Marriott Resorts in Curaçao

[Rob9876]

About to pull the trigger on a last minute 4 day trip to Curaçao, which will be our first time to the island. We need to use our Marriott points for lodging, which leaves us with only 2 choices: the Renaissance Wind Creek Curaçao Resort (on the water near Willemstad) or the Marriott Curaçao Beach Resort (about 3 miles to the west, near Piscadera). Again, we need to use our Marriott points, so these are our 2 choices, and they require about the same amount of points.

Would appreciate any insight you can offer about which of these resorts to stay at. Will be just me and my non-diving wife, who enjoys snorkeling. Interested in factors such as:

• Which would have better snorkeling on-site
• Which would be easier/better for me to catch morning boat dives - I prefer reefs over wrecks if that makes a difference
• Necessity of a rental car versus taxis (besides breakfast, we'll probably not eat meals at the resort)
• General thoughts on convenience, safety, etc.

Since my wife doesn't dive, I'll probably limit my diving to 2 days of 2-tank morning dives, and perhaps a night dive. Will most likely snorkel with my wife in the afternoons.

Thanks!

 

[Saturated and satisfied]

It sounds like Marriott Beach resort is going to be the better choice for you. Of the two properties this one is the only one with a beach. The Renaissance has an artificial beach with no opportunity for snorkeling unless you get off property.

The Marriot has Goby divers on site who offer boat diving. We don't have many wrecks so you will love the fact that most sites are reef dives.

I always recommend getting a rental car. Taxi's are ,what I consider expensive here, and one taxi ride will probably cost you the same price as one day rental of a budget car. Although you have a nice selection of restaurants in the area of the Marriott Curacao is fairly spread out and you'll have the flexibility of being able to explore a bit when you're not diving.

Not sure what you are asking about convenience? Convenience of the hotel? The island? Safety is good on the island. Obviously take the same precautions with your rental car as you would visiting a major city but this won't be an issue if you choose not to rent one.

Happy planning.

 

[Rob9876]

Not sure what you are asking about convenience? Convenience of the hotel? The island? Safety is good on the island. Obviously take the same precautions with your rental car as you would visiting a major city but this won't be an issue if you choose not to rent one.

Thanks for the info! For the last bullet point, I was just saying that if anyone had general comments about the safety or convenience of one resort versus the other resort those would be appreciated too. Thanks again!

 

[Damselfish]

You can walk to tons of restaurants and shopping and sights from the Renaissance, so that is convienient. It's a bit more of an urban experience than the beach resort. You could easily get by without a car for a short visit and not miss it too much. But there is lots to see elsewhere on the island, and seeing only downtown tends to give people a slanted view of what the island is like, but 4 days isn't much time.

The beach resort is, well, beachier. Much more convenient for diving, and I assume better for snorkeling though I haven't done that either place. There is a little shore diving around there but I don't know how deep stuff is to see. There are enough restaurants there or close by that you could also get by without a car, though you might be more tempted to get one.

If you wanted to stay downtown and dive, you could probably get picked up by the Dive Bus for shore diving (and perhaps see a bit more of the island), but I expect that would take more time out of your day than ambling onto a boat at the beach resort. Though, possibly your wife could go along depending where the bus is going worth asking them. There are probably other options but not sure which might work best. Or rent a car and explore, check out a dive op someplace else where there is stuff for your wife to snorkel/do while you dive, like Lions Dive by the Seaquarium complex, or Go West diving (but long drive, and maybe a better day trip option when the resort next door was operating, especially for the non-diver.) For afternoons also lots of little beaches - some deserted, some with facilities like food, bathrooms, dive ops.

As far as safety, I would not worry much around the resorts. I would have second thoughts about walking around some parts of town at night. Use common sense like anywhere.

We have lots of Marriott points and as a diver my choice to burn some would be the beach resort. We will in fact probably do that sometime soonish now that the resort is reopened and there is a dive shop on site again. If I wasn't diving, not sure which I would choose - it would depend what sort of vacation I was in the mood for.

 

[Rob9876]

Thanks for the input! We went ahead and booked the Marriott today -- sounds like it will work out better overall for us than the Renaissance.

Thought I'd share a little extra information: while the Marriott and Renaissance would both require the same amount of points for their base room, for the Renaissance that would be a room with NO windows at all, while for the Marriott their base room still has a partial ocean view.

I didn't even know they built hotel rooms without windows, but evidently they do. Even if the partial ocean view is mostly obstructed, I am glad to have a window -- though I wouldn't have let that be a deciding factor if the Renaissance had otherwise worked out better.

 

[BoltSnap]

room with NO windows at all

How is that possible?? Just a door into a box without windows?

 

[Rob9876]

How is that possible?? Just a door into a box without windows?

They call it an Interior Room (like a cruise ship, I guess) and it just has some type of painting/faux-window (windfaux? ).

 

[BoltSnap]

That's like sleeping in a coffin, not for me

 

[Rob9876]

That's like sleeping in a coffin, not for me

I don't love it, but I'm cheap, so it wouldn't be the deciding factor to me. For our brief trip, we'll be outside most of the time except while sleeping. I believe they did offer the option to upgrade to a window room for the same amount of points + $160 total I believe (for 3 nights). But now glad to get a partial ocean view window at the Marriott for the same points and no $$.

 

[Damselfish]

No windows is odd, not sure that's even legal some places. But they shoehorned this place into a weirdly shaped area between the ocean, fort, and whatever, I imagine they were going for max rooms.