Curacao Marriott Beach Resort

My husband and I went to the Marriott Curacao in Sept and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. This was our first time in Curacao, so I reached out to Guest Relations and worked with the wonderful Precious prior to our arrival. She was able to provide a wealth of information on restaurants, shopping, beaches, cultural and spa services. We have ambassador status with Marriott, so I was a bit disappointed that our room wasn’t ready when we arrived in the late afternoon. They did give us 2 drink tickets for a cocktail at the bar while we waited. After 1 hour (and seeing others get their room keys) I went back over to check-in and was told our room was ready. They upgraded us to an ocean-front room and met us upstairs with our luggage. Yes, they do give you two white water bottles upon check-in, if they’re in stock. They were gone when we checked-in so we asked on a couple days later and they gave us two of them with an apology that they ran out previously. The resort layout is like two U shapes combined into 1 property so like 4 sections with the lobby, main pool and Salty Iguana in the middle. We were located between the third and fourth section and it was strictly bushes and trees with some benches to sit for quiet time. Between sections 1 and 2 was the adult or quiet lap pool. VERY quiet so we did not stay in that area at all and spent all of our time at the main pool. Our room was spacious and had a large bathroom that included an open space to hang clothes, multiple shelves and drawers for everything to be put away including a small ironing board & iron. There was also a good-sized shower, double vanity and toilet. Shower pressure was great and made you want to stay in there for an hour. King size bed, closet, chair & ottoman, 4 more drawers for clothes and a desk. Sliding glass doors out to a regular size balcony with 2 chairs and a small table overlooking a small section of beach and the ocean. There is a cooling drawer for drinks under the coffee maker but it’s not cold enough to keep food in overnight. It is NOT a fridge. The open-air lobby is very good size with plenty of chairs, couches and swings for seating. Some nights they had live music in the bar area which was nice because other nights were pretty quiet. Nice size bar (Zala) for cocktails and the Koi sushi restaurant shares the space next to the bar. We had lunch at Koi and dinner there twice during our stay and LOVED everything. The sushi was so fresh, the Korean BBQ beef amazing and the dumplings were very flavorful. C-Spice is downstairs and their most dressy restaurant on property. We had dinner there twice and loved it both times. In fact, I loved my chicken pesto dish so much the first time, I had the same thing the next dinner. Husband had the snapper with saffron potatoes one night, lamb chops the next and thoroughly enjoyed both!!! Salty Iguana is the pool bar/restaurant, and we had fish tacos, pep pizza and the Marriott burger and all were very good – especially the Marriott burger! We did not purchase anything from the Papiamentu Marketplace but stopped in to see what they had. Coffee, teas, breakfast sandwiches, plenty of drink choices, yogurt parfaits, fruit cups, snacks and more. At glance, their yogurt parfaits were $11 each, fruit cups were $10, ham and egg breakfast sandwiches were $12 and cans of coke were $5. Didn’t really look at anything else but they had plenty of options, snacks and drinks – just a little pricey. Since we have ambassador status, we had access to the lounge for breakfast and in the evenings for “dinner” and drinks. Nice size lounge with plenty of seating but very small selection of food. Each morning they had the same thing – scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage, breakfast potatoes, pancakes and waffles, a small selection of pastries, 4 different bowls of fresh cut fruit, oatmeal and 2 types of cereal. The only thing that changed was a single dish of a type of eggs each day – soft boiled, hard boiled, quiche and something like eggs benedict, otherwise it was the same thing every single day. In the evenings, the selection was again very small, pizza & minimal sushi one night, chicken tenders and salad another night, fajitas another night (very good), pizza again and we didn’t bother looking other nights. They had several bottles of hard liquor out at night so you could make a drink but you cannot take it outside of the lounge. Beer and wine in the fridge all day long along with soda, water and juice. The “best” vodka they had was Absolut. If you ordered Tito’s or Grey Goose at any of the restaurants, there was a $4 upcharge per drink. A bottle of still water at any restaurant is $8.50 per bottle – smaller than 32oz. No choice just to have tap water. PS – the water filtered and safe to drink. I would not recommend doing the all-inclusive package if offered it as I think it would be a waste since the options are so limited and why not try outside restaurants while on the island. Went rented a car from Hertz in the lobby ($110 USD) for a day to drive around the island and check things out. We went to Mambo beach and weren’t impressed, honestly. There were a ton of chairs, but they were so close to one another that you better like your neighbor or you’re stuck. Quiet a few shops to pop in and look around and several restaurants but we didn’t want to eat there; it felt dirty to us – just not clean. Definite tourist trap. Drove around some more and found a cute cobble-stone shopping area with cute bistros, café’s and clothing boutiques. Driving was very easy to navigate since they drive on the same side of the road as us. Easy to return the car to Hertz when we got back to the resort. No issues. We both had wonderful massages (my masseuse was Saira) and she was awesome. My husband cannot remember his masseuses name, but he thought she was also very good. They don’t have a formal spa but converted two sleeping rooms into massage rooms. Not a big deal but not the spa experience we thought we’d have. Still VERY good service and massages. The main pool was our hang out place each day. Towel hut opens at 7 am and there was never an issue with getting a chair each day. In fact, while we were there and after the large group left, it wasn’t even half full, so chairs were not an issue. Beach chairs are taken before the pool chairs; just an FYI. They had pool bingo, aerobics and other games each day. Games were fun and the gentleman who hosted each day was a lot of fun. Prizes were a free cocktail in the bar or ice cream in the marketplace. We spent some time out in the ocean and the water is so clear you can see your feet, which I love. It was a little cool but felt good because it was so humid. Real feel was 100+ each day. There’s a decent beach for sitting with chairs and umbrellas but getting into the water is tricky. There is a small area to the right side of the resort (when looking at the water) that is sandy when walking into the water, the rest of the area is all rocks, stones that you can walk on, but you need to be careful or have water shoes on. It is not a beach that you can walk for 20 minutes – it’s pretty much blocked off to go any further either way. So, if you’re looking for a long beach to take long walks on, this is not the place. Bring your bug spray because the mosquitoes and no-see-ums are out every single night and they will get you quickly! The one and only night we didn’t put spray on, we both woke up with multiple bites the next morning. People were in the gift shop buying Off spray because they didn’t bring any and they were that bad. Housekeeping wasn’t bad – a little inconsistent with towels and taking away dirty glasses/dishes. I think what we struggled with was they gave us 2 wash-clothes on the first day and then never replenished the rest of our trip (8 days). When we asked housekeeping for some, they told us we needed to go to the front desk. Weird. Never replaced the bars of soap at the sink or lotion 1 time during our stay. We had a wonderful time and will definitely come back. Resort was very clean and well maintained. Close to the airport but far enough away that you don’t hear the planes. RJ (Bellman) was very helpful and grabbed us a taxi when we needed one to run to the store. Everyone was very friendly, the food was all VERY good and the overall atmosphere was just what we were looking for!!! Precious was an absolute gem to work with and the Marriott Curacao is lucky to have such a valued employee. Great resort and a fabulous time!

I was warned against staying at a chain hotel in Curaçao but I took my chances and I’m glad I did. The property was quite nice. Reasonably located within the airport and downtown. It’s not the biggest resort but it was larger than I thought. The private beach was great with plenty of chairs & umbrellas. Especially if you go early. The room was clean and spacious. Ample storage throughout. I found the fridge to be weird. It wasn’t really cold at all. So my drinks were slightly cooler than room temp. They do have an ice and water machine on every floor which was great. I read that the room had an electric kettle but mine did not. I asked the front desk and they brought me one. Bed was comfortable but the pillows were absolutely not. Just lumpy without any support. There are on-site dining options including a little market where you can get coffee, snacks, pastries, etc. I visited quite a few times. I tried Salty Iguana when I first arrived. I had a decent meal there. The prices seemed so high for the items, I had to ask if they were USD and indeed they were. I ordered room service one night and it was decent. I also tried C Spice and I had a poor dinner experience which deterred me from trying any other restaurants on the property. Luckily, there are a few dining options less than 10 minutes walk away. They are definitely much better than what’s on-site. The one major thing I’d complain about was they had leaf blowers going off at 7 AM every morning. I appreciate that they want to keep the grounds clean, but do they realize people are on vacation and 7 AM is very early? That was basically the alarm clock for me. Overall, a good option to stay at. Staff members were all very friendly.

Clean spacious rooms w/lots of storage, surprisingly good food, two beautiful pools. Gorgeous beach, & friendly staff.

I’ve been on 2 carabbean island vacas per year for at least 6 years and this is in my top 2. The beaches and food were amazing, but the people are actuallly the most friendly and sincere I’ve ever met!!! Wanted to give a special shoutout to some of the staff that I consider friends now who made our first time in Curacao amazing - it wouldn’t have been the same without them! Razil at CSpice: we did the all inclusive package and it was totally worth it for my boyfriend and I who drink and eat a lot - but Razil is why it was so special and fun - he made us laugh constantly, his attention to detail is immaculate and he’s just adorable! Beach/pool servers/bartenders/food runners: Farrah was AMAZING I couldn’t believe she was serving the entire beach solo in the HOT HOT HEAT and managed to keep EVERYONE on the beach happy, she also gave us every recommendation she could think of for our time there. She made a list on my phone to download the Otra app that is a travel guide for the entire island, with events, restaurants, beaches, and gave us her own list of everything we had to to before we left! Got to see sea turtles because of her help! Interns Quinty & Noralee: these two girls were adorable and showed so much passion in doing there very best and also were SO FRIENDLY Chevan and Shavon: these guys ran food out faster than sonic the hedge hog in EXTREME heat all day long and always with a smile made sure all guests were happy Sushi restaurant: Amar, Gimo and the head bartenders name that I’m just blanking on - food was impeccable we tried so many things, these guys were so friendly and funny! And when I say these guys go above and beyond (as well as the entire staff at this resort) I truly mean it. On our last day I found a bikini in the gift shop I wanted that was super expensive so I searched it online. Unfortunately the Website was in Dutch so Amar looked it up for me and checked if I would be able to ship to the USA since he spoke Dutch! Definitely not in a typical bartender duty! Overall I just want to say that Curacao marriot is the friendliest resort I’ve ever been to (even friendlier than Aruba which I’ve visited 2 times in the passes 3 years) thank you all for an unforgettable trip and I can’t wait to be back!

This is an amazing experience. I leave with no complaints from our 7 day stay. Every aspect of the resorts food, amenities, and service was amazing. Some people that made our stay so memorable with their amazing service are attached. Jaymy - Salty Iguana Nicole - Salty Iguana Maria - Salty Iguana Simone - C Spice Ingrid (GeeChee) - Papiamentu Market Naomi G. - Papiamentu Market Hensley - Bellman These folks represent Marriot so well and more important the Curacao culture of Dushi. When you come to the island expect a slower pace and island time. Leave the fast pace and big city attitude in the big city. Enjoy all this magical place has to offer for your entire family.