I've finally accumulated enough Marriott points for a vacation. I'd like to get 2-3 three rooms at a Caribbean location and would love feedback about which property would be best for us.

It will be my parents, my husband and I, and our 2 and 4 year old sons. We are an active bunch - we enjoy exploring the islands and beaches and snorkeling/SCUBA. Nightlife and super-fancy restaurants are not important.

Some of our choices:
Renaissance Aruba - Oranjestad
Marriott Aruba Ocean Club
Marriott Aruba Surf Club
Aruba Marriott Resort - Palm Beach
Grand Cayman Marriott Beach
San Juan Marriott Resort Puerto Rico
Casa Magna Marriott Cancun Resort
JW Marriott Cancun Resort
Ixtapan de la Sal Marriott Hotel
Frenchmans Reef Marriott - USVI

I know I'll have to do some research on TripAdvisor and other sites, but I'd like to start with a slightly smaller list!

Many thanks!

We've been to a few of these (with kids and without) on points, so I'll give you a little feedback.

Renaissance Aruba - we visited in 11/06 with kids (then 3 and 6). *Perfect* little cove beach for the kids, nice pool, fun boat ride to the private island (with parrots and calm swimming for the kids). Bigger suites (separate living space with fold out sofa). Great access to restaurants in downtown (nice ones, and "we just need to get something for the kids" places). Aruba was lovely - dry and barren and wild. We rented a Jeep and explored. Kids loved it.

Toured the Ocean and Surf Clubs - too busy and packed for my personal preference (but lots of people love 'em!) Pool looked too over-run to keep a good eye on my 3 yr old (she's easily distracted).

San Juan Marriott - we were there in 11/07 (kids were 7 and 4). Smaller rooms, bathroom and balcony, but excellent hotel. Nice pool area with shallow "kid pool". Ocean/beach not wonderful for kid swimming (rough seas, small beach) Easy walking access to restaurants (like Aruba - kid friendly and adult friendly places to eat). Excellent exploring (forts in OSJ, El Yunque, bio-bay). Perfect island for an active family (we LOVED PR - we also did several days in Vieques). Might I suggest the Courtyard by Marriot on Isle Verde, PR? Gets great marks from families - plus the beach is excellent there. Might stretch your points too (being a CY).

STT Frenchmans Reef - we visited in 11/05 (sans kids! yippee!) The main hotel is up high on the cliff (eek! my daughter would have wandered!) with nice pools - but more "adult" in feel. The rooms down at Morningstar was nice (and being renovated or were recently renovated?) but the beach IMO isn't little kid friendly. There is a pool down there too. Very friendly property. Must travel to St. John if you're that close. =) STT has lots of kid-friendly activities and beaches.

We do a Marriott vacay on points each Thanksgiving (St. Kitts is coming up) and I've temporarily ruled out Grand Cayman (beach isn't great Marriott - in photos I saw), Cancun (previous beach erosion, haven't done research lately).

You can probably find my reviews/photos on TA. Best of luck!

Wow, Travelhappy - thanks! Those are great comments. I love the insight into the beach - our kids are definitely way too little for big waves!

I'm very intrigued by Puerto Rico, just because I've never been and it seems like it would offer such a wide range of activities...I'll look into the CY.

Any time. Keep asking questions! We loved Puerto Rico (and will go back when we're done checking off islands/Marriotts).

Did you rule out the Marriott @ Curacao on purpose? It gets rave reviews too (and I hear excellent diving). It's on our "short list" for next year. (The the kids are begging for Europe!)

Marriott Aruba Surf Club is a beautiful hotel. We loved it!!! Super resort for kids...great pools with the lazy river and slide.Great island to rent a car on very easy driving. Grocerie prices not bad either. Great choice of place to eat on this island and close to the resort.

I must have missed Curacao, but now it's on the list.

I'm leaning away from Cancun because we were there before and it just doesn't seem hugely family-oriented - more geared toward the spring break crowd.

That still leaves Aruba, Puerto Rico, USVI, and Curacao. I've only ever been to USVI, so I guess I need to do some research on the islands themselves...

We loved our stay at the Curacao Marriott. It's set on a large beach and it's only about 10 minutes from both the airport and downtown Willemstad. We were blown away when we walked in the lobby as it is open-sided and has the best views of the beach and the hotel's fountains.
Our room had a view of the ocean and a very comfortable king-size bed. Plus there was a spacious bathroom.
The food at the restaurants was consistently good.

Curacao does look great.

I think we'd enjoy any of these:
Renaissance Aruba - Oranjestad
Marriott Aruba Ocean Club
Marriott Aruba Surf Club
Aruba Marriott Resort - Palm Beach
San Juan Marriott Resort Puerto Rico
Courtyard by Marriot on Isle Verde, PR
Marriott @ Curacao

Other priorities for us would be
-reasonable prices for groceries
-proximity to cheap/moderate kid-friendly restaurants
-proximity to non-rocky beach with gentle waves
-reasonable rental car prices

I'm aware that "reasonable" prices have a different meaning in the Caribbean...but I would prefer to find which islands and/or locations would be most affordable!

Which

Do a search on the forum this question has been asked many times and there is much information. If you want a condo go with Aruba Ocean Club or Surf Club. Also consider Marriott St. Kitts. Our favorite is Curacao Marriott but that will just be a regular hotel room and a condo is so helpful with small children.

We have gone to the Marriott Stellaris Hotel in Aruba and the Marriott Grand Cayman. Both were great!

Both have good restaurants as well as fast food. Both have grocery stores with everything in them. Both were very safe to get around. Both have lots of watersports right on site.

Aruba Marriott is much larger scale and more crowded, great pools and things to do, kids club, etc..
Cayman Marriott is much smaller scale and the pool is little. The beach is small, but that was not a big deal as it was not crowded.

We enjoyed both Marriotts and would return to both.
I am looking at Marriotts for next year for our next trip and I am considering Curacao. It has rave reviews here.

I'd probably rule out the San Juan Marriott over the Courtyard Isle Verde on the basis of beach ("proximity to non-rocky beach with gentle waves" being a priority for you). The SJ Marriott beach isn't bad (we enjoyed it) but it's not as attractive as the Isle Verde down the beach.

That said, the pool area at the SJ Marriott is perfect for kids.

When are you thinking of going? Curacao and Aruba are outside the traditional hurricane belt - so less worries about storms.

Oh, such choices! LOL!

We're hoping to go the end of January or beginning of February, but even that is going to be difficult while using points. It looks like a couple of the properties are already not available! We're also trying to coordinate with frequent flier miles - always an interesting challenge!

I hear ya! That's what we do for every Thanksgiving - using as many miles as can and staying on points @ Marriott. =) It's a challenge, to say the least. For what it's worth, we typically book our Thanksgiving vacay in January or February - 11 months in advance. Crazy! Book your hotel first - I've found (but check the regs again) that you can cancel a points stay once booked. That way, if you can't get your flights to pan out, you're not stuck with the hotel. Also, I've booked more than one property on points, then released the one I didn't "need" once we got the flights situated. (If you don't have enough points for two properties, the web site will tell you that you need to earn them...)

=)

Hm...I just called Marriott b/c I couldn't figure out the reservations for the Vacation Club. The reason I couldn't find a room in the Aruba Surf/Ocean Club is b/c they haven't opened them up yet...they're only accepting points reservations through October?? Is this typical?

I guess we could reserve a room in another Aruba property and then get our flights...and then cancel that room if we happen to get into one of the vacation clubs??

Hmm. I've never booked @ a Vacation Stay property, so I can offer any advice. We've always lucked out that properties were available (sometimes we had to invest more points - "choice" is it called?)

Good luck!

We stayed at the Morning Star section of the Frenchman's Reef resort on St Thomas for our Honeymoon. There was a wide variety of people there - families, young couples, seniors - we all seemed to get along and enjoy ourselves.
I liked staying at Morning Star bc we were right on the beach. The Frenchman's Reef section has a lot of stairs to climb to come down to the beach. Both have their own pools. The dock for a lot of excursions is at Frenchman's Reef, which may be easier for you since the boats usually leave early in the day. There wasn't that much to do at the actual resort but the staff was quite happy to suggest things for us to do. We went to Cinnamon Bay, St John one day and loved it. I have pics and what not up on TA under the same user name. Happy travels!

We have also been to a few of these Marriotts (used Marriott points a few times, paid a few times). In Aruba, we stayed at the Renaissance and also at the Ocean Club - I preferred the Ocean Club b/c it's right on the beach and in between the Marriott hotel and Surf Club. The Renaissance is in town and you must take a ferry to get to the beach (which does have flamingos on the adult side). Frenchmen's Reef is my favorite b/c you can do so much from that location; day trip to St. Johns (which is my favorite island in the Carribean) or day trip into town (there is a private ferry from Frenchmen's reef). There are a couple of nice pools and good restaurants on the property, but we like to gad about to restaurants in town and on St. Johns. You can also get a direct flight to St. Thomas from many cities which give you more vacation time. If you upgrade to the deluxe room, there is a beautiful view of the harbour of St Thomas - well worth it. We didn't find great snorkeling on Aruba, but St. Johns has great snorkeling. You can also daytrip to Jost Van Dykes and visit the Soggy Dollar Bar or Foxy's for a fund day (leave the kids w/ Grandma).

Thanks for the positive input on USVI...we ended up with reservations there because that was the only location we could work out using Marriott points and frequent flier miles. It was a challenge since we'll need 2 rooms and 6 plane tickets!

We just have the basic reservation - no upgrades or anything. I guess I should figure out if this leaves us at Morningstar or Frenchmans Reef...

I can assure you that you will NOT be at Morningstar w/ marriott points that have no upgrade. We upgraded w/ our points there and paid about $100 extra per night to get a beautiful view of the St. Thomas Harbor of Charlotte Amoile - great rainbow photos and cruise ships. It was worth spending the extra money.