Stayed at the Marriott from Jan. 2st-28th. Bring bug spray with, you may need it !! Our room was 225, close to everything and a gorgeous view of the ocean and sunset at night. (right from our own balcony) Even though the rooms were a little out dated the wonderful staff made up for it !!! The food in Portofino was very good and our waitress Letica was so attentive (make sure you ask for her, she will take such excellent care of you) We did eat in every restaurant and the food was very good in all of them. We were also able to get a chair at the pool whenever we needed one. Katherine at the juice bar always had a big smile on her face and she made the "best" smoothies around (try the mango strawberry-oh so good) The hotel is 10-15 min from town and also close to the airport. A taxi into town is $12.00 one way. They do have a shuttle that runs twice a day at 9 and 2, if you want to use the shuttle you have to make reservations the same day very early in the am. Internet service for 3 days was $38.95 plus 6% OB tax. If you get a chance-go to the Ostrich Farm and ride an Ostrich (a once in a lifetime experience) Do remember 1 thing no matter where you go to eat service is very slow (island time) so allow for that. There is also a local restaurant near the hotel called Pirates Bay, excellent food, great place to watch the sunset and they also have island music. (lot's of fun)

The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the rooms were just OK, nothing great. We stayed in an ocean view room which was pretty decent and also stayed in one of the standard rooms with a view of the street (clearly not as nice as the ocean view). We had actually planned to stay half our trip here at the Marriott and the other half at a hotel in the city where we could walk to all of the restaurants, etc but after one night in the city hotel, we checked out and made it back to the Marriott as fast as we could! When we arrived back at the Marriott, they were pretty booked up and we could only get the standard room which was still far better than the hotel we just checked out of.
The Marriott grounds and amenities were far superior to the same star hotel in the city. We absolutely loved the pool and the two gigantic hot tubs. This hotel has a nice gym that has plenty of light and good equipment. By far the greatest part of the Marriott was the customer service and friendliness of each person that works there. It seemed that everyone working there actually likes their job. Do not be fooled that you will find this level of friendliness everywhere on the island. The level at the Marriott surpassed any other restaurant or hotel we visited (4 other hotels in total).

Marriott is right next to the Hilton so we could compare the two properties. Marriott is MUCH better. The Hilton is pretty run down and was really stretched out. I'm writing a review on the Hilton under a different review. The beach is so much better and spacious at the Marriott and the water is calmer because they have a complete breaker built in front of the marriott's beach.

RESTAURANTS: Yes, the food is expensive at the hotel but it's pretty expensive at any of the nicer restaurants on the island. There is a deli / store in the hotel where you can get cheaper sandwhiches and smaller snacks. We liked the food at Emerald Lounge and thought everything that we got was great (Yum - Dushi pizza)! I also ate once at the seabreeze poolside restaurant but really we wanted to find places to go outside of the hotel so we never ate at Portofino. We didn't rent a car so did struggle with finding restuarants that were close or worth taking a cab for. The restaurant across the street (Sjalotte at Floris hotel) didn't get the best reviews but we thought it was so good and definitely worth trying. Just remember that service is slow. Seriously though the food was fantastic. Also there is a cute beach bar that is walking distance from the Marriott (10 min walk) that is called pirate bay beach bar or something. Hilton is right next door so adds additional restuarants close by but we only ate there once and it almost seemed the same as if we'd just eaten at the Marriott.

HAPPY HOUR: At the beach hut out on the ocean from 530-630 each day and additional specials on Sunday.

TIPS: There is a shuttle that goes into the city at 9am and 2pm everyday but you need to register in advance because it only seats 7. The taxi to the city is $12 USD if you stop before the bridge (in Otrobanda) versus $20 if you take it into Punda. You walk easily between Otrobanda and Punda.

We stayed the week of Christmas which was perhaps their busiest season. If you like the beach, you will like this resort. The waters were fairly calm as this side of the island faces south toward Venezuela. That's fortunate because there are no lifeguards. The beach was wide and the reefs on the right side of the beach were close to the shore--meaning that you can see lots of fish even if you snorkel 10 feet from the shore. The diving/snorkeling store on the beach offers equipment for rent and you can charge it to the hotel room (no need to bring your credit card to the beach). While it was not hard to get beach chairs on the beach, we did have to get up early (around 8ish) to get beach chairs under the "palapas" (unmovable umbrellas made from dried plant leaves). It would have been easier to get chairs by the pool, but we didn't really spend much time by the pool. (Maybe the resort was extra busy because it was Christmas week).

This seems to be a very family friendly resort. There were families with young kids, families with grown children, couples, as well as groups of younger people.

The food was only OK. We ate breakfast at the breakfast restaurant where they serve a breakfast buffet as well as a la carte breakfast. The quality was only average--maybe one step above an IHOP. The breakfast buffet consisted of cereals, hot cereals, bacon/sausages, fruit, mini-pancakes, juices, an omelette station, coffee/tea. We had the buffet every morning because our room rate included the buffet breakfast. There are many good restaurants in Curacao, so we ate all of our dinners off premises. The hotel actually has menus from most of the restaurants in Curacao, so ask the very helpful concierge desk for the booklet. Lunch at the hotel was fine, and we at at the poolside restaurant.

The accommodations aren't luxurious, but they are adequate and clean. The reason why the reviews seem to vary in regards to the rooms is because there are renovated rooms and unrenovated/partially renovated rooms. We saw both type of rooms. The renovated rooms have flat screen TVs and have tiled floors (no aging carpets). We took a partially renovated room because it was a beach front room, and it made going to the beach easy. Our partially renovated room had a old style picture-tube TV (not flat screen, but we were OK with it), and the furniture was definitely older (paint on wood). The room smelled musty even though we had the A/C on the entire time, but I think it is because the island can get very humid. The carpet looked a little dingy too, so bring your slippers. The A/C vent didn't look very clean, but that is something we got used to. The bed mattress looked very new, so we were happy with that.

The bathroom finishings were in the style of older 3-star hotels, but it was clean. In general, housekeeping did a good, clean job with the room, and they provided twice-daily maid service. In my opinion, they tried hard to make up for dated decor and older rooms with good housekeeping service. At least they try hard, and I give them credit for that.

The staff at the hotel were very friendly and tried very hard---everyone including the front desk people (especially Sheggy), the concierges, the bellboys, the restaurant staff.

The location of the hotel was good--only 15 minutes from Otrabanda. We didn't rent a car, but we took taxis. The hotel staff can generally give you an idea of how much a ride to a certain location would cost, and your ride should cost that much, plus or minus a few dollars. Some of the taxi drivers try to rip you off (there are no meters on most taxis), and there is really nothing you can do about it unless you ask the taxi when you get in the car.

We also enjoyed spending a day to explore Willemstad.

Overall, the service and the beach make this a great resort, as long as you don't expect the rooms to be luxurious. Also, the price is reasonable for this resort. I would come back again.

My husband and I own and operate our own business and work 80 hours a week each. When it is time for a vacation it is usually when we are completely and totally worn out and really ready to relax and be pampered. We have traveled a lot over the past 11 years together to varous islands, and resorts, but coming to curacao, and choosing the Marriott, was one of the best choices we made in a long time.

The views our beautiful. The island people are laid back and helpful. It is not dangerous to venture out of the resort and see everything. The hotel staff though were what made our trip. Upon arrival the general manager and the front desk manager personally introduced theirselves to us and made our entire trip one of the most delightful we have ever experienced.

I can't stress enough the importance of this asset in a hotel community. The hotel can be beautiful, the food can be good, and the accomodations divine, but if the customer service is bad, it's still not worth it. This property entails all the above, including "divine customer service".

It is refreshing to know that customer service in Curacao and at Marriott International are not a thing of the past, because unfortunately most places and companies we deal with really struggle in that area anymore. We will definitely come back here and make recommendations to all of our friends and family to visit this resort.

Thanks again for a great vacation