If you’ve read this blog for a while (I mean of course my three long-time readers), you know that we go to Marco Island quite often. We usually go once or twice a year around our anniversary in May or my wife’s birthday in December (sometimes both) and stay at the Hilton resort there. The Hilton has inched up in points price to around 100k per night (which is about $450 in my valuation of Hilton points), but of course, when you book with points, you don’t pay the resort fee of $35 per day plus tax.

Because we have other travel scheduled and because my wife is planning to have ankle surgery in October, we decided to go to Marco in early August this year which isn’t ideal due to the heat and summer Florida storms plus lots of young kids still on summer vacation which can make it somewhat unpleasant that time of year (as they aren’t our kids). We usually fly to Fort Myers (RSW) on Friday morning then on Sunday head over to my mom’s house near Fort Lauderdale (about 90 minutes away) and spend the night there before flying home Monday morning from Fort Lauderdale airport (FLL). That way, we get a shelling trip for my wife and get to see my mom on the same weekend.

When I looked at the Hilton availability, the standard award rates were there at 100k, but the cash price was only $350 per night (plus the resort fee of course), so I initially booked a cash rate. I wasn’t super thrilled about paying cash for the hotel, which while we enjoy it, is not exactly a luxury property. I decided to have a look at other options. We had always been interested in trying the nearby JW Marriott, which compared to the Hilton’s 300 rooms and one main restaurant is huge at over 800 rooms and 10+ restaurants.

I found a good deal using the new Chase The Edit hotel portfolio. This is available to Chase Sapphire Reserve holders (my wife has one) and essentially gives similar benefits to Amex Fine Hotel and Resorts bookings: early check-in/late check-out (if available), $100 resort credit, upgrade (if available), daily breakfast for two and a welcome amenity. Some of these benefits will overlap with my Marriott Lifetime Platinum benefits although as you will see, there was still value. The booking cost about 41,000 Ultimate Rewards points per night (valued by Chase Points Boost at two cents per point or about $820 per night all-in). This was a higher cost than the Hilton, but we’re relatively points-rich right now, and we would save the $800 or so in cash the Hilton would have cost. We would also hopefully have a bit more of an upscale stay. The booking included resort fees (or so I thought – more on that later). Parking would be the only additional cost at $38 per day for self-parking (or $48 for valet).

We arrived at the JW after a bit of a travel nightmare. Our 8am flight from Atlanta to Fort Myers was canceled. We found this out when we woke up at 5am. Delta had ever so graciously confirmed us on the 11pm flight that night (losing a whole day of our trip). I immediately tried to add us to the stand-by list for the next two flights (10:30 and 12:45) in the Delta app and was unable to do it. I got on chat through the app and they managed to get us on the standby list for those flights. Since we were up and it was a busy Friday travel day (the last Friday of summer break in many Georgia counties), we headed to the airport early. We were able to get into the Concourse A SkyClub even with our standby tickets thanks to the canceled flight. For the 10:30 flight, they offered us the last available stand-by seat which would accommodate one of us, but we decided not to split up just in case the other didn’t make the 12:45 flight. We went to the Concourse B SkyClub to wait for the 12:45 flight and this time we got on the flight. We had to gate check our bags (even though it turned out there actually was plenty of space in the overhead bins) and had the last two seats on the plane by the bathrooms. It took so long to get off the plane when we landed that our bags were already on the carousel.

So, after picking up a rental car and driving about an hour down to Marco, we arrived a bit flustered at 4pm assuming our room would at least be ready as early check-in is one of the listed benefits of The Edit. Of course, the room was not ready. My wife was annoyed although I sort of blamed myself for not texting the hotel through the app to update them on our arrival time. She decided to just change in the restroom and go out to the beach to begin her shell-hunting. I was fine waiting for the room and meeting her out there later. For our trouble, the front desk rep added another $100 in room credit to our tab which I thought was pretty generous.

In the end, I went to self-park the car and our room was available after about 20 minutes. I went up and dropped off our things. We were upgraded from a base room (which I think only has an east view away from the beach) to an ocean and pool view room. There was a king-sized bed and large TV. Both nightstands had plug and USB ports for charging.

The bathroom was spacious compared to the Hilton with a separate toilet, double sinks and large walk-in shower.

There was a small fridge, safe and two small water bottles.

The 180 degree view from the balcony was great. You could see the beach, one of the pools and even the rest of Marco to the east. The tower facing our room was the other JW tower from the main hotel. I’m glad we were in the one closer to the lobby and restaurants.

The welcome amenity we received was a $15 gift card to 10K Alley, the entertainment venue, where you can play video games, throw skeeball or go bowling. I ended up not having time to use it and just gave it to one of the bellmen to pass on to a kid checking in on Sunday (hopefully). Here’s the information we received at check-in:

I got changed and met my wife out on the beach where we enjoyed an early evening walk. The beach wasn’t too crowded as the clock ticked toward 6pm as I suppose many families with kids went to eat around that time.

One interesting thing to note about this resort is that it has a “resort within a resort” called Sirene, which is only for those over 21 and can’t be booked as a base room with Marriott points. I did briefly enquire about how much the upgrade cost would be to get a room there, but I was told the entire property was sold out that weekend.

The resort felt a bit like a cruise ship on land (except all the food wasn’t included). There were tons of restaurants and bars, a kids club, an entertainment venue with a bowling alley/arcade, multiple pools, and of course one other thing that you can’t find on a ship, the beach.

There were two main pools, one with a slide that was more for families and another large one that was more for adults (although there were plenty of families at that one too).

We got changed for dinner around 7:30pm and went to the sushi restaurant Korals, but they only had bar seating at that time. We decided to try the beachfront restaurant Quinn’s, instead. We had a very pleasant meal there and the prices of the cocktails and food were not too bad. Here’s the menu. I ordered the grouper and my wife ordered the Gulf Cobb Salad. We both enjoyed our meals. The drinks were strong and made well.

Right after dinner, we got back to our room in time to enjoy the sunset over the Gulf from our balcony.

The next morning, we got up early (again) so I could drive my wife over to a 6:45am shelling tour with Treasure Seekers, who run daily trips to the Ten Thousand Islands for serious shelling enthusiasts. The trips leave from a marina in Goodland, on the east side of Marco Island, about 15 minutes from the resort.

When I drove back, it was just about time for breakfast to start at 7am. It’s served at a venue called Maia, which has indoor and outdoor seating. There’s an a la carte menu, but in terms of the included breakfast, there is a continental buffet and a hot buffet for a $10 up-charge. The continental is what Marriott Platinums and Titaniums get, but as The Edit booking (and also Amex FHR) also includes breakfast, they upgraded us to the full buffet at no extra charge, which I appreciated.

The breakfast buffet was really good. Nothing in the US will really approach Southeast Asian breakfast buffets, but this one was one of the best I’ve seen in the US. They had made to order eggs, waffles, pancakes, and French toast plus just about any other breakfast food or pastry you could think of. The fruit was fresh and they even had small cold items like chia pudding in a little fridge.

I enjoyed my freshly made omelet and toasted bagel with a schmear.

When I picked up my wife around 10:45 and brought her back to the resort, she was very hungry. Breakfast runs until 11:30 so we went to Maia and asked if she could have breakfast now. They were happy to accommodate her, even at a different time than me, which was much appreciated. She ordered a latte not realizing it was not included in the buffet so we did have to pay for that.

The resort fee here includes up to four beach chairs and an umbrella on the beach. They of course have ridiculous upsell items like cabanas and special first row loungers which we had no interest in. The attendants will set up your beach chairs, towels and umbrellas. We were given towel cards at check-in to exchange for the beach towels, but never needed to use them as there were plenty of towels stacked by the pool and near the elevator as we walked outside.

We enjoyed an afternoon on the beach with unseasonably sunny afternoon weather and no storms in sight.

There’s a cart that drives around taking food orders and providing drinks. Here’s the menu:

I enjoyed the Mango Picante and some wings for lunch. My wife ordered a frozen drink which was a mistake as it was melted by the time they delivered it.

By around 4pm, we were wiped out from the sun and went back to the room to nap before dinner. We went to Korals again and this time, we were a bit earlier so we were able to get a table.

The sushi was good and again, the prices were not ridiculous for a resort restaurant.

After dinner, I watched a bit of the Polynesian fire show from our balcony although there were some trees in the way. They have this most nights on the beach which I’m sure families enjoy. We’ve even walked over and watched it before when we stayed at the Hilton.

On Sunday morning, we had another great breakfast then went for a long walk on the beach. We decided to leave around 11 as we had had enough of the heat by then. I had a bit of an issue at check-out when I was charged the resort fee despite Chase showing it was included in my booking. I tried to get the front desk to remove it without success so I just called Chase after I returned and they took care of it. It was a minor annoyance with otherwise great service from the hotel staff.

Before we left, I explored the hotel a bit and went over to the Sirene tower where the entertainment venue 10K Alley is located. It was closed in the morning, but I grabbed a picture of the entrance area.

I also stopped by the gym, although I didn’t use it since I could just walk on the beach. it was pretty well appointed.

We headed across Alligator Alley to my mom’s house and enjoyed a quiet, air-conditioned day with her and her dog. Thankfully, our flight home Monday morning was uneventful.

Overall, we enjoyed several aspects of the JW Marriott Marco Island including the breakfast, the dining options and the service (for the most part). Things we didn’t enjoy included the crowds, the sheer size of the resort and other people’s kids (although I can’t blame the resort directly for that).

So, would we go back to the JW or stick with the Hilton? I think it would depend on the price. If I can get a good deal through Chase or Amex, we might give the JW another try when it’s not peak summer vacation. We also wouldn’t mind returning to the quieter, more relaxed vibe of the Hilton.

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