The villas by Marriott Vacation Club at Doral, Miami, Florida is located 30 minutes away from Miami South Beach and just 15 minutes from the airport.
This is currently a 3* resort offering 5* rooms and value for money…
These villas offers a relaxing resort feel atmosphere away from the madness of Miami central.
A major drawback in 2018 is the HUGE development opposite the lake which causes a tremendous amount of noise & disruption from early morning and throughout the day.
For this reason I cannot return to Marriott Doral until all construction is completed.
Enjoy our Exclusive HD Video room & property walk-through via YouTube:
Each perfectly designed villa has two bedrooms, which is rare in Miami.
The rooms were totally renovated, newly decorated and given new furniture in 2016. They’ve never looked better!
Situated next to Trump Doral you have access to 5 restaurants as well as a world class spa and endless golf courses.
There is free secure parking, Wifi, a pool, hot tub and gym.
Just 15 minutes from Miami Airport (a ludicrously disorganised, overwhelming, enormous and atrocity where you seemingly walk for days) these villas offer 4*+ facilities, atmosphere and hospitality.
Doral is not a vacation town and has much more of a City feel than a resort. You benefit from local restaurants and much cheaper supermarkets & amenities.
Marriott Villas Doral offer affordable luxury within driving distance of all major attractions from Miami Zoo to South Beach….but you will need a rental car!
The pool is beautifully clean, large and overlooks their huge lake.
There is also a lovely heated Jacuzzi which is a great way to relax.
There are a couple of significant drawbacks to this property;
A slight surprise (Jan 2016) is that the sun unfortunately leaves the pool area around 3.30pm making sunbathing impossible. Maybe this changes throughout the year but is an unthinkable mistake if this is the case all year?
However, you have full access to Trump next door (5 minute walk) – more on the 5* Trump next.
Here’s Trump International Doral:
Also, some of the villas vary in quality. We specifically requested a renovated room on the ground floor. It’s fabulous. We were previously offered a less desirable and slightly shabby room.
Some people do not like the roar of the planes landing at MIA….it didn’t bother me at all but I can appreciate it is not to everyone’s taste being on ‘final approach’ to an international airport.
At night you can walk the grounds, use the pool until 11pm and have dinner next door at Trump with a 10% discount of food for Marriott Doral residents.
Finally, traffic is hideous in Miami – not Marriott’s fault of cause but you are a long distance away – be prepared for LONG cues when you cross town to the beach. At least an hour at rush hour.
Be aware tolls are added to all rentals – there’s a lot of them!
Nevertheless, this is a high end property with wonderfully equip rooms offering everything you will possibly need for an extended, indulgent, home-from-home stay.
Bedrooms are fitted to an incredibly high standard with plasma TV’s (3 in villa), enormous hot tub and endless towels which is refreshing.
Cleanliness is only to be admired here. Your room is cleaned daily.
There is plenty of room for storage and coat hangers/wardrobes in both rooms.
The curtains offer a total blackout in the bedrooms and lounge should you require it.
There’s a sofa bed if you need it so you could easily accommodate 6 in this villa.
The gym at Marriott Doral has a fabulous view:
This property also has nice touches like a stack of DVD’s that can be borrowed from reception.
There’s the Deco Bar & Grill offering incredibly reasonably priced appetizers, salads, sandwiches and wraps either in the bar or as room service.
There is a comprehensive programme of activities if you like that sort of thing. I simply love to enjoy the 80 degree sunshine.
There is of course a fully equip gym should you require it & customer service is impeccable.
What I love about Marriott Vacation Club is that they’re not ‘cheap’.
You don’t have to beg for towels – the bathroom is full of them.
The kitchen towel, soap powder, coffee & bathroom soap & shampoo etc is replaced when needed.
You won’t need to lift a finger as there’s a dish washer in every villa and a washing machine and dryer for clothes cutting down on luggage.
This is where the investment in these 4/5* villas pays off.
The grounds are relatively small but beautifully kept.
If you like walking however, you are offered access to the Trump Resort within 2 minutes of Marriott – this is ENORMOUS and so beautiful.
Transport to Trump is provided for the incredibly lazy. His pools are literally stunning and the service remarkable. Unquestionably a league higher than Marriott but his prices do reflect that!
This enormous property & conference centre has a massive 4 golf courses and remarkable grounds. There’s also a world class spa.
You can also take advantage of the 10% discount at their restaurants including BLT Prime which is wonderful value and really top quality.
Marriott Doral does offer snack bar by the pool. The pool is open until 11pm.
I wouldn’t honestly say this is a kids resort, it is too high end and filled with people as such, however, there’s a small beach and kids do have the pool and other activities to occupy them.
There is a small shop in the loby offering bread, milk, drinks & chocolate etc.
So here’s what you’ll find in the enormous and immaculate rooms:
•1325sqft/119sqm
•Air-conditioned
•This room is non-smoking
•Connecting rooms are not available
•Outdoor spaces: balcony (1)
•Living/sitting area
•Dining area
•Dining room is separated
•Living room is separated
•Living area is separated from bed by privacy wall
•Windows may be opened
•Windows, soundproof
•Total outdoor space: 200sqft/18sqm
The kitchen at Marriott Doral Villas have EVERYTHING – you can literally cook a 3 course dinner should you wish.
Disabled Accessible Room Feature:
•This room type offers mobility accessible rooms
•This room type offers accessible rooms with roll in showers
•This room type offers hearing accessible rooms with visual alarms and visual notification devices for door and phone.
You’ll love your room at Doral Villas by Marriott Vacation Club – just a slight disadvantage about the sun by the pool & distance from the beach.
Because of this 4* overall, other than above the villas are 5*.
Recorded by Alex Belfield for Celebrity Radio 7th Jan 2016.
Leave a Reply