Originally Posted by
donotblink
Where did you get the more than 30 figure? I said 25-30. The hotel advertised that you can host a sizable gathering in the suite, that the suite has a DJ booth, and when the party is over you can escape to the Jacuzzi.
I also just looked up sizable in the dictionary and it came back with the definition fairly large. Try it yourself by just putting the word into Google.
I let the hotel's representative know that I would be hosting 25-30 guests and she assured me that it wouldn't be a problem over the nearly 3 hours I met with her.
She told me that she'd be more than happy to get me glassware without charging me, source outside food, allow me to store anything that didn't need to be refrigerated in advanced, and get extra furniture for me.
I didn't tell her this, but I was prepared to tip her around $250, because she made it sound like she was going to do a lot for me.
She's been in her role for less than a year so I guess maybe she's just inexperienced.
My budget for the night is $3,000.00 which isn't insignificant.
If there are two registered guests in the room and you have 30 invitees that makes 32!
I don't know: here when I have to book a function I usually budget around $150 per guest, which makes around $5,000.
That's close to what the hotel wanted for catering the function (apart from the room rate) and not massively higher than your budget.
Remember the post from the guy who booked a suite at the Westin Times Square and the two adjoining rooms? He had 8-12 guests - a third of your intended number - and still attracted noise complaints and visits from security. I would think that that is pretty predictable, and that any guest list bigger than that is going to cause noise problems even with the two adjoining rooms.
You booked a suite at $1269 and two standard adjoining rooms at $278 each. I would think that that would allow you to host a dinner party for 6-8 people including yourselves (except the table is too small) or a drinks party for up to about 8-10 guests.
But if you want to host a function for 30+ people, I think the hotel should have told you to hire meeting/function space.
I sympathise with you because:
a) they didn't tell you that at the outset, and
b) they undermined their own "no party" policy by offering to let you host the party there if you spent enough on catering.
But I would be FURIOUS if I paid good money to stay in an upscale hotel only to discover 30 people coming and going from a party on my floor. I would be incensed.