Marriott's Crystal Shores

First, the parking garage smelled of a strong odor of trash. The lobby/checkin was locked at 9:30pm when we arrived. Although we knocked and staff saw us, they ignored us. We walked to a different door to get in and again knocked, and again ignored. Finally, another guest let us in. The two associates were rude and didn’t even say hello or welcome. Checked us in to what we were promised, a full “ocean” view in a fully wheelchair accessible unit. We get to our room, and that was not what we received. We were put in a room with a very limited side view on the gulf on a loud service road side of the building. The room we were put in is not fully wheelchair accessible. You can not even get out onto the patio. The microwave and counter tops are too high to reach, and there was no bench in the roll in shower. When we called, we were informed a manager would call us. That never happened. The next day we woke up to the worst smell of garbage in our room. Our room was right in front of the trash shoot and it was enough to cause breathing problems. I called, spoke to a new front desk person who was very nice, was told a manager and room controller would call us back. Never happened. I called 90 mins later and the room controller answered, telling me other than a non-ada ramp for the patio, and an unauthorized shower chair for the bathroom, I was out of luck. Again, asked for a manager. Again, no response. These reasons led us to leave. In the end when we checked out, the manager said although she was aware of the situation, she had no clue I wanted to talk to her and didn’t feel that the situation warranted a call back. She did try ti appease us with another room, but again, was not a true ada wheelchair accessible room. It was a very disheartening experience. Their staff should be trained fully in what their ada units provide and what they don’t before someone books. They need to do something about the sickening trash odor threat filled their garage and the trash shoot next to room 511 that overwhelmed the room. Management should be on top of these issues and not wait for a guest to make multiple unanswered calls to address. In the end, we left a 7 day stay after 12 hours.

Wow - the sunsets, the villa, the team members and activities, the beach !!! - - - - - - - - September, 2024 Visit We visited Marco Island for our 25th anniversary, per a recommendation from friends; we’re glad we went… what a great trip. Part of the reason we picked Marco Island is because there is a Marriott Vacation Club property there - Marriott’s Crystal Shores. This was a great pick by my wonderful wife! At the Marriott, we enjoyed: - fantastic sunsets - relaxing, in the room and by the pool and at the beach - making food in our room and enjoying it on the balcony - coffee on the balcony each morning - fun at the pool - bocci, golf, trivia, socializing and more - beach / ocean time - in-room laundry - a nice bottle of wine, a welcome / anniversary gift from John, the General Manager - thank you! Away from the Marriott, we enjoyed: - anniversary dinner at 844 Gulf & Prime restaurant, about 7 minutes across Marco Island - taking an airboat ride with Corey Billie (about 15 minutes away on the Tamiami Trail (TAmpa to MIAMI)) - visiting the smallest post office in the US, on Ochopee, FL (near Everglades City), located on the Tamiami Trail - dinner at Del Mar, in Naples - - - The Property Marriott’s Crystal Shores is located on the southwest corner of Marco Island, at the intersection of Winterberry & Collier. The property is in the water; there is a short boardwalk, from the lower pool, across the dunes, to the sand / beach / ocean. Most Marriott Vacation clubs are more like apartment complexes - villas in buildings usually shorter than six stories tall; Crystal Shores and some other locations are taller high rises / towers. I was curious what I would think about being in a (semi-) high rise… the tower did not matter, and in fact, us staying on the 7th of 14 floors was great as it provided wonderful sunset views! One tower was built in 2008 or so; Marriott purchased it in 2014 or 2015, and then added the other two buildings; the rooms have been renovated since 2022 or so - they are nice (below). One section of the exterior is decorated with palm leaves; the entrance has two waterfalls, one from the lobby level to the sidewalk level; another from above the lobby level to where you park for check-in. There are: - 3 swimming pools - 3 hot tubs - a water lily pond - ping pong / table tennis, pool, shuffleboard - a bar for pizza and drinks - a restaurant with beach views with a full food and drink menu - activities by the pool through the day, including: water basketball (small balls shot into 5 gallon buckets), nerf water golf, bocci, trivia, karaoke, and more - - - The room We stayed in a two bedroom villa - 1 king bedroom with bath, and a TV - 1 two-queen bedroom with bath, and a TV - Full kitchen - stove, microwave, refrigerator, dish washer; island - Living room with TV - Balcony with Hurricane doors; and table and four chairs for eating; and two chaise lounges for relaxing… or waking up with coffee - Laundry / washer/dryer in the room - - - Nearby groceries all are driving distance - The Publix, on Barfield - recommended as this is the closest grocery and the store with the largest overall selection, and with the most gluten-free (GF) items (including the Blue Diamond crackers made from rice flower and almonds - highly recommended!); to get there, drive straight away from Crystal Shores, on Winterberry, turn left on Barfield and it will be on your right - another Publix, located on Collier, toward the Collier bridge onto Marco Island - the Winn Dixie is open the latest, located in Collier, toward the Collier bridge onto Marco Island - - - Parking Most parking is in a two-level underground garage, with some uncovered parking also offered - - - Orange lighting The orange lighting seen in the photos, along the hallways leading to the rooms is the real color; presumably used to provide light for us without confusing the sea turtles during their hatching season - it’s quite a nice effect at night. - - - Thank you, Tamela, GM John, the Concierges, and the rest of the Crystal Shores team, for helping us plan and have a great trip! ----- ----- -----

A great location, clean, nice pools, the rooms were fantastic with a wonderful beach view even from the pool view room category. We were Vacation Club owners using the resort. The beach sand was nice and it had shells all over the place down by the water.

This is our second stay at Crystal Shores and it’s a beautiful resort, right on the beach in Marco Island. We are MVC owners and really enjoyed our stay. The villas are probably the nicest of the MVC’s in Florida. We had an ocean view one in the Osprey Building on the 6th floor. My only dislike was the trash truck which came daily right below our room at 7:30-8:00 and woke us up. When we return, we will ask for an ocean view on the opposite side of the resort. The Hilton next door isn’t the quietest neighbor either, with all day tree trimming yesterday. This resort has the best huge, well appointed balconies; if you enjoy sitting outside and looking at the Gulf, this is a perfect resort to do that! There was a Halloween party that was really nice for the guests! They had a well- attended haunted walk through with candy for the kids and a bar for the grownups. It was very well executed and a nice entertaining touch for the guests! Fun event! My only suggestion for Crystal Shores would be to encourage their employees to smile and be a little friendlier. ( The front desk is very friendly and helpful but the timeshare ladies in the lobby seem kind of grumpy.) Compared to the other MVC’s ( we have been to most all in FL.) they could interact with guests in a more gregarious manner. Overall, it was a lovely vacation and we highly recommend this resort!!! We will return for certain!

Great staff in the Stilts bar. The whole complex was very clean.

Shame about the upper pool being closed.

The location of the property and structure of the room. Great for a family vacation

They charge for everything, parking per night, umbrellas, beach chairs. We paid $500 extra to use amenities that should be included.

We just stayed here for 4 nights in a 2 bedroom villa with our 3 adult children and had a great experience. The room was on the 15th floor with a view of the pool and gulf. The room was spacious , clean , updated and fully equipped. Pools were great and there was easy access to the beach. We rented chairs and umbrellas one day at the beach. Smooth white sand and nice shells. The water itself was not as clear as I thought it would be in South Florida. There were daily activities , we played bingo one day and the people running it were so funny. We ate dinner at Stilts and the view of the sunset was amazing. The only minor complaint is the lack of breakfast options here but we walked to Stonewalls nearby which was a great find. 7-11 across the street came in handy too. We bought drinks for our frig. Lots of restaurants within a 5 min walk. The staff here were so friendly and they were always seen cleaning and making sure the grounds were spotless. I would definitely return.

Stayed here with my girlfriends family. What and amazing resort.! the building and design is beautiful, the room decor was great. The room was comfortable, clean and contained everything we needed. The amenities in this resort are 5 star! They have everything on site you could want. The drinks were well made, the food was great, there were various options to choose from. Finally the service, from the front desk person to anyone I interacted with on the property was top notch and professional. Everyone I spoke to was polite and helpful when asked.

The reason communication was terrible is because the beach was contaminated and they did not warn guests of the risk. (DOH-Collier issues water quality health advisory on three Marco Island beaches; E coli at issue) The hotel has very good facilities and fun activities for children and adults. They charge $30 per night for parking, that's something new. We went in July and we didn't have to pay for

Great place for our family of 4. Direct on the beach and many restaurants across the street. Cons: Check-out too early, at 10am.