A gay couple said a beachfront Sheraton resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, quoted them more than $80,000 for their wedding ceremony and guest rooms, said there was no availability until March 2027 and gave their two friends much better rates for their hypothetical opposite-sex weddings and, in one case, saying several dates were available in early 2026.
Jeremy Alexander and Ryan Sheepwash, who live in Vernon, British Columbia, posted about their experience on social media last week after months of back-and-forth with the hotel and feeling conflicted about whether to speak out publicly, the couple said.
“We felt we’d be indirectly complicit to the system if we’re aware of it and we’re not combating it,” Alexander told NBC News. “That was the major driving factor in us wanting to put the story out there.”
The Sheraton Buganvilias Resort and Convention Center didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Marriott International, the parent company of Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, said in an email that the company has reached out to the couple "to learn more about their experience and are working with the property to offer a solution."
"The Sheraton Buganvilias has been active in the LGBTQ community in Puerto Vallarta for years, not only hosting LGBTQ+ weddings and groups but also supporting Pride events in Puerto Vallarta," the spokesperson said. "Marriott remains steadfast in our commitment to ensure guests are treated with respect and understanding.”
The spokesperson previously said that the Puerto Vallarta property is “operated by a third-party franchisee” but didn’t provide further information about how that affects the franchise’s policies.
Alexander and Sheepwash got engaged in Puerto Vallarta in February 2024 and decided they wanted to get married in the picturesque resort locale on Mexico’s Pacific coast. They returned in November to tour wedding venues in the city, which they noted is widely known as an LGBTQ-friendly vacation destination.
After they looked at several options, the couple decided on the Sheraton Buganvilias. They said Gabriela Espinoza, the hotel’s wedding coordinator, told them during their tour that the rate for the deluxe wedding package ceremony would be $8,500 for 50 guests.
Once they returned home, in late November, the couple requested an official quote by email for a wedding in February or March 2026. Espinoza responded several weeks later informing the couple that the hotel had no remaining wedding availability in 2026, according to one of several emails the couple shared with NBC News.
Alexander and Sheepwash then requested a rate for February or March 2027, and Espinoza responded in mid-January with a quote for the first week of March 2027. If they had 50 guests staying in 25 rooms for three nights, the cost per person would be $485 per person per night, and the ceremony would cost $11,500. To reserve the date and the block of rooms, the contract said, the couple would have to put down a deposit of $36,375, which is equal to 50% of the total room costs for all of their guests.
The couple said they were shocked and confused by the amount, especially the eye-popping deposit, which was well beyond their budget. Sheepwash said he then became suspicious and googled “Sheraton Buganvilias Puerto Vallarta homophobic.” Among the top search results was a 2019 article from the LGBTQ news website the Washington Blade about the resort’s declining to book a same-sex wedding for travel vlogger Josh Rimer and his then-fiancé, he said.
At the time, Jeff Flaherty, a spokesperson for Marriott, apologized and told the New York Daily News that the company was “deeply concerned.” He added, “Marriott has long been committed to providing an environment where all are welcome including our LGBTQ guests and their loved ones.”
The spokesperson for Marriott didn’t respond to questions about what actions it took at the Sheraton after the 2019 incident.
After Sheepwash learned about Rimer’s experience, he said, he and Alexander asked two friends to request quotes from the Sheraton Buganvilias for hypothetical opposite-sex weddings.
In late January, their friend Marcia Escontria requested a quote for a deluxe wedding package and weeklong stay for 50 guests in 25 rooms in February 2026 — the month Alexander and Sheepwash originally wanted to book their wedding. Escontria said she told the resort that she was helping friends named Alex and Michelle plan their wedding.
On Feb. 7, Ximena Esparza, a junior wedding planner for the resort, told Escontria in an email that the hotel had availability for a wedding on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, and provided her a quote with a room rate of $254 per person per night, with a ceremony cost of $8,500. To reserve the date and the block of rooms, the contract said, the couple would have to put down a deposit of $1,700, which is equal to 20% of the ceremony cost.
On Feb. 11, four days after Escontria received her quote, Alexander emailed Espinoza, the wedding planner he had been communicating with, to “confirm if any dates could work in 2026.” She responded that day and said there was no availability remaining in 2026.
Though it appeared Escontria was offered their preferred wedding date at much lower rates, the couple said they wanted to be sure that they received an “apples to apples” comparison for the room rates and the total wedding quote they were offered for March 2027, so they asked another friend to request a quote for around that time.
In late March, their friend Simon, who asked to go only by his first name to protect his privacy, requested a quote for the same kind of wedding package and three-night stay for his and his fiancée’s wedding in February or March 2027, according to emails he shared with NBC News.
In a March 29 email, Esparza told Simon that if he and his fiancée had 50 guests staying in 25 rooms for three nights, the room rate would be $272 per person per night and the ceremony would cost $9,350. To reserve the date and the block of rooms, the contract said, the couple would have to put down a deposit of $1,870, which is equal to 20% of the ceremony cost.
To directly compare the rates he received to the rates Alexander and Sheepwash received, Simon also asked Esparza whether the resort had any availability during the first week of March 2027 and, if so, whether the prices would change. Esparza said in her response that the resort did have availability and “can honor the same prices for the first week of March.”
Asked to comment on the email correspondences and the differences in room rates, ceremony costs and deposit requirements, Esparza declined to comment and Espinoza didn’t respond to a request for comment.
After Simon received his quote, Sheepwash said, he and Alexander felt angry and powerless. They decided to post about it on social media and “talk from the heart,” Alexander said. The videos they shared Friday on Instagram and TikTok have amassed more than 150,000 views combined.
“We just want to let other people know,” Sheepwash said, noting that it has been six years since Rimer’s story became public. “How many people have had the same situation happen to them?”
Alexander said a diversity, equity and inclusion representative from Marriott called him Friday, a few hours after he shared the video on Instagram, and told him it was looking into the incident. Marriott didn’t confirm whether that call happened or its contents.
Marriott has long supported the LGBTQ community. It has been a member of the IGLTA, the LGBTQ travel association formerly known as the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, since 2010, and the organization recognized it in 2018 as being in the “top tier of global brand leaders that have committed to year-round support for the association and LGBTQ-welcoming travel.” The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the United States, also gave the company a perfect 100 score on its 2025 Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies on their LGBTQ-inclusive policies and benefits.
'A history of discrimination'
Alexander and Sheepwash, who are still looking for a wedding venue, said they don’t necessarily want an apology from Sheraton Buganvilias, because they believe what happened to them isn’t an isolated incident.
While he was researching the hotel, Sheepwash found a TikTok video posted by Daniel Galecio, a wedding planner in Puerto Vallarta, who said he received an email from Espinoza on Nov. 13 — the day before Alexander and Sheepwash toured the resort with Espinoza — saying, in Spanish, that because of internal company policies, the resort is currently unable to host same-sex weddings.
Galecio shared a copy of the email with NBC News, adding that he initially reached out to the Sheraton Buganvilias to request a quote for an opposite-sex wedding. After he received that quote, he said, he told Espinoza by email that he had gay clients who were also interested in getting married there. He was shocked by her response, he said, noting that Mexico’s constitution was amended in 2001 to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Same-sex marriage has been legal throughout the country since 2022.
“That hotel has a history of years of discrimination, and all the city knows — all the gays know,” Galecio said.
Marriott didn’t respond to Galecio’s claims.
Alexander said he wants Marriott to commit to meaningful change at the Puerto Vallarta resort.
“It’s very clear there’s an issue all the way to the top at this particular Sheraton of homophobia,” he said. Marriott “would need to make some seriously impactful change before I’d be entertaining what they have to say there. They are part of a lot of queer travel alliances, and the actions have to line up with reality, and right now it doesn’t.”
