We had mix feelings about this property. On the one hand it exceeded what we’d expect in a "Courtyard" stateside (Courtyard’s are a ‘saver’ brand within Marriott), but also we ran into a few minor hiccups as well that typically don’t occur at Marriott’s.
Check-in - check in for us was a bit of a hassle. We were using two free night certs for Marriott but the front desk took a long time to process it. Since we were Platinum members we got $10 USD credit each day as our welcome gift instead of breakfast which we would have had at other Marriott brands. Even though we were staying on points we still had to pay $9 a day in taxes. I personally prefer Hilton’s award program since they give free breakfast for Gold AND waive fees on award stays.
Our room was great. We were upgraded to a suite that came with a second room that had a couch and TV. The bedroom also had a TV and both bedside tables had US outlets and USB ports. WiFi worked well and we were able to stream Netflix on our computer without a problem. The room also had very good air conditioning. If you stepped out on the balcony it because immediately apparent how well the AC was.
Bathroom was fine, it looked like the room had been recently renovated, but the bathroom did not. It’s wasn’t dirty, just looked a little outdated. We had decent water pressure and hot water.
The Restaurant has a small dinning area that serves breakfast in the morning and snacks/meals throughout the day. We ordered a few things with our platinum dining credit and it was all pretty typical hotel food, not the best, but decent.
Beach access- there is beach access directly across the street from the hotel and less than a 5 minute walk to the water. The beach directly across from the hotel had lots of seaweed floating around. The ocean floor is a mixture of sand and rocks, but we didn’t come across anything sharp. After our first experience at this beach we decided to try nicer beaches a short drive away (such as Miami Beach) and greatly preferred those ones.
Concierge desk was a bit of a mixed bag. Instead of Marriott running the concierge desk it’s an independent company. We spoke with them several times to arrange taxi’s or with questions and usually got one-word answers or they would speak so quietly that we couldn’t make out a word they said. We also were disappointed that the concierge desk charged a 50% fee to travel to the airport ‘outside regular hours’ it seemed that taxi fare to and from the airport is regulated so I was annoyed about the extra fee (I’m unsure if it was just the companies policy of if this fee is standard).
Overall we had a nice stay it was frustrating that the front desk was unsure how to process our free night certificates and we had to re-code our key card each day. The room and lobby were both nice. I would stay again, but I wouldn't go out if my way for this one.
