Marriott's Newport Coast Villas — Hotel in Newport Beach

We are Marriott Vacation Club Titanium Elite Members. We’re also part of the Marriott Rewards program. We’ve stayed at the Newport Coast Marriott Property several times. The Newport Coast property is beautiful but what you don’t know about Marriott’s “so called insurance policies” can cost you dearly!

I’m not sure I would go back again after an incident that took place at the Newport Coast Marriott Property in June of 2019. In the early morning hours we heard an alarm going off outside our villa but couldn’t identify it because there were tall trees and shrubs obscuring our view of the parking lot where the sound seemed to be coming from. We assumed it was possibly an accidental alarm and security (or the possible owners of a car) would hear it and take care of matters. That morning, we got a knock at our door and were told that someone threw a large stone through the back window of our SUV. It turned out that someone stole a set of golf clubs worth over $6,000 from our vehicle. The thieves apparently tried to steal a second set of clubs in our SUV but were unsuccessful. Turns out that at least five other cars were broken into the same morning and had their valuables stolen too. Things like laptop computers, beach kites, diving gear, personal items of value, etc… were stolen as part of this smash and grab event.

We reported the theft to Marriott Head of Security but were told that they didn’t have sufficient cameras on the premises to catch the license plate of the perpetrators either coming in or leaving the premises. He also told us they didn’t have any security in our area at the time the theft took place. No one from Marriott Security heard the shrieking sound of car alarms evidently. 😳🤷🏻

When we asked how to file a theft claim we were told that Marriott had a “no fault insurance policy” and couldn’t do anything for us. In disbelief, I asked what the policy would be if someone broke into our villa and stole the exact set of clubs? The Head of Security told us they don’t cover theft in your villa either. I was dumbfounded! How can a multi-billion dollar corporation not carry reasonable liability insurance to protect their vacation club owners/guests while staying on their property? Unbelievable!

Our guest eventually had to replace his clubs at a cost of nearly $6,000 once he got home. We also got a bill for over $700 from our rental car company for the damage caused by the rock thrown through our back window.

Car Rental Companies have you sign a disclaimer if you decline additional coverage on their vehicle. Marriott doesn’t tell anyone that they don’t have insurance to cover theft on their vacation club property. How can anyone feel safe with Marriott Vacation Club if they don’t carry insurance that protects their patron’s valuables?

This is a black eye on Marriott Vacation Club. Beware of the potential for theft when staying at one of their properties. I wonder what kind of insurance they carry if you should get hurt or have an accident on one of their properties? Do they even have medical insurance or liability insurance to cover an accident on their premises?

Marriott needs to increase their surveillance systems, provide security for early morning hours, and carry some form of liability/theft insurance that protects their member’s belongings while on their complex! Consider this Marriott Member disgruntled!!!

8/13/19: As follow up to my review sent 6/12/19, Marriott read my review and an agent from Marriott contacted me via email to ensure that they would do a deeper investigation. They also assigned me a case number. They apologized for the mishap and hoped it would not prevent me from using a Marriott property in the future. But I’ve heard nothing from Marriott in the form of any kind of response to their investigation on this matter since my compliant. This makes me think it was all lip service. I’m still waiting to hear back from the Marriott team! In the meantime nothing but...

So far not feeling an overwhelming sense of welcome for a four star accommodation. We have traveled extensively and never had such a long wait to check-in/get access to room. What a waste of an afternoon. Need a better system for housekeeping staff to communicate when rooms are ready. Don’t bother showing up before 4pm to check in as they will not accommodate you. Don’t even bother giving the poor bellhop your bags, it will take hours for them to get you them if everyone’s rooms are ready at the exact same time.

Updated 7pm checkin date:

Received a text at 3:58 PM that our room number was ready. Upon showing up at the room using our room key to enter we find housekeeping supplies remaining in the room, floors still need to be cleaned, water all over the bathroom floor & beds still needing to be made. Unbelievable. Called the front desk and they offered to move us to the room next-door that “was ready for check-in”. I informed them housekeeping was still in that room cleaning. We spoke with the crew of housekeepers about five of them and they apologized and got our originally assigned room prepared while we stood there. I communicated what was happening to the individual I was speaking on the phone with at the front desk. They had management get involved and offer us a resort credit for the inconvenience.

Fast forward 3 hours we return from getting groceries and provisions for our weeklong stay to see a new name on our TV screen. I called the front desk to figure out the miscommunication and at the same time the new guests trying to occupy this room came with room keys that worked opening our door. Needless to say we were both surprised and on the phone with the front desk.

My communication with management I was told he was going to “have to get security involved.” Seems like an awfully strange way to apologize or correct the situation. All of our items have already been unpacked, groceries stored away, dinner in the oven and management is going get security involved, to what kick us out of our room we were checked into?! Unbelievable this is just the first four hours of day one, completely unacceptable for a four-star “resort”

Updated after check out:

A five star ZIP Code with two star service. Three star hotels provide better guest services to enjoy your vacation than this “Vacation Club”

Cons •No poolside waiters •Long wait at bar •Housekeeping didn’t come til day 4, towel change - you take your trash out & wash your own towels (no verbal or printed communication about any of this. Which leads to trash & odor in corridors. •1 dishwasher tab for a weeks stay, no laundry detergent provided •Wi-Fi is a joke if you are trying to connect for any purpose at 0.51mbps & we even had a booster in master closet •No pet property but everyone had a dog, never seen so many pets at a no pet property •Smoking policy not enforced, marajuana & cigarette smoke from our balcony & bedroom the entire stay (neighbors & other guests in BBQ area, not a designated smoking area on resort map but has a cigarette receptacle). •Pool Towel exchange in pool area would be a welcomed addition •Walls pretty thin if you have an interior unit with shared walls •threadbare blankets

Pro •Spacious villas •Close proximity to every So Cal sight you could want to visit •Verizon speeds were excellent at 70+mbps Views •Efficient & timely shuttle to Crystal Cove & Fashion Island •No resort fees •No parking fees •Beautiful views (1900 building) •Quiet & nature sounds with windows opened at night •Beautiful pool area & spa was perfectly headed at 104° •Beds & pillow options provided...

I am sad to say, this is our first negative Marriott Vacation club experience. And we have been staying at MVC properties for over 20 years (as well as all brands of Marriott hotels). From start to finish, staying at this resort was nothing but work. Check-in was about 20 customers deep at the front desk and there was no close parking to be found. The resort is undergoing villa renovations, but we drew the short straw apparently and got placed in an old villa on the bottom floor of building 1800. There is no elevator in this building so we had to hunt down a luggage cart and schlep over to building 1700 for the elevator and meander our way over to our room in the 1800 building. Housekeeping at this resort is abysmal. Our room was missing a broom and had a broken sweeper vac. I made two requests to the front desk to have those items brought to our room, but to no avail. The shower glass in the main bedroom had a thick coating of hard water stains and the washing machine reeked of mildew. It’s almost as if housekeeping just gave up on this section of the property. The trash in the common area was almost always full as was the trash room (which is upstairs and you’re expected to haul your trash up two flights of stairs to dispose of it). This is even after I alerted the front desk that the trash was full. All the property amenities were a hike from our room. From the fire pit/sports park to the main Catalina and children’s pool. It’s a good thing we are physically fit or else we wouldn’t be able to navigate the property very well. Most of the maintenance staff we observed during our 5 day stay were just driving their utility carts around the property and standing around chit chatting with co-workers. The management here isn’t really on top of things. If I was an owner paying the annual maintenance fees, I would have been livid about the condition of the villa and poorly maintained common areas of the property. The icing on the cake is that our room faced PCH and the ocean, but the view was obstructed by MASSIVE overgrown trees that attracted some sort of gnats that were constantly flying around our room. Finally, the parking situation sucks. I feel sorry for the people staying here during the summer when the resort is at peak capacity. You’re given only one space in front of the villa. And a second pass is issued for a space located on the perimeter (aka curb parking) or in the parking structure located near the registration facility. For us, this was about 1/4th of a mile away. Unacceptable not to offer some sort of valet service for that setup. So if you plan to go anywhere in the evening, it’s probably best you Uber or else you might be out of luck finding parking when you get back. Suffice to say, we...