Choosing to hold your destination wedding at a private villa is a fantastic alternative to holding it at a commercial hotel. However, the decision to do so and the process of selecting which one are both a bit more complicated. This series of articles gives you all the information you need in order to make the best decision possible for your wedding.
Here in this series of articles published weekly we offer you the inside scoop on the financial and “strategic” aspects of renting a private villa for your destination wedding:
- PART ONE: How and why villa owners price their properties, and when those prices change.
- PART TWO: What all the costs are involved with renting a private villa.
- PART THREE: How those rental costs are normally divided among the group staying there.
- PART FOUR: How to negotiate with your friends and family for their part of the booking price.
- PART FIVE: How to save money and protect yourself financially on your booking.
- PART SIX: The actual price range of our event villas in the Mexican Caribbean.
PART TWO: All the Costs Associated with Renting a Private Villa for a Destination Wedding
There are several costs associated with renting a private luxury villa for your destination wedding, some that are obvious and others that may not have already occurred to you. In this, the second part of our six-part series on renting private luxury villas for destination weddings, we list all of them so that you can educate yourselves on what ALL the expectations will be on you and your guests, in case you haven’t stayed in a private villa before.
RENT. This is the most obvious cost. Prices in Mexico are always set in US dollars and at a nightly rate. Many houses set different rates for different numbers of bedrooms. A 10-bedroom house can be rented with as few as six bedrooms nightly. For instance, a 10-bedroom house might rent in low season at $1200 US for six bedrooms, $1400 for seven bedrooms, $1600 for eight bedrooms, $1800 for nine bedrooms, and $2000 for all ten bedrooms. Alternatively, they might charge rates using a more-complicated algorithm that makes it cheaper to rent more bedrooms, such as: $1400 for six bedrooms, $1500 for seven bedrooms, $1600 for eight bedrooms, $1700 for nine bedrooms, and $1800 for ten bedrooms. It all depends on the owner, but in many cases it’s cheaper per guest to rent all the bedrooms and fill up the villa.
SECURITY DEPOSIT. Please don’t forget that you’ll be staying in someone’s private residence, so there’s no wonder that they’re going to require a security deposit in case you or someone in your group breaks or makes off with something. In most cases, this fee is upwards of $1000. They will typically write up a credit-card voucher for the amount indicated and put a hold on that credit card for the duration of the stay and a few days afterwards, until the staff has had a chance to thoroughly inspect the property after you leave. Then assuming no damage or theft, they’ll tear up the voucher and take the hold off the credit card.
GROCERIES/DRINKS. Villa staff will typically cook at least two if not all three of your in-house group’s meals daily, and this service is included in the rental fee. However, they won’t pay for the food. So they can normally let you know in advance what the groceries will cost, and they will even do the shopping for you before you arrive! Fancy! But you should typically allot between $35-$50 US dollars per person per day for this. It also includes drinks and alcohol, so that helps to explain those prices. And while these prices might seem a bit steep, compare them with eating out for two to three meals daily in Playa del Carmen, and you’ll see that it’s a total bargain. And compare the villa rates with the big all-inclusive hotel rates that offer all you can eat and drink, and you’ll SERIOUSLY start to see the savings!
TIPS. This issue is different at each villa, but the industry standard is that villa owners ask each group to make a gratuity to the house staff at the end of the stay worth 10-15% of the total villa rental. It is our request that the payment be made specifically and directly to the house manager to ensure that the staff are receiving all of it. Better yet, pool the tips, ask how many staff work there regularly, divide the money up evenly, and give it directly to each person. They will thus also receive your direct appreciation along with the money!
TAXES. All villa rentals generate 16% Value Added Tax (IVA in Spanish), along with a 3% bedroom tax in most parts of tourist Mexico. Some owners fold this percentage into their going rate and others charge it on top. We do our best to keep track of who does which, and reflect that in our cost quotes to you. But there is as yet no industry standard on separating out that cost.
EVENT FEE. Almost all villa owners will charge an event fee for the privilege of using their property for your event. The fee helps defrays owners’ costs of extra hired staff, extra maintenance and repairs, liability insurance, and often local municipal permissions. It kicks in when anyone who isn’t staying overnight at the villa comes to visit, and is normally based on the size of the total crowd. Smaller weddings will be charged a smaller fee, and larger events, such as more than 100 guests, will be charged more accordingly. Don’t be surprised to see such fees ranging from $1000 all the way to $3000, depending on the size of the property and the size of the group.
EVENT PERMIT. This fee, and the need for it to begin with, varies widely depending on the municipality of your chosen villa. Normally, ceremonies or receptions taking place in Mexico on a public beach require a permit in advance from the local government that typically costs around $300 US. However, the enforcement of this regulation, like many in Mexico, varies widely. To take at least some of the confusion out of this situation, we attempt to list in each of our villa listings whether a beach ceremony and/or reception actually requires this permit and fee.
NEXT: HOW VILLA RENTAL FEES ARE NORMALLY DIVIDED AMONG THE GROUP STAYING THERE
