I once offered speculation on the worst Marriott in North America, wondering if it was the Woodlands Plaza Toledo Hotel. A reader pushed back, arguing for the Carambola Beach Resort. Two years later I suspect they’re right.
I once wrote about the disaster of the unbranded Marriott hotel on St. Croix, the Carambola Beach Resort. It used to be a Renaissance, and elite benefits were still following the standard for Renaissance, but Marriott took away the brand – which is saying something, since it’s a conversion brand to begin with and has very loose standards.
It appears at one point to have been – at least in part – a money-laundering operation, and pocketed more in insurance damage claims than the hotel was worth. And then they invested very little of that back into the property. Still, renovations were supposed to be completed a year ago. So how are things going?
Recent reviews suggest.. downhill.
We booked this for our 20th anniversary trip off of Marriott website. We had planned to go back to St Thomas where we honeymooned but were lured away from the Frenchman’s Reef to this dump by the gorgeous photos on the website. After arriving it might be that those photos were taken while we were on our honeymoon 20 years ago.
Checking in we were informed there was no cable and the restaurant was not serving dinner that MONTH!! The property was not as pictured. Rundown and dilapidated. There were 2 inches of water standing in front of our room. The AC was not functioning and was dripping water on the bed and nightstand. The beach was covered in seaweed and looked up have not been manicured in months.
The pool was lime green and hadn’t been cleaned in at least a month. It was a health hazard. We sat down to grab some lunch and had to fight off the cats who were the main residents of the restaurant bar and grill. The paths were hazardous and covered in dirt and debris.
Our room was unclean, and had bed bugs, water bugs and even a spider beneath a barstool, leaving us very uncomfortable. Throughout the resort common areas, we noticed several spider webs and accumulated dust. I even noticed a housekeeper using a broom to “dust” lobby windows.
Additionally, the gym had a foul odor with several worn equipment, including a broken treadmill. The pool was out of service, sitting empty with no signs of repair, which felt unsafe and neglected.
Overall the property appeared unkept, with overfilled trash cans on the beach that went unattended , detracting from the natural beauty of the surroundings. In addition, the property was not well lit and walking thru the property felt unsafe.
The gutters had grass growing in them. The grounds were overgrown and not maintained. The pathways were not lighted. When we walked into the lobby there was water leaking from the ceiling and a towel was on the floor catching the water.
…The other thing I noticed is that the property was a ghost town. In my mind that means no one wants to stay here. On to the room. The first room we got we had to be shown the “trick” to open the door by the maid. As we entered, I noticed the room smelled very musty and damp. I decided that I did not want to deal with any “tricks” trying to enter my room and asked for another one.
…The bedding smelled sour…the toilet bowl was stained yellow, no cups in the cabinets, missing silverware, no phones, no alarm clock, and only one coffee cup with the coffee machine. There was an ironing board, but the iron was missing. The ceiling fan/ light over the bed did not work as well. The cable on the one working tv was chopping and reminded me of a tv I had has a kid. On that tv you had to adjust the rabbit ears to make the picture on it come in clear. This tv did not have any rabbit ears so we were stuck with a choppy picture all week.
The dry wall around some of the outlets was torn as well. There was green algae growing on the inside window sill.
…[W]e noticed the bar was the only restaurant open even though the website says there are two. … The spa is out of order as well as the pool. …The front desk advised us that the pool has been out of service for months. The whole time were there we did not see one person working on it. We wouldn’t have gotten into it anyway. The whole pool area looked nasty. …[F]or five days the same overflowing trash [by the beach] stayed in the same place and is probably still there. The wash station for your feet had weeds growing out of it and one of the drainage slats was broken causing a safety hazard.
[T]he water coming out of the shower and sinks was orange with rust or sediment. We could not wash or shower. Someone from security came by to confirm that the water was indeed orange, but nothing was done. He said that they had been having that problem with this room, but we were given it anyway. The following day we were moved to another room and refunded for the previous night’s stay. The new room had many what looked like gnats or fruit flies in the bathroom area. I alerted the front desk, but nothing was done.
Marriott deflagged this hotel, but it’s been years. What does it take for Marriott to sever ties? The answer appears to lie in CEO Jim Capuano’s statement that “when I die, they’ll put the net-rooms growth number on my tombstone.” Marriott will take just about any room, it seems. It seems you can no longer trust the ‘Marriott’ brand to know what you’re getting, or that you’re even getting a sanitary place to stay.
What did you expect ? This is the Caribbean , not Bermuda .
Good on people who call out the property, so maybe they will get their property up to par. You can’t trust a brand. I booked a Monanta stay at a 2-star hotel and had a better time than any three-star hotel down the street. Despite losing its name, the three-star hotel was still advertised as if it were still that property “formerly this brand and under renovation.” My friend says they are transitioning to a higher brand. I said perhaps they are transitioning to a lower brand.
Most properties are renting the name, so experiences are mixed. It is up to hotel owners to make it a great experience. Every brand has excellent and poor properties. You must comb over multiple reviews and websites, look at guest photos, and make your best judgment.
I’m confused – if Marriott took away the Renaissance brand why are they still marketing the hotel. Just checked Marriott’s website and, sure enough, it is listed as the “Carambola Beach Resort” however, personally, I would never stay in a Hilton, Marriott, IHG or Hyatt property that wasn’t listed as one of their brands (I know there are unique hotels and loose affiliations but even they are listed as “Tapestry”, for example, hotel). Also, the room rate of $192 for a random night in December when the Weston St John is $645 and the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef on St Thomas is $761 should be a dead giveaway something is wrong. Rating on Marriott website is 3.4 (which sounds generous but much lower than typical properties) and all it would take is a quick check on other review sites to get information.
Don’t get me wrong I agree it shouldn’t even be marketed by Marriott and hopefully the people that stayed there got compensated (BTW, I wouldn’t be there long enough to find spiders or bed bugs and surely wouldn’t eat at the restaurant regardless of cats bothering me) but some due diligence would have likely prevented this from happening,
We would have walked or and found another place if they could. Or fly home and file a claim with my travel insurance. (IMHO, travel insurance is just part of the trip. It’s a no brainer these days). The room sounds like a major health hazard.
Bonvoyed!
Marriott has no real interest in its program at all. Lately, I’ve found that Marriott hotels are routinely selling their room much cheaper through OTAs than in their own program. I booked an Aloft through C1 travel (5 days) and saved $200 off the “exclusive” member price on the Bonvoy website. I nearly did the same thing this summer (but booked a Hilton property instead). The AC hotel in Westport (Kansas City) had a similar issue when I searched in September. I know OTAs have issues, but for that type of discount, and the ability to earn transferable points rather than increasingly valueless Bonvoy points, I’m happy to risk it. The loyalty game is now forcing people to pay higher rack rates with worse rebates. If elite perks were consistently delivered, maybe the trade would make sense. But they are not so…why bother with such a program?
Say what you want about Hyatt, but I haven’t found them undercutting their own program with pricing games. And I don’t think I’ve seen it much with IHG either.
@Brent: And then you have the Marriotts that have been caught listing certain rooms on Airbnb, which presumably cuts into Marriott’s revenue. It would seem that Marriott is simply too big for enforcement. And I assume it will only get worse as they reduce corporate staffing. They’re taking on too many properties to actually police these properties. Forget a property cheating guests out of elite status benefits. There are now properties endangering guests, like this ex-Renaissance on St. Croix.
@ Gary — Best travel decision ever is to never stay at Marriott. They do not exist as far as I am concerned.
I would have called Platinum line immediately and told them they had to get me the hell out of there. an’t say I’m overwhelmed and sure they would help but I would certainly start there.
All of that, and he STAYED THERE A WEEK?
Marriott lost its way a long time ago. I actively avoid them.