BookIt.com Verified Traveler Diane S. from San Mateo, Ca

"We were so impressed with this resort. It's as if they thought of nearly everything in the service/hospitality aspects of this experience. The staff is super friendly and professional. I often felt like there were multiple people ready to assist at any given time. Attentive, but in no way intrusive. In addition, people were constantly cleaning everything in the common areas, common bathrooms, etc.

The experience started with being sat in the lobby wine bar with a margarita so they could assist you with check in, rather than you standing in line waiting. Awesome feature. At the VIP beach area, staff was there to serve us food and drinks, and to make sure we were doing fine. They even gave our 3 year old daughter a basket of beach toys to use while we were there. No charge! The beach was swimmable with a flag system to alert swimmers of dangerous/choppy waters vs. safe for swimming, and the sand was nice.
The amazing thing about this resort was that it was in no way crowded, despite this being a part of their peak season. I think many people go on tours/vs. beach/vs golfing during the day, and there was ample space by the pool always. This is the first resort where we didn't have to go reserve a seat by the pool early in the morning in order to have a place to sit. There were also several cabanas with mattresses and curtained for shade if you wanted to get away from the sun. So nice!!

The room was spacious, very tastefully decorated, with a kitchen, sitting area, 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. On the 4th floor, we had a sunset ocean view, with a huge balcony. In the evenings, I loved the turn down service, in addition to our daily cleaning.

With kids, this place has more for little ones than I have ever seen at a resort. 1/3 of the pool is shallow for little ones to hang out in. Our 3 yr old daughter played in there all day, and we didn't have to worry about her getting into deeper water. In addition, there is a decent size playground structure with swings, slides, climbing wall that was perfect for her. Next to the pool there was a sprinkler/fountain set up that many kids loved running through. I believe they also have a kids club, but we never needed that because she was so in love with the pool and beach. At the pool, they even make kids drinks, with cute names like Mickey Mouse and Sponge Bob.

We basically choose our resorts based on the quality of the food, and this resort definitely lived up to the reviews. We ate delicious, but generally much more healthy, food than in resorts we've been to before. My husband remarked this is the first time he didn't eat a burger by the pool at a resort. Instead, we were eating gourmet food like seafood tostadas and tuna tartar. They had plenty for the kids too, like pizza, chicken fingers and quesadillas, but all of it was great quality, so that it was much better than your average kids menu, and generally great even for foodie grownups to eat. I think my favorite dish was BLT arancini....just unbelievable. I did not expect creative and delicious food like this at an all inclusive, and it makes me want to recommend this place to everyone.
The other great thing is that they changed things up day to day both in terms of dinner menus.

On site, there was a little coffee shop where you could get free internet if you bought a drink. very nice feature for the rare times i felt like i wanted to be connected on vacation.

Another bonus is that we were never bothered to listen to any timeshare spiel, like we have experienced at other places.

Lastly, they were extremely responsive and took care of any concerns we had. For instance, the first day, I asked that the floor in our room be cleaned again because I could tell it hadn't been washed, and they took care of it immediately.

My only real negatives about this resort are 1) the mattress on our bed was hard, much too hard 2) you have to ask for better alcohol or else you get served the really low quality tequila/vodka etc-not a huge deal because they happily upgraded when asked.

I highly recommend this place!!!"

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"What a BEAUTIFUL PLACE!!. Resort was really nice and accommodating. Staff was so attentive and polite. The SPA hit the spot!!. Weather was PERFECT!!. Soooooo CLEAN!!!. We did a 'GIRL's TRIP'. Can't forget the ROOFTOP BAR. The view from up top was Speechless. Love the infinity pool!! Would definitely return..."

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"Food was great, staff were friendly, room was amazing, service was excellent. Great stay!"

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"We have stayed at many resorts and this all inclusive was FABULOUS!! From the moment we arrived to the moment we left, we were treated with respect and were PAMPERED by ALL the staff. They were courteous, friendly & always helpful to assist. The resort itself was beautiful & clean with a peaceful serenity. The room was very clean - houskeeping changed towels, made up beds daily, and they would even stock the refrigerator upon request. Marival RESIDENCES cateres more to couples, but welcomes families. Food plating and tasting is 5 star quality - we never had a bad meal, although Omaggio was our absolute favorite. Edwardo, Jesus & Michael always said hello with smiles on their faces and checked on us throughout our meals. We watched the head waiter move through their busiest night inspecting the food & drink quality, shaking hands, and making sure all customers were happy while discipling employees if food/drinks were not up to standards before sent to the floor. All alcohol drinks were not weak - you will be surprised. The buffets were hearty and always had chefs making special orders. Our package included use of their sister resort and VIP beach which we LOVED using the cabana - waiter serviced! We visited the resort from Sept. 14-19th worrying about threat of storms or hurricaines, and it only rained once late at night. All days were sunny/hot, average temp 92 degrees. The spa was relaxing (recommend Swedish massage). We booked adventure pkgs - swam with dolphins and the snorkel/Yelapa boat trip. We highly recommend both - had so much fun. You will have to pay for the taxi to/from the day excursions (US$5 average each way). No one pressures tipping, but it is encouraged. We tipped understanding how hard they work to please everyone. The view around the resort is mountaineous and green/tropical. BookIt.com was extremely helpful when our return flight had a mix-up. They went above and beyond helping us change it through the airlines - no additional fees! We will definately use BookIt again and hope to return to Marival Residences & World Spa on our next anniversary! "

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