We stay at this hotel every year, and we are returning again next month. Can anyone speak to recent Platinum upgrades/perks? We'll be traveling with our 2 year old and have booked a Gulf Front View room. I am only recently re-gaining my Marriott status, so my past stays have been without status. Beyond the Gulf Front View rooms, there only seems to be the Lanai suites or Terrace Suites. Although I doubt we'll be offered those, I'm wondering if anyone has any recent experience in those room categories. Is the breakfast still just a basic continental spread?
As for general comments from my past stays, the first thing to note if you are considering this property is that the beach is AMAZING and it's what keeps us coming back every year. Just pull it up on google maps so you can see how large it is - plenty wide in front of the hotel, and long enough that if you wanted to walk the entire stretch it's easily 30+ minutes. The resort fee includes the chairs/umbrellas in front, but you can also just park it anywhere in the sand with a cooler of drinks (alcohol is allowed anywhere on the beach) if you don't want to stay in that spot. They drive around a bar cart to serve drinks to the beach chairs as well. The pools are great, and although both of the main pools are kid friendly (one has zero entry and a slide and is clearly the main kids pool), there is also a very quiet adults-only pool at the spa that practically nobody knows about. Kane's tiki bar is a phenomenal place to have a drink next to the beach, albeit pricey, and is a great place to watch the sunset. Convenient location that is an easy walk to a handful of restaurants, or a quick drive to plenty of others (Snook Inn!). If you have young kids, the on-site arcade and bowling alley is great for them to run around and play while you can have a drink/snack from the bar. I'd skip the mini golf, but the mini-bowling is fun.
We have stayed in the adults-only Sirene tower as well, and although they were clearly still working out the service kinks when we stayed there in 2019, the hard product is incredible. Very nice rooms and all have at least a partial ocean view, with a sweet rooftop pool overlooking the beach. A great breakfast served in the Tesoro restaurant is included in your room rate.
Room rates tend to run high, and there are lots of conferences here, but if you are flexible and do your research you can find some quieter weeks with very reasonable rates.