to the event so that negates my only negative feedback.
I highly recommend Chaminade!

Our wedding at Chaminade was amazing.

From the first day we visited the venue through the day of our wedding, Angela Edmonds our on-site wedding planner and the staff at Chaminade were terrific and very professional. Angela was always available to answer our many questions and accommodating dealing with up-to-the minute changes. The staff was always very helpful, friendly and responsive to the needs of our guests.

Our guests who stayed the weekend with us at Chaminade enjoyed the pool, tennis courts, spa, hiking trials and accommodations.

Highly recommended.

Everything went so smoothly. Our questions were sometimes answered BEFORE we even knew we had them! We would recommend Chaminade and our consultant Angela in a heartbeat. Beautiful location and totally professional attention to detail.

We were married at Chaminade in early August. We want everyone to know that we highly recommend this location for the ceremony and reception. Angela and Shannon were great, and went out of their way to make our special day amazing. In fact, everyone we worked with was extremely accommodating and did what it took to make the entire experience worry free.

The Chaminade was simply outstanding in helping make our daughter's wedding the best it could be. From the first moment we met with Angela, we were treated with kindness and respect. Additionally, all of the services that they provided made planning the big event very easy and peaceful. Angela was extremenly well organized and helpful every step of the way. The food was great and the venue was spectacular!

Highly recommend! Excellent wedding coordinators help you plan every detail. Beautiful ceremony site. Large spaces.W

We had Angela as our coordinator at the Chaminade. She was very helpful and did not mind my million of questions that I had months before our wedding. The day of our wedding couldn't have been any more perfect. All staff members at the Chaminade had great attitudes, they all seemed like they enjoyed their jobs. Angela put out all my place cards, candles, napkins, crystal scatter, etc. So my mom could be with me in the room instead of putting out everything. The food was great, got a lot of compliments from our guests. Our room was perfect and we even got a piece of our wedding cake, chocolate covered strawberries, congrats card from Angela, and Champagne to end our wedding day with. Thank you to everyone at Chaminade who made our wedding day amazing!!!

Shannon was our wedding coordinator, and he was wonderful. He was there every step of the planning process, and he dealt easily with every one of mine and my mom's questions. The second the wedding rehearsal started, Shannon handled all 20 of our wedding party and all 6 of our parents without even breaking a sweat. He also handled all of our other vendors including my sister-in- law who made our cake, my cousin who married us and a friend who DJ'd.
The venue was so beautiful! We barely had to decorate the ceremony spot because the view of the ocean and the natural vines and flowers decorated the space perfectly.
The food was amazing! It was the best wedding food I have ever had!

The Chaminade was the PERFECT wedding venue. Everything from the ceremony to the reception was flawless thanks to the wonderful staff there. Angela was our wedding coordinator and she made sure that things were taken care of the day of and she was so responsive whenever I had any questions. There was also a "banquet manager" that on top of all the events that occured during the reception. I didn't have to think about what was next or worry about things not being taken care of. My family and all the guests were pleasantly surprised with the wonderful service.

We are so thrilled that we decided to have our wedding at the Chaminade. We live in Tampa, Florida and found the staff to be very accommodating and efficient in planning a wedding from so far away. You are assigned a wedding coordinator who takes care of everything on their end and walks you through every step of the process. We were lucky enough to have two people helping us out. Another great thing about the Chaminade is that after you choose the package for food and for beverages, they give you a price per person. That price includes EVERYTHING - food, beverages, cake (& cutting), tax, gratuity, etc. There are no hidden fees or charges later. That made budgeting for the wedding/reception so much easier for us. The food was INCREDIBLE. The service from every staff member, from the coordinators to the wait staff, was exemplary. We were treated like royalty the whole time that we stayed there. Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Shannon and Angela specifically (the coordinators). My florist did not show up to my wedding. Needless to say I was devastated, and as I didn't know this until 5 minutes before the wedding (my husband was trying to keep me in the dark, hoping he would show up in time), I was a wreck as I was about to walk down the aisle. Shannon and Angela were absolutely incredible. They found flowers around the resort for my husband to wear and to put around the "altar" area. They got a hold of the florist and had him send up a bouquet from a friend of his. Obviously, it wasn't anything like I had planned over the nine months before the wedding, but they did a wonderful job of improvising at the last minute. And they calmed me down so that I could walk down the aisle and enjoy marrying my husband without focusing on the absence of flowers. The wedding was perfect. The day was perfect. And I would, without reservation, recommend the Chaminade for your wedding.

Chaminade did a great job! They kept everything moving and the wedding went incredibly smoothly! Everyone had a great time!

Great venue with a great staff. They're very accommodating and flexible - willing to do whatever it takes to make you happy. The cost is a little on the high-side, but was worth it in the end. The quality of the food was very good. Our biggest issue was that the hotel and the event planning sides of the facility weren't really working together very well. We had some issues regarding our hotel room blocks, which affected room prices, etc. The disconnect between the two made the planning a little more hectic. That being said, our Catering Sales Manager, Rebecca, fixed it as best she could. She was by far the greatest part about holding our wedding here. We could not have asked for a more professional, friendly, and helpful individual to assist us in planning our wedding. In the end, it was a great day!

The staff was very helpful with our wedding process. Very flexible with our needs with the budget. On the day of they cater to our needs. Our wedding was perfect and beautiful.

The Chaminade was one of the best choices I made for my wedding. Right away while interviewing venues in the area, Angela was by far the most responsive, professional and friendly. The place is absolutely gorgeous, the food is excellent and the service is top notch. When a family member broke one of my beloved champagne flutes before the reception- the Chaminade staff sent someone out to buy new ones for us! My husband and I had our very own server that was there for just he and I, whenever we needed a drink or some late night snacks, she was always there like a private assistant- we felt very taken care of. I really believe that Angela and her staff went above and beyond for our wedding day and I wouldn't change a thing about our perfect venue. If you are considering Santa Cruz- the only choice is Chaminade!

Chaminade is an excellent place for a wedding - especially if many of your guests are from out of town, it is great to have one place for all the activities and lodging. The facilities are beautiful. The staff are excellent to work with, but they sometimes take a bit to get back to you if you have specific questions. The staff are clearly experienced and have great advice for wedding planning. For all that they provide, the prices were much more reasonable than other venues we looked at. Overall, my husband and I were very pleased and would recommend Chaminade.

We had an amazing wedding. The only down side was the tax and tip which were added to the cost was not explained and was quite a bit more than we had expected.

Wedding package included catering and cake, and the very knowledgeable coordinator Angela. She kept us informed about the decisions we had to make and worked out the kinks to make our wedding day run super smooth!

We had a great wedding at Chaminade but a lot of concerns leading up to it. Our coordinator Angela was wonderful, but overall Chaminade definitely seemed behind and unorganized when it came to communication. The resort worked for our needs to have everyone stay together and host a weekend of events, including our rehearsal dinner for 55, wedding ceremony and reception for 85, and goodbye breakfast for 40 so we had a full weekend celebration there and everyone stayed at the hotel. With the amount of investment we were putting in to it we had hoped that the cost of the hotel rooms for our guests would have been lower, but they were still pretty pricey.

It wasn’t as smooth leading up to the wedding and I had to be very proactive in checking in to see where things stood. Unfortunately we didn’t have a good food tasting before the wedding so we were concerned about that, but the food for the actual weekend was awesome and everyone complimented it! We were sold on the renovations to the main building and that’s what we signed on for so it was disappointing that 5 months before the wedding no one told us that the renovations wouldn’t be happening anymore. Our Chaminade wedding planner also changed half way through and no one told us, she didn’t even intro us to another event planner to take over, we just got an auto reply that she had left and I had to call and track down a new coordinator. Really unorganized and unsettling for us in the beginning and leading up to the wedding we had a lot of concerns. Thankfully we landed with Angela and she was our main point of contact and great to work with.

When we arrived for the wedding weekend the grounds looked beautiful and well taken care of, the food at our rehearsal dinner, wedding reception and breakfast were all amazing and we ended up having an amazing wedding! There were some hiccups day of, like the ceremony power outside wasn't delivered to the DJ on time, dinner issues where a couple of folks didn’t get the steak they ordered, food allergies were overlooked from our final headcount sheet, and heating lamps were in a shortage, but my husband and I didn't notice any of it and only learned of it after. The food and drinks were great though and we had a wonderful time!

There were some nice extras that Angela and her team added, like saving appetizers for us to enjoy during photos, a club sandwich, extra cake and bottle of champagne that was back in our room when we got back was an excellent touch and so appreciated! We really loved working with Angela and she bent over backwards to accommodate our requests and needs.

Pros to Having your Wedding at Chaminade:
- Location is convenient to the Bay Area and everyone can stay at the same place
- Beautiful scenery and backdrop
- Pricing is reasonable and all included which makes it so much easier on Brides
- They worked with us on really any request we had (like eating dinner outside or specialty drinks) and were the most accommodating venue we met with

Cons:
- They do a lot of weddings so that might be why there was a lack of organization and disconnect
- Prices for Guest Rooms are still high with the room block and the food onsite is expensive
- The main lobby is pretty outdated, we were so excited for the new look and layout, but that didn't happen
- Some parts of the planning process felt rushed and impersonal, again this may be because they have so many weddings but I just had to really stay on top of all of the planning and details

Very disappointed in the lack of professionalism from Chaminade. My fake large white wisteria flowers were stolen from the ceremony site fountain right after my guests were moved into the reception room. Chaminade suggested one of MY guests may have taken them. I was very bothered by this. How would my elegantly dressed guests have time to steal 100+ wet flowers, get them out of the site unseen and store them? All within minutes of the ending of cocktail hour and start of the reception? Not to mention, these are my closest friends and family who have no need to steal these flowers.
We never received a genuine feeling of concern, remorse, frustration or disappointment from Chaminade. We were only continuously told to think of how beautiful everything else was. Yes, it was beautiful, but left a very sour taste in our mouths! To go from an amazing day/night, to feeling like no one at the hotel really cared my decor was stolen, is a horrible feeling. It felt as if the money was paid, so the hospitable, genuine and caring attitudes were gone. After returning from my honeymoon, I was updated by my family about the status of our missing flowers and the lack of resolution. They had not bothered to call, send a letter or email my husband or I letting us know anything, that they were truly sorry or had any concern this happened at Chaminade. After sending an email expressing my disappointment in the whole situation and lack of communication provided to my husband and I, we were THEN offered a free night and breakfast; oh yes, but only Sunday thru Thursday.There was no emotional support to the situation again.
Chaminade is a beautiful venue, the day of coordination help was appreciated, but the professionalism and feeling of being cared about came and went just as quickly as the day did.

The Chaminade is a beautiful venue, but the service during my wedding weekend was extremely disappointing. Despite months of planning, the staff were unprepared: meals were mishandled, vendors were served late, linens were lost, and we were even told to check out a day early despite confirming otherwise. Many of my guests also noted the venue seemed unprepared—my uncle was given a room already assigned to another family, my grandma was placed on the second floor despite twice confirming she needed a first-floor room, and even the keys to our honeymoon suite were handed out without my permission. I also had to argue back and forth just to get a competitive room block rate, even though cheaper rates were publicly available. We paid for three cabanas and the service was so poor that none of the food we ordered arrived for four hours. I shared my frustrations with management but did not receive money back for a lot of the issues. Until they make serious improvements to organization and customer service, I cannot recommend this venue for weddings.

I am honestly so sad to say this but I am so disappointed with the Chaminade. I had my wedding here and the Chaminade ruined it. Don't get me wrong, the ceremony came out beautiful. I married my husband and that was the most important thing.

Let me tell you a little about what went on....
The Chaminade broke my unity sand container that was performed during the ceremony. I had to pay the Chaminade more than 10,000 and they could not even take care of my items. I was suppose to cherish my unity sand for the rest of my life and now I cant. I put all of my trust in this venue and they completely broke it. Our wedding coordinator Angela Edmound was anything but helpful. She basically told me its broken and there is nothing she can do about it. The food and beverage manager told me all of this comes down to business. And now the general manager.....Kevin Herbst. He did not follow through with anything that he said. None of the employees that I worked with came through with what they said. Kevin said he would call me to treat my husband and I to a spa service in Hawaii but that never came through. He claimed it was because he didn't want to harass me yet I told him on multiple voicemails to call me back if he would still like to give us the spa treatment. We argued over the phone mulitple times and sure enough it came down to business. Kevin, Angela, and all the others we worked with are horrible. I cannot even begin to tell you everything else that went on. Just stay away from this venue and get married somewhere else.

I pray no other bride and groom has to experience what we went through. You will have to remember what they did to you for the rest of your life. Please rethink getting married here. Your wedding is supposed to be something that is amazing and something so beautiful. My ceremony was beautiful because I married my husband but unfortunately my memories of everything else was ruined because of the carelessness and the horrible disrespect.