tazi

I will vouch for the OP in that getting info on the all-inclusive package is frustrating at best! I tried last fall and got a different answer from everyone I talked to, not to mention, some of those persons being rather rude about it.

The website indicated that drinks were included but then reservations person would say no. Some said you could add-on the AI portion to an award stay, some said no. One person told me the only AI Marriott resort was in Jamaica and that I must be reading the website wrong. One person told me I could add it when checking in but couldn't give me a firm price or an answer as to exactly was/was not included.

You shouldn't have to make a long distance phone call, at your own expense, to get answers to these types of questions. We gave up on it.

tazi

Really? I had a representative from Marriott try and do this for me and he wasn't even able to contact anyone at the resort who could help.

This forum is here to avail yourself of any information you are in need of and think another member could help you with. Considering there is a representative from Marriott on this forum, I think it is a very good place to turn.

Not always. See above.

This takes the cake on unhelpful bad advice.

rignall

Tazi, We experienced very similar problems. Each person at Marriott reservations had a different version of what the package included. The hotel was the same way. It wouldn't have been a big deal if it was just a hotel room but with all-inclusive there are many more details that need to be understood.
We also experience Marriott reservations not being able to contact the hotel. If they can't get questions answered and know who to call where does that leave the customer.
I'm glade we didn't give up since Tip Advisor has some very good posts on this property.

Thanks and I'll post the GM's email if I get it. I hope to try later this week once I pay uncle sam.

tazi

We didn't want to do the all-inclusive if it didn't include drinks and just couldn't get a straight answer about it. We had to cancel the whole trip or I might have pursued it. I have also read good things about the resort and still might consider it next fall when I have more vacation time. Let me know how it turns out.

rignall

We ultimately learned the all-inclusive does include drinks but only house brands and (I think) no wine by the bottle. That took a while to get figured out. Drinks being included was one of the hardest questions to get answered. We also learned that meals are limited to certain restaurants. We are still unsure if the Sushi bar is included. It’s not specifically excluded in our package paperwork from our travel agent but we heard somewhere that it’s not included.
When we were arranging this a few months ago Trip Advisor didn’t have many posts on the property but now there are quite a few and it seems people are happy with the all-inclusive plan. The only concern we noticed is whether it’s worth the money or not which is a personal choice. For us it is as we didn’t want to have to think about what all of the food/drinks add up to and were able to better control the costs.

tazi

Only including house brands is pretty much standard at most AI's (with a few exceptions). This isn't a problem for me as I would be drinking frozen drinks or beer. I think I had read that one of the restaurants was excluded. Again, not a big problem. We would have eaten out for two or three nights for dinner anyway.

Some people think just because you stay AI you miss out on local dining options but you don't have to. It still can be a very good deal even if you spend a few evenings dining out. It is very convenient though, to have all your breakfast, lunch and drinks included. With kids, especially teenagers, AI is a great way to vacation! I was very concerned when planning my first vacation as a single mother with my son. I was on a budget but didn't want to have to worry about money while vacationing. With AI I knew no matter what, we would eat and drink and I wouldn't have to worry about my son needing $5 for a soda everytime he wanted a drink or a hot dog. It's worked very well for us.

I think some of the negative reports on this property were due to it being new. I'm sure all resorts go through a few growing pains in the beginning.

Enjoy your trip!

blumean1

I'm considering honeymooning at the Marriott in St Kitts in the Caribbean. Any feedback?

CPRich

Nothing extremely recent, but here are some reports from over the last couple of years.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=433712
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382505
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=394640
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382504
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=352731
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139519
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139394
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=138349

It's been a couple of years since I was there, but I'd certainly go back.

blumean1

Thank you! Did you happen to take part in the all inclusive option?

qlabdad

I was there in June/July on the all-inclusive. This by far is the worst run Marriott I have ever visited. A beautiful property and nice location but very poorly managed. In general most of the staff was very nice but the property is not run very well.
- Took us over 3 hours to get checked in. Granted we had a large party but we were moved twice as rooms weren’t as we were told. In the end we were very happy with our rooms but it was so bad they gave each family (3) the first night for free which they proceeded to renege at check-out leaving on a very bad note. Got it in the end but again it’s management thing.
- Food is very expensive so I still recommend the all-inclusive but be very careful. We were continually charged for things included such as meals, drinks, equipment rentals. House brand drinks were included in our package and in many cases once the bartender learned we were all-inclusive the drinks went south, little alcohol and no care in the preparation. Only certain beers were included and one day at the pool they ran out (didn’t have a beer yet) and we were told "no beer for you".
- They seemed to randomly open and close restaurants but not publish it in the daily newsletter.
- If you venture off property we had a very nice Taxi driver, Trevor, Vigilante Taxi. He was excellent for an around the island tour so we tried to get him again which was next to impossible. The hotel blocked calls to cell phones from the room. The hotel concierge refused to call him so we gave up. We walked out front and he was coincidentally there but since he wasn’t the next taxi in line the guy who hails the taxi’s refused to let us take him. Trevor had to speak with the other driver.
- Marriott reservations was terrible and couldn’t give us details of what was included in the all-inclusive. Call the hotel directly and they couldn’t either which was very surprising. We went against our instincts and proceeded to book through a travel agent as they could provide something in writing. I have never experienced such problems with a hotel directly and it wound up costing me about 35,000 points in the end since I used an agent. I didn’t know that at the time and it made more furious in the end.

I could go on…Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time in the end but had many problems that tarnished our image of this hotel. I wouldn’t go as far to say don’t go there as it’s a nice island and nice property but just be aware. You can check out tripadvisor.com for current reviews. At the time we were booking a lot of this stuff was already posted and it seemed it all happened to us like a cloud was over our head. Feel free to ask any specific questions.

Q

CPRich

Hmmm...very surprising. We had very good service when we were there, considering the *very* laid back nature of the island.

We didn't even check in - as we unloaded our bags, someone asked our name and the bellman took us right to our room (an upgraded 2 room suite). I didn't visit the front desk until checkout.

The food was a bit pricey, but we mostly ate at the casual place where kids were free. We like to get out and about so we had a rental car and actually rarely ate at the hotel. I don't even remember if they had an all-inclusive option (we were staying on points), but we never do that because we get out almost every day.

Maybe it's because we really only slept in a suite, swam in the nice pools, and had a few lunches that we didn't run into any problems. We didn't demand much of the staff/property, and the decor, physical property, etc. were great (although we lost power for a few hours as a tropical storm skirted the island).

Do be aware that the Marriott is the first "big" hotel - the rest of the island is very small, laid back, and, in some areas, primitive. It's the place for a very relaxing vacation. There are also few beaches outside the Marriott - it's a very rocky island, all the way to the water.

If you're looking for glamour, night life, fun, fun, fun, I'd recommend Grand Cayman (if it's back to pre-hurrican condition).

My gallery at http://richs.smugmug.com/gallery/510301 can give you some feel - the lead picture is a typical beach (don't let the big sand beach fool you - that was a catamaran trip to Nevis, another good honeymoon option). But you'll see there are rain forest hikes, monkeys, pigs, a fort, etc.

qlabdad

Hopefully they improved and CPRich's experience is more like it is now. Our group had a total of 3 families, 6 adults and 5 kids so we did use just about every major service availalbe to us. However, many of the problems experienced would have happened regardless of # of people.
Again, it's a beautiful place and we had a great time anyway but it had a lot of managment issues at the time. Just we aware that we are not the only folks who had these problems as there were several Trip Advisor posts similar to ours. We made the decision to go anyway and don't regret the decision but it was just surprising to have such issues at a Marriott which I have found to be very well managed in the past.

foodguy

We were supposed to go there last Feb, but my Mother in Law died unexpectedly so we had to cancel. The property was very gracious and understanding about our situation and provided no resistance or fees with our award cancellation 2 days before our arrival. We are going to make another atempt to go this coming Feb.
Thanks CPRich for the link to the photos--looks like you had a great time with the kids!

sassamanlaw

My wife and I were there for four nights on using MR points last May. I would second CPRich's take on the resort. The food was o.k., the Italian place was just like any chain Italian place in the U.S. The breakfast buffet at Blue was good but a tad on the expensive side. The casual rest. had a buffet night which we liked. However, if you want REALLY good food go to Marshalls ^ ^ . Another place is on the far side of the island that had great lobster but I can't think of its name.

As far as I was concerned, the resort was clean, the rooms were clean and kept up by the staff and the food was acceptable. What more would you want?

After we were there one day we decided we have to take the kids back with us. We are now all booked for a MR points week in June of 06. I suppose that's the best endorsement I can give is that we are going back.

dash

We also had a wonderful experience. Being the islands, service is slower, but we were so happy and relaxed and in no rush. We were not thrilled about dinner on property, but thoroughly enjoyed breakfast and we enjoyed lunch by the pool daily. The resort offered as much or as little to do, depending on your mood.

We would love to return.

Dash