slariz

As of a few years ago, you can also feed the fish, turtles and ducks from the dock behind the fitness building anytime - just have to have them take you there in a golf cart.

chix

Any recent experiences?

Swimreed3000

just finished a 5 night stay! Unfortunately there weren’t any upgrades available but our base level room was huge and fantastic.

As previously mentioned the continental breakfast is free for platinum and up but the hot bar is an additional $9. We did the hot bar 4/5 days and we’re only charged the additional $9 4 of the 8 total times. Absolutely no rhyme or reason to it. One of the mornings we were offered a complimentary mimosa with the hot bar but the other days we weren’t.

the resort fee is steep ($99) but includes a lot of stuff. We basically didn’t take advantage of most of it. The valet parking was $22 a day and very easy and convenient. (They mention a self park option online but it does not exist in reality.). The service around food and drink was a little slow universally (at the breakfast restaurant, at the bar for dinner and at Paros for dinner as well as the beach and pool). That being said everyone was extremely nice, accommodating, and pleasant. Would I have appreciated if they stopped by my pool chair a few more times? Sure, but they went above and beyond every time they did interact with us.

I had read reviews that the breakfast was frustrating because of the birds outside, this seems to be solved as the breakfast was now inside. Also I read that the hotel was very dog friendly. I did see a few people with dogs at the beach and pool but they were rare.

Overall, the food and drinks were excellent, the setting unmatched and the service was really good. My wife and I would not hesitate to return.

there were a lot of families with young kids, but the pool and beach are so large and spread out it was never an issue.

Mr. BoH

Thanks! Is the below still the current list of what the resort fee covers? It seems pretty meh, and hard to extract $99 worth of value unless you are using multiple things every day. I was hoping the resort fee included parking but per your note I guess not.
https://www.marriott.com/marriottass.../SJUXR_Fee.pdf

platbrownguy

Wow, this is HUGE if permanent. How did they do it, did they enclose the entire patio at Seagrapes (including the pizza oven)? Or was it somewhere other than Seagrapes now? The birds at breakfast were a consistent problem that got worse each year for the 12 years we've been going (except at the very beginning when breakfast was in Fern, the former incarnation of Paros). We're heading back for a week in April and I will be thrilled if there are no birds.

A mimosa (regular or flavored) is included with the full buffet btw, even if they don't offer it. Just ask!

1200GS

^^ Big development it true. Would actually reconsider another stay if true.

Swimreed3000

So we are upstairs in Paros 2 mornings for breakfast and downstairs at the bar 3 mornings. They did have a few tables set up outside that people ate at, but the full bar seating was set up and we were given the choice each morning.

Also, the resort fee info you posted looks pretty accurate. Unfortunately the valet was not included.

platbrownguy

Finally!!

I always commented to staff (who also HATE the birds) that when the property first opened it was so nice to have breakfast upstairs in Fern (now Paros). Sure there's folks who prefer to eat outside but all the breakfast pastries go stale in about 30 seconds of that humid air. You could actually get a crisp, flaky croissant when breakfast was inside, not to mention that you could walk away from it to get some Nutella without fearing that a bird would swoop in and grab it in the 7 seconds you were away.

sari75

https://uqrmecdn.s3.us-east-2.amazon...b5d3bf59db.pdf

as of March 29, 2024.

SantiC

Finished a 5 night stay for spring break and wanted to give back to the community. This was my first time with my kids (two year old and 6 month old). My wife and I had visited previously. I used points and paid for the Astor Suite upgrade. In summary, I would definitely come back. The property is gorgeous, pool and beach are nice, and it’s great for kids. That’s despite the fact food is mediocre (what resort isn’t) and service was slow.

The hotel was almost at full capacity and we didn’t get an upgrade, though the only option would’ve been a St Regis Suite. My understanding is that the only difference between the rooms is that the St Regis Suite is beachfront. That would’ve been nice but at the time of booking the upgrade was much more expensive. We chose the Astor vs the Luxury Suite because the Astor is on the first floor and with the kids this was perfect. We were able to walk out the back and play in the little grass area and go directly to the pool. We also avoided stairs and elevators. The room itself was massive, with two bathrooms and a separate sitting / living room.

We used a local car service that was a third of the price of what the hotel offered. Check in was fine. We showed up and our room wasn’t ready until 330pm. We got a welcome drink. When the room was ready we had to wait another 45 minutes to get our luggage which was frustrating. This was offset by the two cribs being in the room and a nice children’s gift bag for both our kids. Our room was in building 9, which is at the far end from the lobby but you can cut down the walk going through the pool.

The food was mediocre and expensive. I think if you go into a resort stay, even luxury, with this expectation, you won’t be significantly disappointed. I was hoping for a bit better quality though. I can confirm breakfast is at Paros. The continental breakfast is included for Platinum members but the hot food buffet is an extra $9 charge plus it doesn’t include a la carte items. You can sit by the window and still have a nice view. Food was average but it’s great value. We also ate at Seagrapes, the St Regis Bar, and the Beach Club. Food all around was very average, with Seagrapes probably having the best. The Beach Club food was pretty bad but nice change of pace. The best setting was the St Regis Bar. We sat down around 530pm each time and had front row seats for the champagne sabering and the beautiful lawn / sunset. The birds remain and issue all around the property but it’s manageable and they aren’t approaching you as long as you are at the table. Service is super slow everywhere and that was frustrating so plan accordingly.

The pool is awesome. We were up early because of our kids and switched between picking chairs close to the zero entry area and close to the beach. By late morning you could tell there were some people that were frustrated they weren’t getting prime real estate chairs but I don’t think you can expect otherwise when the hotel is full. Service was very slow and not as frequent as you’d like. A few times I saw people walking around with treats they got at the beach but we never had a chance.

The beach was also nice. Water was fairly rough most days but swimmable for those capable. The sand got very hot so keep that in mind for yourself but specially little kids. Service was a bit better than at the pool. Lawn chairs were just the right amount but again we got there earlier than others.

Lastly, I would say it’s a great resort for kids. It’s missing a slide but most hotels are. It has a playground in the shade between buildings 8 and 9. The pool has zero entry. They had several decorating activities during our stay, they had giant games in one of the lawns, and had s’mores at 630pm everyday.

Overall, great stay and would do it again. The Astor upgrade was worth it for our situation given we could hang out after the kids went to bed. This also turned out to be a great stay for us as a family. Happy to answer questions.

platbrownguy

Wow, I had no idea! We're heading back there in a couple weeks, thanks for the tip!

mcsb11

Yeah I found it on our next to last day. It was buried. Unless you're staying by there you owuldnt really know where it was.

platbrownguy

We are here now!

The playground is actually a new addition to the kids club, which is also between buildings 8 and 9 (on the parking-lot side of the path). But there's no need to go through the kids club to use it, which is nice, it's just freely available.

Even better, there's a bigger playground next to building 1 at Las Verandas (the condo complex by the boathouse, not to be confused with Las Ventanas by the Beach Club). That one has a baby swing and regular swings.

This stay is excellent so far:

• Arrived around noon thinking we'd leave our stuff and use the beach (weather was perfect). We were thrilled to learn our room was already ready, and we had been upgraded from a basic room on points to a Luxury Suite. We were proactively offered the welcome punch and whisked to our room, which was already set up for us with the nice wooden crib, a diaper pail, a kids welcome bag (stuffed animal, etc), and a bottle of red wine with a note. Major win, as it has typically been 4pm or later before we've been able to get to our room.
• Staffing levels seem appropriate, no long waits for valet or a golf cart.
• Breakfast was actually back at Seagrapes, evidently just as of a few days ago because there is a corporate group here and that group's breakfast is in the Paros space (I am a fan of when hotels put meeting group meals elsewhere). Amazingly, there was not a big bird problem, in part because staff were fending them off before they came in.
• Live music in the bar last night was nice, went from about 7 to 10 with a couple long breaks.

554,000 points (plus resort fee) for 6 nights, and I still think this is the best redemption in the Marriott system. The place sells out at $1400+/night. Ambassador treatment is great (I could have spent $350/night plus tax on top of the points to book a suite, and I almost did, but I'm glad I didn't have to). And the property keeps adding little improvements: games to borrow, a farm with donkeys, the playgrounds, etc.

Favorite part is still chilling on the beach and having full F&B service available.