Best Marriott hotels in Caribbean

[tompk]

I know this is primarily for timeshare discussion, but I'm planning a trip using MRPs and am looking for suggestions for best use of points for a hotel trip to the Caribbean next spring. So, what do you all consider the best Marriott hotels in the Caribbean? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Bootser]

Are you asking what is the best Marriott hotel in the Caribbean, or the best Caribbean island with a Mariott?

 

[Cathy in Boston]

The Stellaris in Aruba is nice, and Aruba is even nicer!

 

[pwrshift]

Friends stayed at St Kitt's and loved it .. and the casino.

 

[Kagehitokiri]

if youre using marriott rewards you can might also consider the Ritz Carlton St Thomas and Grand Cayman. (both are Tier 2)

 

[lovearuba]

Good luck trying to use reward points, so many restrictions it may not be worth it. I tried for aruba and there was one week open for all of 2008 in the Marriott hotel. Tried calling and they basically said the hotel is not really owned by the Marriott, they just use their name. The aruba surf and ocean club do not deposit weeks for reward points although Marriotts website indicates it does. Can you tell I'm still a bit bitter over the difficulty in using points? Hoping you have much better luck than I did.

 

[KathyPet]

It's not the Carribean but we think that the JW Marriott in Cancun is one of the finest hotels we have ever stayed in

 

[tompk]

Thanks to all for your input. I was primarily seeking destinations that did not have a Marriott timeshare. After some additional digging around on the Marriott website I was able to do a search by hotel type,(resort, cat 6, cat 7) and found that there aren't all that many to choose from in the Caribbean, but I think I will opt for the JW in Cancun as I haven't yet been to Cancun and it looks awfully nice.

 

[gores95]

It's not the Carribean but we think that the JW Marriott in Cancun is one of the finest hotels we have ever stayed in

I second that opinion! The JW is truly fabulous and the Club 91 (Concierge level) is even more spectacular.

 

[jimf41]

I've been to the Ritz and the Marriott at Cancun. The Ritz wins but its close.
Jim Freeman

 

[Kagehitokiri]

although ive heard the service at the RC during offseason can get really bad.

i stayed at the JW CUN 2 years ago, because the GM's brother is a close friend of my father. it certainly was not bad, caters primarily to conferences and families. (i believe there were 2 conferences when i was there, one reasonably large - accenture maybe?)

interestingly, the GM moved from a Marriott in Saudi Arabia/Middle East, where he learned enough about hosting royalty/sheiks that they stay with him in CUN. there was such a family there during my stay. they had the ground floor oceanfront rooms with the "private" pool (really not private at all, right next to the main pool area) definitely over the top service for them: carpets removed and brand new white carpet laid from side entrance to rooms, several full luggage trolleys, SUVs bought for transport - and everything paid in cash

how new is the club? whats the F&B like? is the service/etc noticeably better?

Marriott Grand Cayman 20K-30K/nt (no MVC there) (cat 6) (same as both CUN properties)
Ritz Carlton Grand Cayman 35K-70K/nt (tier 2)

 

[KathyPet]

You will not be disapointed in the JW Marriott Cancun. If you can do it definitely spend the extra points for the Club 91 upgrade. I have never seen such a full food spread in any Concierge lounge anywhere. You can get a full breakfast and lunch there which will save you $ purchasing these meals. A extensive hors d'oeveres spread at cocktail hour and drinks included make this a real $ saver. Eat in the Italian themed restaurant as the other main restaurant was a big disapointment. We also ate in the restaurant directly across the street and half a block up from the hotel and had a very good meal. We did not rent a car but instead relied on the public buses that run up and down the Blvd to get into town to shop.

 

[frankhi]

No big deal, but I think cancun is in the Caribbean. I think Cuba and Mexico make up the north/west border.

 

[Eric]

Were you not aware that Marriott MANAGES hotels and owns almost none of them ?

Good luck trying to use reward points, so many restrictions it may not be worth it. I tried for aruba and there was one week open for all of 2008 in the Marriott hotel. Tried calling and they basically said the hotel is not really owned by the Marriott, they just use their name. The aruba surf and ocean club do not deposit weeks for reward points although Marriotts website indicates it does. Can you tell I'm still a bit bitter over the difficulty in using points? Hoping you have much better luck than I did.

 

[oper035]

Marriotts Frenchman’s Reef Hotel in St. Thomas is a nice one.

 

[JimC]

The Stellaris in Aruba is nice, and Aruba is even nicer!

Agree. Aruba would be our top pick.

 

[KathyPet]

Sorry I must disagree with the comment that the Frenchmen's Reef hotel is nice. IMHO it is one of the worst full service Marriott's in the system. It is tired and run down and in serious need of a rehab. We stayed there one night in April 06 prior to leaving on a cruise and experienced the following:
1. In spite of the fact that my husbnd is a Platinum Rewards Member we were told we could not have a upgraded room unless we paid for it. This is absolutely opposite to the stated Marriott policy which is that if a upgraded room is available Platinum members are to be upgraded without charge. Obviously they had upgrades but we couldn't have one unless we paid. Since we were very tired and only staying one night we just decided to take what they gave us. We were given a terrible room that badly needed a re-do overlooking the employee parking lot.
2. We provided a credit card at check in even though we told the desk clerk that we would be using Marriott gift cards to pay for our stay. We were told that our credit card wuld not be charged until we checked out so we could change our payment method at that time. When we went to check out we were informed that our credit card had already been charged. When we insisted that the charge be reversed and that we wanted to use our Marriott gift cards it took 45 minutes since no one knew how to process the gift cards to pay the bill. At one time we had 4 desk clerks standing around the computer trying to figure out how to handle this. THank goodness I got receipts showing what occurred because of course the charge was not reversed on our credit card and we were billed.
3. We requested late check out because we wanted to go into town to shop and then go back to the hotel for a quick swim before changing to get to the cruise ship. We were told we could get one additional hour and no more. When we returned to the hotel after shopping and having lunch and went to get our luggage which we had stored with the bellman my housband realized he had left something in the room and got the bellman to go with him to retreive the item since we had already turned in the keys. THe room was totally untouched by the maids (This was at 3 PM). Room was exactly as we had left it at 11 AM and yet we could not get late checkout even as a platinum.

This hotel is a sad excuse for a Marriott IMHO.