Select at Casa Marina - Adults Only

Stayed on the Select: Adults only side of Casa Marina Resort. Excellent property, beautiful setting, private beach, views are phenomenal. 9.5/10. The food selection is the only reason that it's not 10/10. Definitely will return!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are a couple in there 60,s and stayed at the select just before xmas day. We were given a 2 bed room like we requested but on the 4th fl with no elevators. It did have a ocean view but the work out wasn't worth it and got moved to 1st fl halfway through the week. Besides that we really didn't have many complaints being our cheapest winter trip we paid in along time. Really enjoyed how you could just walk out and be in the middle of the town. Walk to the grocery store, watch them play baseball, or try the ambience of Jolly Rogers bar and restaurant. The food was good nothing that really stood out but a few little surprises and service was good and friendly. You did have to book reservations but once you learn the system you could do it the night before and get in any one you wanted but the one inclusive to select was easier and just as good. They had a casa side that is bigger but I would say a 3 star select side close to 4 but your paying less then $1000 a person a lot of people choose it. We like staying at the adults only side because we had pool service and better quality drinks. Would go back if the price was right. It did rain a few times mostly at night but a few times while having dinner but we brought umbrellas so we could get to and from but watch a lot of people get soaked. We left around noon and that night the resort got flooded and heard there was a lot of drycleaning going on.

This was our 11th trip to the Caribbean and each time we stay at a different resort. This time we decided to stay at the Select Casa Marina. To get to the point: Positive: - The select check in staff were wonderful. Fast and efficient - Specialty restaurants were excellent. We went to the Seafood, Italian and International ( For select guests only ) and the service and food was above expectations. - On the select side they have a sports bar, again staff was excellent - We stayed in building one and the room was great. All the amenities you would expect. Mini bar restocked every day. - Cleaning staff done an excellent job Not So Positive: - We stayed for seven days and on the select side there was no daily entertainment or activities. Of all the different resorts we have stayed we never came across this before which made time seem long at times. - Regarding entertainment they do have evening shows on the regular side but there was nothing ever posted stating times, shows, etc on the select side - The buffet was very repetitive with little choices. - Hot water in the room was nearly impossible to come by. It was either cold or just barely warm. Only once did we actually have hot water which lasted for half a day. - Even though you pay for the select ( Adult side ) be aware the select beach is NOT adults only. There are families and kids there as well. This beach is shared with another resort. - The Select side beach is not clean, cigerette butts and garbage on the sand is common. For the time we stayed we never seen the beach cleaned once. - Smoking everywhere. On the beach, in the pool, at the bars, etc. It seemed like there was no resort policy on designated smoking areas like most other resort have. - For the first three days we were there management seemed to enforce no rules what so ever. Besides smoking anywhere, the select side was supposed to be for guests who paid more for that side but there was a constant flow of people from the family side to the Adult side. It did not bother us but other guests on the adult side were not very happy and I guess must of complained to mgmt because the last 4 days they were checking arm bands to see if you were on the correct side. Overall we left Casa Marina with mixed feeling. The resort has great potential but there are to many negatives for us to potentially return in the future.

- didn’t get our room until 5pm after being told multiple times 20 more mins at 3pm - they gave us a room with 2 double beds when we paid for 1 king size. -the tv and the lights didn’t work - we complained to the front desk and their response was “ sometimes you don’t get what you expect” - they promised us a better room at 10am the next day and again we didn’t get it until 5pm which is ridiculous - our new room was finally a king size which we paid for but did not have hot water and was sometimes cleaned as late as 5pm on some days - we thought we were booking an adults only resort but only our select section was adults only as kids could go to any restaurant and entertainment - the food wasn’t great, everyday at breakfast the bacon burnt and in tiny pieces, which was disappointing - every pool on the resort is 4ft deep -the wifi would barely work in our rooms - most of the sodas were flat and their drink menu is very limited - I wish I took pictures but I honestly didn’t want to be reminded of this experience - the best part about the trip was the infinity pool that looked out into the ocean

My wife and I just returned from select at Casa Marina. It was a great week. I will start with the positives Positives The food was incredible especially at Herman’s, a close second was the Buffet. There were no shortages of anything and the choices were almost endless. We also went to both the Italian and Mexican restaurants which were both very good Rooms were very clean and the views were breathtaking. We were in building 5 with an ocean view Service was impeccable and did not rely on tipping although the staff was very appreciative when they were tipped Security was excellent at ensuring only Select Members were in the aea and did enforce this Cons Chair saving, there are limited chairs both at the pool and the beach. People were up at 4am saving chairs,and since I refuse to participate in this behaviour we had limited choices when we went out at 8 am. I knew people were saving chairs at 4am as we also had a pool view from our balcony. There was also words exchanged when people did not get their preferred spots. There was also hotel needs to do better at monitoring this behaviour Another pet peeve of mine is people not dressing accordingly in the a la crates. People would show up in beach shorts and t shirts. The least you can do is put on dress shorts or better yet long pants and a collared shirt Overall the experience at the resort was very very good and I would have ranked it 5 stars if it was not for the chair saving practices I would highly recommend this resort to anyone who is wanting a truly relaxing holiday

Returned from 14 days at the Select (adult only). Had direct flight from Saskatoon, which was nice. The room was very nice (forgot to take pictures). It had everything we needed, fridge, balcony, safe, hot water and clean towels everyday. Would have been nice to have an electronic safe instead of using a key. The resort has 3 A La Carte and 1 for just the select side. Unlimited use of the a La cartes which was nice. The El Batey (buffet) has it own area for the Select side. The staff at the resort was very friendly and helpful. I look forward to coming back. The pools were very busy and found that you needed to get up early if you wanted a chair by the pool. There were not enough sun umbrellas but a nice tree that shaded us for our stay. The beach is a little small and was closed a few days due to the high waves. There is public beach just a 15 minute walk down the road. We didn’t use it. We purchased a couple os tours from Nextours. We did the 27 Waterfalls of Damajagua and Dune Buggies. The waterfall was very nice and the waterslides nice to go down but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a 40 minute walk up a mountain, thru a valley of limestone and down 3 natural waterslides. There was also a 16 meter jump ( which I did) this took us about 15 minutes to complete and then a 40 minute walk thru a dry river bed. We were under the impression by the tour company that we would be able to swim and enjoy the water. Not worth the 2.5 hrs on a bus to get there. After the falls we went to have lunch and then dune buggies. They were fun and dirty. We also did a snorkeling trip which was nice and fun. We also did another Dune Buggy adventure ( pictures included). With this tour we stopped at a village and took in some fresh coffee and was able to purchase gifts. Our next stop was the ocean to clean off and enjoy some swimming and refreshments.