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Marriott’s Marco Island Resort
Marco Island, FL
idden away on one of the best kept secrets in Florida, Marco Island, the Marriott is everything a traveling family is looking for in a resort vacation. While this property is not exclusively geared to families, in fact it hosts many conventions, honeymooners and more, they have taken steps to make everyone feel welcome, comfortable and relaxed. Located on the serene Gulf Coast of Florida, the Marriott is a superb facility featuring three pools plus a kiddie pool, two playgrounds and miniature golf. The beach is expansive and filled with sea shells that will stop you in your tracks with their variety and beauty. There are five restaurants on the grounds of the hotel offering a range of prices and each featuring great food and inexpensive child menus. The rooms all have refrigerators and oceanview balconies, and they are all slightly larger than normal. There is a Beach Bandits program for kids aged 5 to 12 which is staffed by friendly and enthusiastic counselors armed with a six hour schedule of activities. There is a charge of \$29 per day which includes lunch. There are also nannies available, the hotel screens them all, for \$7 per hour. The Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent 10,000 islands make the surrounding environment of this resort one of it’s finest features. The beachside watersports shack is filled with great diversions such as parasailing, kayaking, and waverunners. Our testers took a guided tour on waverunners into the everglades to see egrets, ibis’ and other wildlife that was a breathtaking thrill. A catamaran excursion to a sea shell strewn shoal netted a magnificent assortment of bounty from the sea.
Summer makes for a real bargain vacation here as rates tumble to half their high season numbers and family packages including a day at Beach Bandits, breakfast each morning and more make it the way to go.
Additional Notes:
The Beach Bandits program was poorly attended which resulted in only two or three participants. This did not affect the fun the kids had or the enthusiasm of the counselors. The beach while large is not a soft sand beach. It is full of shells and you’ll want to wear beach shoes.
Price for family of five, seven days: \$1,064 Deluxe Room Family Package (includes breakfast, one pizza dinner, one picnic lunch, one round miniature golf, one day Beach Bandits, one sailboat trip, one tennis clinic)
- Family Services(88)
- Programs(85)
- Staff(92)
- Physical Plant(93)
- Food Service(94)
- OVERALL SCORE (
90
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