MileHighColorado

On my radar is to stay at Hotel Punta Islita in Costa Rica they give Platinum free breakfast AND actives.

pinniped

Actually, in the "near beach but not resort" category, a great hotel in a city with fantastic public beaches should definitely be on the list.

Given that so many Marriotts with private or direct beach access *are* resorts, I'd certainly want to know where the cities are where I might use a Travel Package for a beach-ish vacation, and that would certainly include Dubai and Miami. I've redeemed a TP in Barcelona for this purpose.

To the OP or whomever is thinking of a non-resort but beachy trip with a Travel Package: put Barcelona on your list. Great city, several Marriotts across a range of categories, walk or short Uber to some popular beaches and a 1-hour-or-less train ride to a variety of other great beaches.

City stays also have an advantage in that even on a beach trip, I don't want to spend SEVEN days on the beach. With Barcelona, we spent bits of multiple days on the beach and lots of time doing things in the city.

hockeyinsider

Don't forget you can get SPG platinum status and stay at the Westin Moana Surfrider on Waikiki Beach and get free breakfast.

hockeyinsider

Technically, not a beach property if we're being strict here.

pinniped

We aren't. Otherwise we'd have an almost nonexistent list.

Although this Costa Rican hotel looks both (a) awesome and (b) a pretty short distance from at least 2 fantastic beaches. Costa Rica has been on our list for a while and this hotel looks like a good spot to use a Travel Package. Cat 8 feels a little steep for CR, but I assume that's because the various activities are kind of baked in to the rate.

hockeyinsider

There are some Marriott/Ritz-Carlton beach/resort properties in Indonesia and Malaysia that are below category five, if you're willing to travel that far.

joshua362

Long way to go for free breakfast!

ohmark

Interestingly, much of the above also describes St Petersburg FL.
Downtown St Pete has become nationally recognized for its art, cultural attractions, and restaurants. It's within a 15-25 minute drive from some of the USA's finest beaches including Fort Desoto, St Petersburg Beach, Clearwater Beach, Treasure Island Beach and others. And there are Marriott brands all over the area, including full-service non-resort properties, a Ren golf/tennis resort, and a Residence Inn right smack on Treasure Island Beach. Oh, and while Spain's Dali Museum is about 100 miles from Barcelona (give or take), the USA's spectacular Dali Museum is smack on Tampa Bay, in downtown St. Petersburg.

yul lite

Used a travel package here with my family during university study break. Breakfast was included, and on site restaurant pricing was reasonable considering it is very remote. We had some quite good meals, and were entertained by the tarantula which dropped down from a tree onto the next table. The resort was a little too small for my liking (I would compare it to being on a 200 person cruise ship). The activities were ok, but tipping was really encouraged as you had to fill out a slip with a tip line for each and every activity. And some, like horseback riding were limited by the skill level of the worst person on the tour. Other activities included arts and crafts etc. The concierge is excellent and if you need anything he can arrange it. My son arrived from uni with strep and the concierge had the driver stop at the hospital in Liberia to see a doctor and get an antibiotic.

The beach is fairly typical pacific coast, but rockier. The beautiful beach we passed on the way to the resort is a good 30 minute drive at least and had no facilities. If you want anything at all aside from Punta Islita rent a car.

I have also been to Los Suenos. I am hoping to get to El Mangroove next year.

As an aside, if you want a nice hotel with a good lounge and a beach nearish then consider the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami. At least it had a lounge when I went and accepted 4 in a room.

Old Hickory

I apologize for being disruptive to the subject but can someone please explain to me why a free hotel breakfast is a priority when deciding on a travel destination? Am I missing something?

pinniped

If they're tagged as "resorts", then you get no benefits (which is basically what this thread is about). Same holds true for Ritz.

I've only spent 1 day in St. Pete - this past year as part of a baseball trip - and I have to admit the downtown area looked pretty cool. I could tell even driving through that there was life - a cultural oasis in the middle of Florida. We spent an afternoon over at St Pete Beach and it was a really great beach, especially if you're looking for one with perfect sand and calm waters that kids can enjoy... The Clearwater area is crowded, but many miles of the beach are wide open with few other people in sight.

Hotel elite benefits aren't usually a driver for me picking a destination. If there's a city in this world I want to visit, I'll make plans to go there even if there are no Marriotts, Hiltons, etc. In some parts of the world, I actually love the local guesthouses, B&B's, whatever... But if I've settled on an area and am looking at different award options, we have this (stupid, IMHO) distinction within Marriott that it can't be a "resort" if you want elite benefits. Thus this thread: where are good non-resort options near resort-y places?

Plus there's something psychological: it feels like Marriott is ripping me off at resorts. I have a resort-ish stay coming up, using a Travel Package, but it's at an MVCI. (I found an elusive 7-night award at MVCI!!! ) That doesn't bother me at all, because I always had zero expectation of elite benefits at MVCI. Hilton and Starwood don't provide benefits at their timeshare brands either. I don't feel like it's being taken away from me arbitrarily. And I have a kitchen, so I don't need the hotel to provide me breakfast.

funkbandit

I believe it to be an emotional thing. The feeling that you don't have to worry about paying anything extra, the feeling that MR does something to reward your loyalty and offers this free breakfast so that you can enjoy your vacation. Something along these lines. And if this notion prevails, there is no need to argue about travel expense vs. breakfast expense and what not.

Or, if you were to go on an extended vacation (5+ days), a free breakfast may make for substantial savings. If a place charges som 40 USD per breakfast per person, getting this free would save you 400 USD for a 5 night stay for two persons. Money you can spend on other things like activities or airfare.

And: the OP coupled a free breakfast with an "on beach" Location, so a free brekkie isn't the lone top priority.

hockeyinsider

Except there are several examples elsewhere on Flyertalk of resorts in Southeast Asia providing breakfast.

threedjmay

Anyone stay at Delray Marriott? Looking at this spot for a points stay for a week. Thought it looked like a good place to have lots of activities to drive to or walk to.

Thanks

SightseeMC

It doesn't prioritize our destination, but it's definitely a strong consideration for where we'd stay when we get there. But being on the beach is the priority: what's the water like, can we snorkel/kayak/scuba regularly, is it too stormy to get in the water? After that, can we stay right on the beach so we can just hop in the water whenever we want.

That's why we're not doing the JW Marriott Phu Quoc. Great looking hotel, right on the beach. But there are too many conflicting reports regarding the beach/water for me to risk spending a week isolated there. Free breakfast doesn't overcome that.