WorldMark Marina Dunes — Hotel in Marina

We were fortunate to snag three nights (Sun-Wed) at the Marina Dunes Resort. It was easy to find, and was a 3 hour drive (incl. stop for gas/rr break) from Sacramento. A couple of important things to know:||||1. The entrance to the resort is marked as the "Sanctuary" Resort. There is only one sign on the property, as well as marked parking spaces, that state "Worldmark" ||||2. There is no dedicated check-in desk for Worldmark. There is a nice check in reception area for the Sanctuary. I highly suggest that Worldmark place a number to dial to let the Worldmark staff know you are there to check in. The Sanctuary staff should be instructed to ask each guest if they are checking in for Sanctuary or Worldmark. The clerk looked high and low for my reservation before he realized to ask me. He then had to call for the Worldmark clerk to come out of a back office and check me in. ||||3. The pool towels are hidden under the bathroom sinks! We looked everywhere but there, and had to ask for towels to be brought to our room. They were not in our bedroom closets or in the hall closets. I only discovered them later under the bathroom sink when I needed to change the toilet paper. It wasn't even listed on the check-in list where they are kept. The clerk just said, "pool towels are in your room". I guess that was true, but they could have been in the kitchen or under the beds for all I knew.||||The place is really nice. We were assigned a really nice unit with a beach view - Room 321, and right downstairs was the entrance to the gorgeous pool and huge hot tub. It was cooler weather during our stay, and the wind had picked up, so we didn't spend anytime sitting at the beach, but we did walk down there. It was too windy and cold. ||||The living room sofa and chairs are more decorative then comfortable, like furniture used to stage an open house. The beds were quite comfortable. It was nice to have a big screen TV, although we did need to call someone to help us use the remote control which was not user friendly. The bathrooms were spacious and very clean. TV's in each of the bedrooms. ||||Important! There are no elevators; however, the stairs are manageable if you are even in moderate shape. ||||There is an evening bonfire at the beach with more than enough chairs, but again, it was too cold and windy to enjoy it during our stay. ||||It was convenient to have a number to text if you needed information or assistance, which we used twice. The response was immediate. ||||Shout out to Worldmark's Andrea Arroyo for her outstanding service to us.||||We did not experience any noisy neighbors...

Have been a Worldmark owner since 2002, this is the worst front desk service I have ever received. Couldn't help but notice the disparity in service provided to me versus the the two parties who checked into the hotel portion before me. Agent seemed very disinterested in helping me, I was lucky to have gotten directions to my room, and nothing else. I overheard her telling the previous guests that there was a restaurant on the premises and that reservations were recommended, which I managed to do on Open Table. When I went back later that evening to ask for a parking pass for our guest whom I told her was joining us later, she handed me the pass and told me to do her a favor and for me to copy the information off of my pass. ||A couple of days later I went back to the front desk and spoke to a gentleman named David who was very helpful, professional, and pleasant. He informed me that there was a fire pit that the facility lit for guests to keep warm; Friday night jazz, happy hour, brunch, etc., none of which were disclosed to me, nor were they provided on some type of sheet for me to read.||Furthermore, due to the location of our room, we have been sleep deprived being jolted awake out of our deep sleep with boisterous conversations, yelling, and laughter coming from the parking lot, as well as the walkway which appears to be the artery that connects guests to the other buildings; all of which have been happening past 11:30 p.m. Not to mention the thuds coming from upstairs of people walking back and forth in their room; the shower being used, etc. ||We will never return, wish we had used our credits for other locations. Worldmark has so many fun and classy locations all over, and this is definitely not it. Don't let the scarcity of getting in here make you think you are missing out as a WM...

This is in reference to the WorldMark portion of the resort - not the hotel.

We had a 2-bedroom suite with kitchen. The unit had gas-powered heat but no AC - fortunately, the weather was cool and we didn't require it, but I imagine during the height of the summer it might be difficult to cool down.

Overall layout is somewhat cramped - because of the Murphy bed in the living/dining area, there's very little room for eating and it was difficult to serve diners sitting there.

Unlike the last time we were here, back in the 1990s, we had no view.

The best bits were:

1. kitchen has a gas stove and oven (we have a gas range at my home also) - it is much easier to cook on gas, at least for us

2. we were immediately adjacent to the pool. This made swimming very accessible and we used the pool and hot tub the entire time.

3. the Marina Dunes State Park is adjacent to the property, which has a private entrance to the beach next to the park. We took advantage of this for beach walking which was brilliant.

4. the on-site restaurant (Salt Wood Kitchen and Oysterette) is very good; we dined there and, thanks to staying at the resort, were treated to a complimentary glass of wine with the meal.

5. the location in general is great:

Costco is nearby, as are several groceries including an Asian grocery so we were able to get all the food we needed.

Monterrey is a short drive away; we were able to tour the area, visit the Aquarium, and have a great seafood meal.

Obviously, the State Park.

Anyway, the stay was great and if one is a WorldMark member, it's well worth the points needed...