LarkSFO

What kind of upgrade were you hoping for? It is 'High Season' in the Cancun area right now - was the hotel at full capacity?

I agree with you regarding Double Beds - they are way to small for my partner and I and this is the reason I would never book a room with them. (unless I am sleeping in one by myself!)

Which room type did you end up in? How was your view of the ocean?

Did your balcony have room for a table and chairs to sit outside and relax or eat?

Regarding room size: 467sf is not a huge room, but I would not call it tiny either... Maybe this sf included the balcony?


Ocean View, Guest room, 1 King or 2 Double, Ocean view, Balcony

Premium Ocean View, Guest room, 1 King or 2 Double, Premium Ocean view, Ocean view, Balcony

Club 91 Level, Club level, Guest room, 1 King or 2 Double, Premium Ocean view, Ocean view

Caribbean, 1 Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Sofabed, Bathrooms: 1.5, Ocean view, Ocean view, Balcony

Caribbean Club 91, Club level, 1 Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Sofabed, Bathrooms: 1.5, Ocean view

JW Luxury Suite, 1 Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Sofabed, Ocean view, Ocean view, Balcony

Grand Ocean Front, 1 Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Sofabed, Bathrooms: 1.5, Premium Ocean view, Balcony

Grand Ocean Club, Club level, 1 Bedroom Suite, 1 King, Sofabed, Bathrooms: 1.5, Oceanfront

sunnyjl

High season or not, my batting average on upgrades at Marriott in the last year is practically .000. Gets to be a little tiring hearing "You get an upgrade EXCEPT...you get breakfast EXCEPT. There's always an exception. Honestly I couldn't care less about upgrades or breakfast when I'm traveling on business. But when I'm on my annual vacation with my family, THAT is when I would really like to receive the perks that I'm supposed to get, and that NEVER happens! Seriously, five nights per year you can't pony up the perks? Like I said, I had to ask for many things that should have been a given with platinum status. Getting tired of having to beg for "perks" from this company after spending tens of thousands of dollars with them every year. Would have been nice if I could have used my points to get a rate that included breakfast at the least, but even that is not offered! And don't go there with Club 91. You have to eat every meal in the club, can't take the food out, so you're basically the club prisoner the whole time which isn't convenient as it's on the 14th floor. What are you going to do, leave the beach and run up to the 14th floor for food? Stupid. Besides, tapas presentations are not going to cut it for ravenous, growth-spurting teenagers.

I have no idea what the square footage was or whether it included the balcony. It was the ocean view room. The balcony had two chairs and little side table, but you had to come out of the door sideways to get to the chair. And the railing was concrete from floor up about 3 feet, and then there was a wrought iron railing, so your view is obstructed a bit when sitting. I'm not even sure this is a standard size double bed. My son has a double bed, and this one seemed even smaller than the standard.

LarkSFO

I could not agree with you more on this!

I wish I could have the ability to flag one or two trips a year for a 'guaranteed' upgrade - For all of the other nights (me alone, shorter trips, etc.) I'll be happy with what I get!

Wait, doesn't Starwood have confirmed suite upgrades???

Until I cancelled my reservation at the JW Marriott, and moved our reservation to the Ritz, I had a Grand Ocean Front Suite (1345 sqft) booked on points - 245,000 for 5 nights I think (it is in one of my earlier posts). This room was for my partner and I - we had a second room for our 3 teenagers!

Now booked in an Ocean Front Suite at the Ritz - at 876 sqft it is a lot smaller than the suite we had booked at the JW... But still should be big enough for my partner and I. The kids have a separate room.

I know I can't count on an upgrade at the Ritz, so booked the rooms we want.

At the JW, if I could have been confident of an upgrade, I may have booked a lower level room. But we wanted to guarantee the room we wanted, the only way I know to do that is to book it...

I'll report back here on our trip to the Ritz! We're all looking forward to it.

karnold8103

Thanks for the info on the JW. Marriott won't let us guarantee a bed type in Cancun (at least for points I'm willing to pay) and I'm not going to take an anniversary trip with my wife and risk being in two full beds. We opted to save the
200k points and stay at Sun Palace all inclusive.

LarkSFO

Looks nice!

What kind of rate were you able to get?

Have fun!

Newflyer123

Does Anyone know what is the upgrade price Marriott offered at checking to upgrade to a suite at JW? I know Club 91 is $100 extra per day. Or even Casa Magna?

sunnyjl

We weren't even offered an upgrade for cash. They have no clue what a Platinum is at this property.

johnaalex

Not sure what property you are talking about but when I checked in as Gold for my Club 91 room last month they offered me an upgrade for cash, but I declined without asking how much. Maybe there were no other rooms available when you were there?

karnold8103

Thanks. We were able to get concierge level for $450/night with 2 massages and a 1500 resort credit included. We have stayed at Palace Resorts properties before, they are nice, the food isn't gourmet, buts its still good, and top shelf alcohol is included.

Hopefully we have better luck using Marriott points for our next vacation.

SkiAdcock

Generic topic:

Agree & disagree. If a family thread is very outdated, then I think it would be ok to start a new thread re: a specific property. However, if a family thread does have recent updates (which this one does as NJ pointed out), then I agree that merging makes sense.

BTW - I still like the idea of looking at some of the family property threads, splitting the thread between old/new (ie, if one was started more than 4 years ago), lock down the old & start/keep the new (posts 4 years ago to present), as then someone doesn't have to read through really old posts that aren't valid to get newer information.

Cheers.

bdschobel

I understand your point, but it's just so easy to skip to the last page. Even the newest newbie can see that. Thus, a reader doesn't really have to read through (or even just scroll through) old posts at all, unless he or she wants to do that.

Bruce
Moderator

SkiAdcock

Generic topic:

Yes, but not everyone wants to start at last page & have to read backwards page by page to get info. Reading in reverse is not as easy as reading forward in chronological order, as it's the opposite of what we're taught & do in every day life.

But this is not specific to Cancun so I'll let it drop there.

Cheers.

Newflyer123

We are at Casa Magna right now. Reading multiple reviews of casa Magna and JW we were undecided which was better, so we booked standard rooms at both hotels ( cancel label by 6 pm on day of arrival). We did feel JW was better in GM's of ambience and pools, but we were able to negotiate a carribean suite at an upcharge of $59/night at Casa Magna, so essentially we are getting a1 bedroom suite at same price as a regular room at JW. Love the suite and hotel is pretty good too.. Love the Thai restaurant

KyRoamer

When staying at the Casa Magna, can you use the JW facilities like the pools? Any limitations?

Newflyer123

We did not try using the pools, but I have heard that you can get a special permission to use them. Definitely JW pools are better, but we were satisfied with the one at Casa Magna. The Italian restaurant at JW was so so, the Tiramisu was wonderful.. loved the Thai place at Casa Magna and do get the breakfast included.. totally worth it especially since it can be a lunch substitute - (timing is 6AM-11:30AM)