Marriott's Barony Beach Club

The grounds and beach are very nice but I had a terrible experience here. The air in some of the buildings is VERY moldy. I became allergic to mold after staying in a moldy condo several years ago. I made it clear before arriving that I am allergic to mold. Upon check-in, I reminded them of this but the room they assigned had a VERY strong mold smell- it was coming from the vents, which means it is in the HVAC for that entire building. My husband, who is not sensitive, smelled it too. Without touching anything in the room, we went back to the front desk to request another room. The front desk manager, Alan, gave me a very hard time, saying that they had no mold, no one else has complained, and he had given us the best room available. I asked if I could see another room before switching and he refused. I was happy to accompany a manager or housekeeping- he refused. He said I could book a different room without smelling it. Since he said there was no mold, and I clearly know there was, I didn’t want to get myself into a worse situation, so we kept the same room. He treated me like I was stupid and unreasonable. I tried to air out the room, but it was so humid and hot it was necessary to keep the AC on and windows shut. At 4 am, I woke up having enough difficulty breathing that I slept the remainder of the night outside on the cement floor of the balcony. The next morning, Alan said they could possibly switch my room after an 11am meeting. So we had to wait around, and in the meantime I visited a nearby hotel, where they gladly let me smell the room I would book, and it was not moldy. After telling Alan this, he had the housekeeping manager meet me at my room- which I was staying out of at this point- and she let me smell the air in the unit next door (also moldy, as I would expect, being in the same building.) She then took me to another building and that room was much better and tolerable mold-wise. She was helpful and respectful, but I spent a miserable night, compromised my health, wasted a half-day of my vacation, and endured being marginalized before we got to that point.

The room was great and spacious and appear to have been newly refurbished. There was no kettle so we have to make tea by boiling a pan, not ideal but not a deal breaker either. The pools looked great and the kids area had a slide. This hotel is split in 2 , with a beach side and a garden side. The garden side is a 10 min walk to the beach, and is totally separate which isn’t great. There didn’t seem to be anywhere you could walk to so a car is a must if you want to go to different restaurants