Looking for honest, straightforward, unsponsored JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews? Here you'll find a complete guide to visiting this SW Florida resort. Does it live up to the hype? Find out here in a real review, including the good and the bad!
Planning a trip to Marco Island? Also, read my Marco Island Restaurant Guide, Top 30 Fun Things to Do in Marco Island, and Favorite Moments from Marco Island 2023 and Favorite Moments from Marco Island 2025.
JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews
Many hotel reviews are sponsored and biased, but today I'm sharing my honest JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews, including what we liked and what we didn't, so you can decide if this is the right spot for you to vacation. This post includes unfiltered, real-life photos of the resort, restaurants, and beaches to help you decide if this luxury resort is worth it.
Marco Island is a 24-square-mile island in SW Florida, just off the coast of Naples. It's not as well-known as some other beach towns. It's more developed than Sanibel or Anna Maria, but it still has a lower-key vibe than the huge Florida beach towns like Miami or Fort Lauderdale. It has a glitzy retirement community vibe, with the beach lined with countless million-dollar condos. It's known for its great food, gorgeous beach, shelling, and being a part of Florida's Ten Thousand Islands, which gives you great access to boating when staying here. Learn more about what to do on Marco Island here.
JW Marriott Marco Island has been a fixture in Marco Island for years. It used to be a classic Marriott, but in recent years got an upgrade to a JW Marriott. It's considered a luxury resort and has the price tag to go with it. We were able to book and stay at the resort using our Marriott points. I traveled with my family, including my 6-year-old twin boys. We stayed in a partial ocean-view double room, which was nice, clean, and spacious for our family.
This resort makes you feel like you are in the Caribbean, without having to leave the country. The gorgeous white beaches and fun resort vibe remind us of some of our favorite island beach resorts.
There were some things we loved about the resort and some things we didn't, and I'll share those below.
JW Marriott Marco Island Honest Review Share on X
JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews- Honest Pros and Cons
I'll start with my honest JW Marriott Marco Island Review, including pros and cons. We love beach resorts like this, and this was a wonderful trip for our family. Like any place you visit, though, there are some pros and cons. Here they are!
Pros
- The resort grounds are beautiful. The outdoor grounds of the resort are simply gorgeous! With lots of tropical plants, greenery, and beautiful palm trees, this resort looks and feels like you are in the Caribbean without having to leave the US.
- The beach is spectacular. Marco Island has a 6-mile crescent-shaped beach with white sand, blue water, and lots of pretty shells. It's one of the best in the world, and Florida's beautiful Gulf beaches are next level.
- Sunsets. The beach faces West, so you get spectacular sunsets every night. They celebrate the sunsets with a nightly fire-dancer and sunset celebration.
- It's in the US. If you want a tropical beach vacation, but don't want to mess with going to the Caribbean, this is a great option.
- Marco Island is a cool town. Marco Island is a really unique spot that has lots of great dining, shopping, and boating.
- They are kid-friendly. The resort is super kid-friendly, including having a kids' club and kids' activities.
- Beachfront restaurants. You just can't beat the beachfront restaurants here, where you can dine in the sand. You don't see that a lot in the US, and it is so nice.
- You can book with and earn Marriott points. This is a Marriott Bonvoy property, so you can book with points and earn points while here. You can also get perks like free breakfast if you are Platinum or Titanium. We were able to stay here for free, which was incredible.
- Rooms are nice. The rooms have been recently updated and are nice and clean. The bathrooms are pretty, too. Due to the U-shaped building, most of them have some sort of ocean view.
Cons
- It was so crowded. We stayed during Spring Break, so crowds were to be expected, but it was super crowded. The pool was packed, and there were rows and rows of beach chairs. It was one of the most crowded resorts we have ever been to.
- Have to pay to reserve chairs. They really don't have enough chairs for high season, and you either had to wait in line or pay to rent one in the front row.
- It has a convention hotel vibe. The outside of the resort feels amazing, but inside it feels very conventional hotel and not a beach hotel. The hallways were filled with people all the time.
- It feels a little expensive for what it is. With the crowds, pricy food, service, and hotel interiors, it felt a bit expensive for what it is. There are also high add-on daily resort fees and parking fees, and everything was extra. You could stay at a very nice all-inclusive in the Caribbean for the price of this. We did find good rates through Expedia for booking the rooms.
JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews FAQ
Is JW Marriott Marco Island adults only?
JW Marriott Marco Island is only partly adults-only, with an entire tower dedicated to adults. Part of the resort is called Paradise By Sirene and is the adult's adults-only section of the resort with nicer rooms with extra amenities, a luxury infinity pool, and a restaurant. You can book that section of the resort, if you are not traveling with kids, at the checkout.
Is JW Marriott Marco Island good for kids?
JW Marriott Marco Island is a great resort for kids! They have kid-friendly pools with a water playground and slides, a fabulous beach, kid activities, and even a kids' club. My kids loved it here! We felt like they were welcomed everywhere.
JW Marriott Marco Island Highlights
Marco Island Beach
One of the highlights of these JW Marriott Marco Island reviews is the beach. If you are a beach lover like me, you will love this gorgeous white sand beach. If you haven't seen the beaches on this side of Florida, you have to make a trip.
The beach is super wide right in front of the resort, too, and the endless stretch of sand is reason enough to visit here.
Pools
The pools are fun and perfect for kids and adults. There are two pools at the resort, Quinn's Outdoor Pool and the Tiki Pool. The Tiki Pool has a small waterslide and a water splash pad area for kids. They also have a pretty waterfall.
Quinn's Pool is more of your standard resort pool with lots of space. Both pools offer drink and meal service brought to the chairs. The chairs are packed into the pool decks though.
Shelling
Shelling is another reason for these good JW Marriott Marco Island reviews. This area of the country is known for shelling, and Marco Island is one of the best spots. If you want to learn more about Marco Island shelling, check out my Marco Island Shelling Guide.
Our kids, and I, love to shell and enjoy walking up and down the beach looking for treasures.
Sunsets & Sunset Celebration
Another reason to love this resort is the sunsets. Marco Island is perfectly positioned for the most gorgeous gulf-coast sunsets, and the JW Marriott Marco Island knows how to celebrate.
They have nightly music and a fire dancer at sunset that is simply magical.
Plus, you can't beat nightly views like this. This was one of our absolute favorite things about the trip and this resort.
Spa
The JW Marriott Marco Island Beach resort also has a lovely spa, located in the Lanai Tower. There is a spa pool that is adults only. They offer facials and massages.
Beach Dining
Beach dining is another reason for the positive JW Marriott Marco Island reviews. This resort has two restaurants right on the sand, and it's so nice. It gives this resort Caribbean vibes and takes advantage of its best asset, the beach.
We just loved dining on the beach, and it was another favorite part of the trip.
10K Alley Arcade
The 10K Alley Arcade was so much fun for my kids. It's honestly not my thing, I don't like being inside at the beach, but my kids loved it. It was this big arcade, bowling alley, mini-golf room right in the resort. They enjoyed going at night and still talk about it.
It was very expensive for what it was, but yes, the kids loved it. 🙂
Kid's Activities
And speaking of kids, this resort had all sorts of stuff for kids, and is another reason I'm giving these good JW Marriott Marco Island reviews. The resort has a kids' club called Tiki Time Day Camp. They also have a daily list of kids' activities, including crafts, games, and even a Build-A-Bear pop-up store. None of it is included, and it's all extra, but it's cute for kids. It's a really fun and engaging spot for kids!
Marco Island has a lot of fun activities off the resort, too, including boating, fishing, golfing, and more. Make sure to do a few of them on your trip! Pick your favorite with my Top 30 Things to Do in Marco Island.
JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews for Restaurants
Looking for JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews for the restaurants? They were all surprisingly good! It's not the best food we've ever had, but for a resort, it was pretty good! I do recommend eating some of your meals off property, though, because Marco Island itself has some incredible restaurants that you don't want to miss.
Read about my favorites in my Marco Island Restaurant Guide.
Quinn's
Quinn's is one of the more popular restaurants and one of the reasons for these positive JW Marriott Marco Island reviews. The restaurant is right on the beach and has an incredible ocean view, and it's a perfect spot to watch the sunset. The restaurant features coastal seafood with an upscale beach vibe.
We ate here several times to enjoy the views and the sunset. We love everything, including the Shrimp Ceviche.
The calamari was super good too, and they have great tacos.
The best dish was the Grouper.
Ario
Ario is the fine-dining steakhouse at the resort featuring 35-day aged steaks, fresh seafood and fine wine. It's the more upscale restaurant at the resort and has a business casual dress code.
Maia
Maia is the spot for the morning breakfast buffet, which was super delicious. They have all the expected dishes, plus made-to-order omelets, waffles, and pancakes. They also have an à la carte menu. We loved this breakfast buffet!
Kane Tiki Bar & Grill
Kane Tiki Bar & Grill is another reason for the good JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews. This really fun spot gives you Hawaiian vibes and is located in the sand, on the beach. With loved the Polynesian food, including this poke bowl.
We also enjoyed the fish sandwich. They also have an extensive rum collection.
Tesoro
Tesoro is the restaurant that is part of the adults-only section of the resort. It has an incredible terrace overlooking the Gulf. Dishes are Mediterranean with an Italian flair. You can't beat the views from this spot!
Korals Sushi and Cocktail Bar
Located just off the lobby, Korals Sushi and Cocktail Bar was a fun spot for drinks, plus they had some really delicious sushi for a hotel! It was fresh and delicious.
Mosaico
Mosaico is located between the two pools and is more of a casual grab-and-go spot with sandwiches, salads, and pizza. They also have gelato and desserts.
Cafe San Marco
The coffee and quick breakfast spot at the JW Marriott Marco Island is Cafe San Marco. They have coffee, tea, and grab and go snacks, and breakfast items.
JW Marriott Marco Island Reviews
I'll wrap up these JW Marriott Marco Island reviews by saying we had a lovely trip and enjoyed our time at this resort. The fact that there is a beautiful tropical resort that is off such a gorgeous beach in the US makes this a spot to visit. We loved the sunsets, beach time, pools, dining in the sand, and good food. We didn't love the crowds and super high prices for everything once you got there. It also felt like everything was extra.
If you are looking for that island experience without leaving the country, this resort is a great option. If you are a big Marriott person and can book this with points, even better! We loved that we could use our points and stay here. You can also book your trip here to get the best rates.
While it's not our favorite resort, we had a great time and would recommend it to friends who want to visit Marco Island!
More Marco Island Guides:
- Best Rates for the Resort
- Marco Island Restaurant Guide
- Top 30 Fun Things to Do in Marco Island,
- Marco Island Shelling Guide
- Favorite Moments from Marco Island 2023
- Favorite Moments from Marco Island 2025
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