Aging facility, and tough neighborhood
We stayed for a week in July of 2008. Once you are in the hotel you forget quickly the outdoor mall, complete with street pan handlers and pushy cart vendors you had to wade through. The problem is every time you leave the hotel you have to walk through this gauntlet. The music is always pounding from the clubs and restaurants in the mall. You have to deal with these things every time you leave the hotel, including to get to the beach.
We stayed in one of the "newly renovated" rooms. Don't think these were stripped to the bones and re done, they are not. Fresh carpet, new paint, and some furniture. Our room had a mix of new stuff, and dressers and tables from the early 1980's. The metal and glass tables had rust around the edges and lots of worn paint.
The very worst part of this hotel is the elevator situation. There is one bank of four elevators in the center of the complex. They are slow, and you always have to wait a significant amount of time. There is no "running down" to the pool or lobby. It's going to take a while, and there will be plenty of company while you wait. There does not appear to be a staff elevator anywhere, often when the elevator arrives there is no room because housekeeping or maintenance is moving equipment.
The best part of the facility might be the KidsZone. Its a series of game rooms for kids to play in. There is a room with an enclosed jungle gym and ball pit made by PlaySmart Inc. The kids love it, and it keeps them contained if you need a few minutes of down time.
The pool is spa's are nice, but tiny when compared to other Marriott facilities. One medium size pool, and two small spa's. When it's busy it's hard to move around, and the staff does not seem to make an effort to police the area of trash, or rule violators. In the afternoon the building shades the pool so it stays at a refreshing temperature. Being out of the sun is also nice for those who have had enough sun for the day. We stayed at another Marriott last year and the pools were all over 90dg, not very refreshing...
There is a trolley that runs Thur-Sun to run you around the Town. We used it to get to the grocery store. It's $1 to ride, and may be the best value anywhere in the area. I just wish it ran all week.
Overall it was OK, but it would not be one I would be likely to return to. Many of the problems with the hotel cannot be corrected. They can't add elevators, and unless they buy out the entire mall in front of the hotel they cannot clean that up. In the mall many of the stores were boarded up, or closed because of tax issues.