Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort

May 26th, 2023

Enroute:

A lot has happened this year so far. Amongst a job change, a domestic relocation and going back home for the first time in three years, ya girl needed a vacation.

I wanted something really low-key and low-maintenance, both of which I’m not. So a nonstop flight was a must, and the destination can’t have too many attractions so I can rightfully (almost) never leave the resort.

Fortunately for us, the newest residents of America’s greatest city, Miami that is (fight me), the options include virtually anywhere in the Caribbean. If you’ve been on this blog before, you know I love an island jaunt. This time my target landed in Curaçao, in the Dutch Antilles. I realized all of the islands we had visited in the past have been British, so a Dutch one could be fun to throw in the mix.

If you are wondering where Curaçao is, you’re not alone. Funny enough, my Citi credit card was locked due to suspicious activity as soon as I paid for the airport taxi… Curaçao lies 40 miles off the coast of Venezuela, which explains why the Venezuelan valet lady in our building was the only one to know where we were going. It is part of the Dutch ABC islands, consisting of two more famous neighbors, Aruba and Bonaire.

To be expected, AA operates two daily services from MIA to Curaçao. For hotels, there are two Marriott properties, Renaissance Wind Creek Curaçao Resort and Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort. There are other all-inclusive hotels on the island, but I tend to think of those as more of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It eventually came down to the Marriott, as it had gone through major renovations in 2019. It’s important to note that the Renaissance does not have beach access, as it’s next to the cruise terminal.

Check-in:

Prior to arrival, I chatted with the hotel on the Marriott app to arrange airport transfer, which was provided by a local company called Luxury Taxi Service. The price was $33 one-way, and there would be someone waiting outside baggage claim with a name sign. The pick-up was seamless, and we were offered a cold Acqua Panna for the ride. You can pay with a credit card, so we used them again for our other rides while on the island.

The drive took less than 15 minutes, and we were greeted by a beautiful open-air lobby with a sunken seating area. I adore the setting of this, and it reminded me of the Westin Hapuna on the Big Island.

To the left of the lobby was Zala Gastro Lounge, which shared the same open-air space with the lobby. To the right of the lobby was the reception.

After I gave the agent my name, he invited me to check in at the Reef Club, which is right next to the reception. I didn’t overthink it, as it’s quite common for elite members to check in in the executive lounge in other parts of the world.

The lounge itself was decent, with various seating arrangements, a self-serve bar, buffet and an outdoor balcony.

After we sat down, the very friendly agent Stephanie welcomed and offered us a choice of beer or wine for our check-in. I thought it was a nice touch, and definitely not something I expected from a Marriott in the Caribbean.

After the pleasantries had been exchanged, Stephanie revealed the real intention of this whole special treatment we had received thus far. The Reef Club wasn’t necessarily a free lounge for elite guests, rather it’s an upcharge opportunity. She explained that elite members would only receive continental breakfast, which she went out of her way to clarify would mostly just be Danish pastries. I’m not sure why it would only be Danish pastries and not other pastries, but that’s what she said. Therefore, should a guest want hot breakfast, they were better off paying for the club access. Below is a picture of what’s on offer at the Reef Club.

While I thought the practice itself was a smidge tacky, I recognize that hotels in this part of the world generally don’t offer free lounges to guests. At least the execution of trying to upsell was quite tactful. How can you be mad at someone who just handed you an ice-cold beer? So yeah, we agreed to purchase the club access, which was only $20 per person per night.

I want to give Stephanie a shout out for being proactive about upgrades. She called the housekeeping to make sure we could get an oceanfront room. While we waited for the room, we witnessed a distressed “lifetime titanium” member who was charged for eggs at breakfast. He kept stating that he’s a lifetime titanium member, and that he purposefully booked this hotel because he had free club access last time. First of all, there’s no such thing as lifetime titanium status. The best you can do is lifetime platinum. Second of all, how can you be a lifetime titanium and not know what a continental breakfast is? Third of all, this place served some of the ghastliest wines I’ve ever tasted in my life and Absolut vodka, along with mozzarella sticks for hors d'oeuvre. Which part of this offering is compelling you to come back? On the other hand, I empathize with where the guy’s coming from. Imagine spending thousands of nights at Marriott, only to get charged for an omelet. That is not to say his frustration wasn’t misdirected, though. Stephanie offered to get the GM, but the guy just kept on yelling at her regardless.

I got the sense that the hotel is used to dealing with a lower-end clientele - we were asked to sign for each check after we ordered, rather than keeping an open tab like in most other places; the club staff stressed numerous times that it’s not allowed to take anything outside; and we were each given a towel card.

Unpack:

Our room was on the top floor of the building beside the main pool. The hotel consisted of several 4-storey buildings, so the footprint was quite spread out.

Upon entry, there’s a narrow hallway leading to the bedroom.

To the left of the entryway was the bathroom, which featured an exposed storage area, a single vanity, a walk-in shower and a toilet.

The room felt pretty fresh, given the renovation in 2019. The toiletries were from The Spa Collection, which sounds like a generic guest supply brand to me. They weren’t particularly great either. Does Marriott still have Thann toiletries nowadays or is it just whatever? The towels here were also super worn and scratchy. Free exfoliation! Yay!

Immediately outside the bathroom was the minibar, which obviously wasn’t stocked. I’m getting mixed signals from this hotel. Like it had a proper Nespresso machine but with off-brand pods.

Next in the room were the two queen beds. We opted for this sleeping arrangement because it was the only oceanfront room left when we checked in. The sheets here weren’t plush. I feel like LATAM had better beddings, which isn’t saying a whole lot.

Last but not least was the balcony, which was definitely tiny, but nice to have still.

The water in front of the hotel was gorgeous. Curaçao sits on the continental shelf of South America, so the drop off is visible from the shore. This creates the transition from turquoise blue water to deep blue just on the other side of the breakwater.

Unwind:

We did a bit of exploring on property, and the grounds were quite pretty. The greeneries were well kept, and there was an abundance of flowers in the courtyards.

The beach stretched the entire length of the resort. I believe the beach is manmade, as it can get rocky in certain areas.

There are two pools at the resort, one main pool and one adult-only pool. Sunscreen was available at the towel shack. However, there was no hot tub.

Gym was located on the ground floor underneath the lobby.

Refuel:

Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort has three restaurants: the lobby bar Zala Gastro Lounge, the poolside restaurant Salty Iguana and breakfast and dinner restaurant Cspice (not to be confused with Seaspice in Miami). We never ate at Cspice, but the menu reads as follows:

In addition to the restaurants, the hotel also had a market called Papiamentu, where you could get snacks and drinks. There was a sign describing it “your grab-and-go” experience. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw it. So it’s a store? Not everything has to be hyped up, fam.

We participated in the happy hour at the Reef Club on our first day. I made the below sampler to showcase the comprehensive offerings. I think the picture speaks for itself…

The breakfast at the Reef Club was roughly on par with a Hampton Inn breakfast.

During lunch hours, the club provided a few finger snacks, which mostly appeared to have reused leftovers from breakfast…

We had drinks by the pool several times. The drinks were quite good, and the prices were reasonable with tax already included. Rather disappointingly service was scarce, and we had to sign every time we ordered.

We had a casual dinner at the lobby bar one night. You can see the menu below:

There was also a sushi menu:

We shared some bbq ribs and blackened mahi. For island food, I thought both dishes were above average.

Depart:

Albeit my somewhat sarcastic tone throughout this review, I enjoyed my stay at the Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort. It certainly isn’t the most polished hotel, which I was fully aware before I made the booking. I don’t think Curaçao is ordinarily regarded as a luxury destination, and the guests we observed seemed to reflect that. Nonetheless, the ocean here is beautiful, housekeeping requests were always promptly taken care of, and the food was largely edible. Would it be nice to have cushions on the beach chairs? Yes. But I’d gladly trade that for friendly and competent staff.