My family of 6, plus friends, were in town for the Ironman Florida event and needed a quiet, clean (rarity in Panama City according to other hotel reviews), roomy 2 bedroom with kitchen. We needed SPACE & CLEANLINESS and we got exactly that!
I quickly learned that this destination was not just a "hotel", but, well, basically - time shares a/k/a "homes". I received two calls prior to our trip asking if there were any special requests/needs. I requested someplace quiet, away from the pool and was given a corner unit #1507 on the 5th floor. The unit was next to the staircase, which was convenient for our fast-paced group. The elevator, located in the center of the building, was a little to slow for us. :) We were also asked to visit with them about joining the Marriott Vacation Club, which we agreed to do. They gave us a kickback of $150 AX gift card for our time. Not much, but we were curious and hey - $150 bucks is $150 bucks :) It wasn't like the Vegas time-share high pressure chat - it really was just an educational sit down talk that was semi-enjoyable. I like to know my options.
Location: Okay - so it's 15 minutes from the beach. Yes, it was sort of inconvenient when all of our events were on the beach, but I was willing to pay that price in order to guarantee a...My family of 6, plus friends, were in town for the Ironman Florida event and needed a quiet, clean (rarity in Panama City according to other hotel reviews), roomy 2 bedroom with kitchen. We needed SPACE & CLEANLINESS and we got exactly that!
I quickly learned that this destination was not just a "hotel", but, well, basically - time shares a/k/a "homes". I received two calls prior to our trip asking if there were any special requests/needs. I requested someplace quiet, away from the pool and was given a corner unit #1507 on the 5th floor. The unit was next to the staircase, which was convenient for our fast-paced group. The elevator, located in the center of the building, was a little to slow for us. :) We were also asked to visit with them about joining the Marriott Vacation Club, which we agreed to do. They gave us a kickback of $150 AX gift card for our time. Not much, but we were curious and hey - $150 bucks is $150 bucks :) It wasn't like the Vegas time-share high pressure chat - it really was just an educational sit down talk that was semi-enjoyable. I like to know my options.
Location: Okay - so it's 15 minutes from the beach. Yes, it was sort of inconvenient when all of our events were on the beach, but I was willing to pay that price in order to guarantee a high-quality room with perfect service at a good price. Yes, there are "better deals" on the beach - but read the reviews. Panama City Beach is a HUGE party town. Although it was dead during our trip (besides the massive Ironman competitors who were all in bed by 8pm), it's typically being barfed on by a bazillion naked, drunk people all. night. long. No joke. The whole beach area is specifically designed for the partying barely legal crowd. Good news if you're looking for t-shirts for $2.99. :) Bad news if you'd like a hotel floor that hasn't been barfed on. We were pleased we chose Marriott.
The view: Not as grand as I assumed it would be, but it had a comfortable screened-in balcony that overlooked the golf course and a glimpse of the bay. I do believe other units had better views, but that wasn't our key priority when booking.
Unexpected pleasures: Daily activities!! I had no idea when we arrived that we would receive an itinerary with water yoga, happy hour wine & dine, BBQ by the pool, crafts in the club house and smores nightly by the campfire out back. My family LOVED the smores! The gal who worked the event was super sweet and very patient with my young boys. There's also movies playing at their mini-theatre area in the clubhouse area. :)
The pool/hot tub: Off the charts awesome! Volleyball net was set up in the (heated) pool, Marriott supplied pool toys, ping pong table, huge chess game, and mini putt putt! The hot tub was huge, the water was perfect and we honestly could have hung out there all day. Hammocks by poolside was a huge bonus!
If you're the noisy partying type: Skip this hotel. It's mostly condo-owners and quiet families. It is in a gated golfing community with very high standards. I considered it a plus, but I know that's not everyone's thing.
CONS: We got lost trying to find the place. GPS takes you to the back gate through a parking lot to enter a different condo unit that's not Marriott. There are no signs indicating you are in the right place WHATSOEVER. We knew it had to be around there somewhere, so we stopped and asked a gate keeper if he knew where the Marriott was at. He said "Oh! It's through here!" and continued giving us confusing directions to get back to it. We weren't sure until we rounded the corner and saw the very small Marriott sign on the parking lot entrance that we were in the right spot! So - trust your GPS after you get your room key and/or parking pass with gate code. Otherwise, turn into the area that says Legends Edge where the gate keeper is!
Staff: Amazing :) Easy check in. As we were leaving the unit one morning, the cleaning lady saw that we had our "serve us later" sign up, so she caught me in the hallway to see if there was anything I needed for the room. :) She took our trash, gave us fresh towels and I was on my way.
Overrall: The trip was a winner. I would have liked it closer to the beach, but was willing to compromise for quality.More
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