Marriot Hotel Curacao: Poor Choice?

[SlaveToTheReg]

We have never been to Curacao and want a great place to stay. Since Curacao diving is mostly beach diving is there ANY reason why we would not enjoy the Marriot? Can anyone who has been to Curacao at least 6-8 times recommend the BEST HOTEL on the island? LOCATION and POOL are 2 important aspects to us.

 

[vox]

We have never been to Curacao and want a great place to stay. Since Curacao diving is mostly beach diving is there ANY reason why we would not enjoy the Marriot? Can anyone who has been to Curacao at least 6-8 times recommend the BEST HOTEL on the island? LOCATION and POOL are 2 important aspects to us.

We just returned from Curacao and the Marriott was on our list of possible hotels. We also considered The Floris Suites, which is right next to the Marriott as well as Hotel Kura Hulanda. All three were in the same price category. Frommers, the travel guide, recommends all three with Floris and Kura Hulanda being listed as "Finds" meaning it's a location only "insiders" know about. I think that means "good".

We ended up at Kura Hulanda and it was very nice and surpassed our expectations.

The location of the hotel to the harbor and the shopping district was very convenient. Walking distance! We ate off property every evening - going into Willemstad for the local cuisine. While the Kura Hulanda does not sit on the beach, if you are diving all day like we were, that's not a big deal. The do have two pools...in separate areas of the resort and they were very enjoyable for us.

We went to the Marriott on an errand one day and had the chance to see the grounds. Very pleasant from what we saw. The usual Marriott offering. Nice accommodations. Great pool. Nice dive shop setup. But the wife and I both commented that the Marriott was further out from Willemstad center than Kura Hulanda so the walking excursions and opportunities we had post diving would not have been possible if we were staying at the Marriott. We would have had to rent a car or get a taxi, etc. etc.

The service at Kura Hulanda was very pleasant and enjoyable. They do have fine restaurants on the grounds that make for easy dining options if you don't want to go out. Astrolab is actually thought of as one of the best on the island. Jaipur has a great Asian Buffet on Thursdays - outstanding ambiance I might add. You can see the setup for this buffet in the background of the pool in one of the pictures below.

One item of concern regarding Kura Hulanda. We experienced inconsistent billing during our stay. For example, we liked to have coffee sent to the room. One day a pot of coffee, service for two, cost us $4. The next day, $12. The next day, $22. The next day $8. The next day $6. It was strange. We also had an issue at the spa with pricing. Again, one day the service was so much but the next day, it was $50 more. While it all balanced in the end, I didn't like the moving target of the expense.

Overall, I don't think you can go wrong with either the Marriott or the Kura Hulanda.

A quick note on Dive Ops here. We dove with The Dive Bus (Mark and Suzy) exclusively during our stay and those folks know how to get it done right. Mark was a total professional and just a joy to be around. He wasn't so much our DiveMaster as he was a friend we looked forward to spending time with. You can't go wrong with these folks. They pick you up at the hotel, carry you around to all the killer sites, provide food and drinks and then drop you back off where you began when it's all done. Can't beat it! They have an impeccable reputation on this board and it is well deserved. Tell them Vox sent you. On the web at: http://www.the-dive-bus.com

Here are a couple pix of the pool at Kura Hulanda and of our view from a bar that was in easy walking distance of the hotel for our post dive log entries.

Enjoy...and dive safe.

 

[Damselfish]

If you want to stay downtown, I'd agree Kura Hulanda Hotel is the nicest and very unique.

If you want to stay near downtown (not be right in the city but have a short drive or cab there) the Marriott and Floris Suites are nice. Marriott is on a beach and there's a dive shop with boat and shore diving. I personally don't see it as a typical Marriott. Floris Suites is not on the water but has a beach club nearby (pretty good restaurant there and also has a dive shop at the beach I know nothing about, though from what I saw I'm guessing the customers are more Europeans.) We ate at Sjalotte restaurant in Floris Suites one night which was expensive but excellent, hotel looks very nice, contemporary, pleasant pool area tucked between the buildings that looked very inviting at night, possibly more slanted towards business travelers.

If you want to stay away from it all the Kura Hulanda Lodge at the west end of the island is beautiful. But the dive bus isn't going to pick you up there. You can do packages where you split your stay between the 2 Kura Hulandas. That's worth considering - do some boat and shore diving from the KH lodge, or hit local shore diving spots around there on your own. The shore dive there is excellent and try to do a boat dive at Watamula. Then maybe do some dives with the dive bus while staying at KH Hotel, see town, check out the restaurants. You'd get the 2 nicest hotels and coverage of the best diving.

I would not say Curacao is mostly beach diving. We do mostly boat diving. There is plenty of both. Just that if you want on-site boat diving it would affect your choice of hotel.

 

[scubatexastony]

Can anyone who has been to Curacao at least 6-8 times.... LOCATION and POOL are 2 important aspects to us.

6-8 times, hmmmmmm... well, I've flown home to visit more than that since August '05, if that counts....

I've only stayed at the Marriot and Holiday Beach. I have visited Kura Hulanda, Breezes, Lions Dive, Sunset, Habitat, and a couple others. I stay in a condo on the east side of town and almost any dive site is within 40 minutes other than West Punt, which in about 50 minutes.

Marriot has a nice pool, beach area, huge hot tubs, and a nice dive shop, (Sea Sports). It's about the best location that's not right in the middle of town as is Kura Hulanda, but which Vox points out makes renting a car a necessity for excursions. KH is a nice place, like an old village of houses remodeled each in their own way, and the grounds are amazing.

I have to disagree that Curacao isn't a shore dive mecca, as all but a few of the dive sites are accessable from the shore, albeit the lack of road signs and traffic can be interesting. That's where Mark and Suzy shine, as they know the island, and the best dive sites. As Damsel pointed out, Watamula is a really nice site, as well as (not really one of my favorites), Mushroom. Alice in Wonderland, the Knips and several others are great shore dives on the west end, but don't write off diving the central and east as there are honey holes there too!

Besides the pool and the hotel location, what's on your agenda?

tony

ps. adding another "visit" soon as I get to fly home next Friday! WHOOHOO

 

[Damselfish]

I wasn't commenting whether Curacao was a shore dive mecca or not, I would actually agree it is. But alot of people seem to get a strong impression it's not a shore dive place, or it's only a shore dive place, both of which would be incorrect, so I like to point out otherwise.

Mushroom is heavily promoted but it's not one of my favorites either. I thought it was really cool the first time I did it, but that was in 96 before a storm did some damage and before there were so many divers on it. If you make it there great, if you miss it I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

[irie1029]

Caribbean seasports at marriott and marriott hotel were perfect in my book... but only been once. With rental car evreything is close and easy to get to.

 

[SlaveToTheReg]

Even though I an an avid advanced diver I don't vacation just for dive, dive, dive, dive. I prefer a more well rounded trip that provides plenty of topside fun as well as world class diving. Problem is that other than Cozumel, I have yet to find fantastic diving with an island that offers non stop adventure. Unfortunately we "burned out" Coz by building a home and living there for awhile. Frankly I no longer care for the place and the hurricane also did quite a bit of damage. I hope Curacao will offer satisfactory diving, the topside looks AWESOME.

 

[mikerault]

Look here...

http://www.scubamage.com/files/Diving_Curacao.pdf

for my trip report