Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa

We came back for my birthday trip because the entire family agreed that this is everyone’s favorite hotel. However, what really blew the experience out of the water for my 9 year old was Nathan, the shark tooth expert. My son LOVES everything fossils, and Nathan took almost an hour with him at a time to teach him how to find shark teeth on the beach and even brought his own fossil books and collection to show him. I cannot even begin to describe how much of an impact this had on him, and made this vacation something he will never forget. All staff were amazing, our waiter for breakfast) (name starts with a A was also fantastic and made us feel very welcome) and Marc even brought some shark teeth for my son. They have cute activities for kids they can make, bikes to rent, games outside, nice pools and they even lend pool toys! Every single person working at the hut was amazing and really went out of their way to make my kids feel special. However, the amount that Nathan went above and beyond for my fossil loving son really made this an unforgettable trip. Also, rooms were clean and spacious, breakfast was as PERFECT. It is worth it for the up charge to get the hot breakfast. Thank you!!!

The website deliberately showcases the rooms as nice and modern which it ABSOLUTELY 100% is not. The rooms are dated, old carpet, decor similar to an episode of That 70’s Show” and a room phone that has A CORD attached in the color beige and appears to be at least 10 years old. Allow that to marinate. The resort still uses shower curtains which are germ ridden, the bathroom doesn’t have an exhaust so watch out for that hot shower. The hallway/lobby on each room overlooks the hotel, reminiscent of a shopping mall. The noise level is insane because there aren’t any barriers so you will hear all of the action happening down below BECAUSE THERE ARE NO WALLS outside your room. I was there with my husband and several family members and not one person felt the value was there for their room. That’s an additional four other rooms. A two day stay was over $800 and the rooms are in great need of updates. It’s a if the Marriott decided to focus solely on the resort itself with pool, landscaping and views but ignored everything else. The restaurants on the premises are also a major fail with subpar quality food. The only, and I mean only plus is the staff. Unfortunately, they are not enough to EVER return. A complete rip-off of money. And btw, we overhead other guests speaking amongst themselves who also referred to the rooms as basic and disappointing.

This place is horribly outdated and in need of better maintenance! I came here for a conference and even though I’m not a golfer, I knew enough about the course to know that golfers would expect to stay in a much better place than where I stayed! Checking in was ok. I will say that throughout my stay I needed to go back to the check-in desk as my room key didn’t allow me access to the self-parking lot, even though it was supposed to. Each time I went there, there were only 2 people working and a line – this is ridiculous! The one time I waited and spoke to someone, she took my card and came back and said it was fixed. Well, it wasn’t, because the next time I went to use it, once again I had to press the button to get someone to open the gate for me. As for my room – horrible! The couch and all the furniture was outdated, stained, saggy, and simply nasty. The bathroom smelled musty and moldy. One of the light bulbs next to the mirror was blown out. The shower gel fell off the wall. The towels were refreshed each day, but each towel was VERY old and thin, definitely should have been replaced long ago. There were issues with light switches on walls or lamps that didn’t work. The outside is very poorly marked, you don’t know which group of apartments (or villas, as they call them) are which number until you walk up to them and read the number on the door. I could go on and on… But it grossed me out to stay here. The common areas of the property are beautiful though, which is a contradiction to those experiencing what it’s like to stay in the rooms. I spoke to many others in our group, as well as friends who have stayed here in the past and 100% of everyone I talked said the same as what I just stated above – it’s a very outdated property!

Upon checking into our “Villa” which was just a room w 2 queen beds, the room smell was that of fake ickky fragrance to cover up the bad smell of oldness or decay or mold. We were also greeted by a half dead cockroach on the floor next to the first bed. The carpet part of the floor was tacky to the feel of my footfalls and wrinkled and rumpled as something so old it no longer laid flat. So gross. Then as i opened the door to the closet to hang my clothes, a humungous dead spider larger than a silver dollar! The windows all had a material covering as a blind/curtain that u should have been able to pull the chain and it would roll up-however, every window coverings chain was rusted and gross and filth windows behind that were soot lined and black with dirt and just touching them my fingers were filthy and had to wash my hands immediately. The toilet had a pee-yellow ring around the bottom of the toilet from hving never been properly & thoroughly cleaned despite the white tiles. The light switch in the entree was broken or burned out. The shower curtain looked like it had been through the ringer and seen better days and the slider looked ancient and like it had never been cleaned. I never wanted to touch the floor at night when i had to use the bathroom and the overall prevailing smells in the room just had me nauseous & we tried to spend as least amount of time in there as possible. The grounds were so pretty with mature old trees but the rooms were atrocious. And to pay hundreds of dollars to stay there is a crime! Seriously disappointing. We were not on some company’s dime but on our own hard earned money! This was so disappointing to finally get away and have the room be this bad. Very sad!!!

Overall our experience at the Marriott was ok. Highs= nice room, no sound issues, property looked good, nice options for pools, restaurants were great. We had dinner at Vernon's and it was fabulous, and my family enjoyed the PUB. We went on the 4th of July weekend. events posted online for kids were no where to bee seen and the staff didn't know about them. Online it said DG at the pool, no DJ at Sawgrass. Bubble Party at the pool, no bubble party. Tito's event, never saw it, Watermelon eating contest, never saw it. And I had a massage scheduled that was underwhelming. I got a Full Body loofah buff that was a dry rub with a mini loofah. No oil and the sponge was DRY. Unpleasant. The massage was the least favorite. It felt like the therapist was giving a quick rub everywhere. The time spent was ok, but it felt like she as in a hurry, not relaxing at all. She has been there 20 years she said, so maybe something was just off on this day. She was a nice lady, but I would not book again with Lynn.

Had the best spa experience with Mary and a reflexology and scalp massage. She used wonderful, natural products I was able to purchase in the Spa shop. Very nice facilities with a private pool that offered full food and bar. Great service! Try the Asian chicken wrap. Do yourself a favor and spend a nice afternoon there like I did!