TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We stayed at Marival Distinct for 7 days in May as a family of three, including one child, and it was exactly the restful break we needed. We booked a one-bedroom swim-up suite, which was spotless, well-equipped, and very comfortable — perfect for a relaxing stay. The food across the resort was a standout. We especially loved the corn cake at the Skybar, the room service chocolate cake, the breakfasts at Mozzamare, and every meal we had at Piazzetta dei Forni. The buffet breakfast was just okay, but overall the dining was exceptional. The service was truly next-level. Every staff member we encountered was friendly, attentive, and made us feel genuinely welcome — 10/10 on that front. Ivan was especially friendly and helpful - my son and he built a fast friendship that my son will treasure as a memory forever! The pools at Distinct were clean and well-maintained, though we were a bit disappointed with the pool conditions at its sister resort, Marival Emotions, where we found them less clean and less inviting. Emotions did offer more kid-focused amenities and entertainment, but the kids' pool there was too shallow and not clean enough for our son to want to use it. The vibe at Distinct was peaceful and luxurious — perfect for families looking for a quieter, higher-end experience. Emotions, by contrast, felt more lively, budget-friendly, and geared toward activities and excitement. We liked having access to both, thanks to the convenient shuttle between them, but ultimately preferred the calm and comfort of Distinct. One thing to note: May was a very quiet month, which we enjoyed, but it did mean fewer opportunities for our child to find playmates at Distinct. When we wanted more social energy or kid-friendly action, we’d head to Emotions. All in all, I’d give Marival Distinct 5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended if you're looking for a clean, relaxing, high-service resort — just know that for more kid-centered fun, Emotions might be a better fit.

We paid a decent amount of $ to stay here for two nights with our kids all inclusive. At first, it was good. The staffs were friendly. However, when we checked out, the front desk person advised that we had to pay extra for room service because, even though it was all inclusive, we had to pay a 10% service fee (which weren’t disclosed when we checked in). Mind you we tipped every time we get any type of service. When my husband joked around and told the concierge that if we had known we would be charged for service fee, we wouldn’t have tipped, the guy responded with “well, you didn’t tip front desk.” The vibe was definitely “we don’t care since you’re checking out.” If you are thinking about booking this place, DON’T. If it’s the only option you have, go through Costco. We will not be coming back to this place again.

The staff was really helpful and friendly. Orlando from the Lemmon Grass restaurant was especially amazing and he made my sister's birthday extra extra special. He always made sure that our drinks and all of our bellies were full. Thank you!

Food was great! Chef Arturo, Emmanuel, and Ernesto gave us great service at Mozze Mari restaurant; chef made us special fried plantain for dessert, and fried fish was awesome! Weather is perfect in May also. It was breezy during day and night and not too crowded at Marival Distinct Residence.

This was our 2nd stay at the Marival Distinct (previous one in 2022). Our experience this time was disappointing, this is just not a great resort for families with young children. We have a 4 year old and a 1 year old. The issue is that Marival closed their Ommagio restaurant (the main restaurant at the hotel) for the whole week of our stay. They claimed that it was due to renovations, but we learned that Marival closes it regularly whenever they are not at full capacity. As a result, there were a number of challenges because of this. First, there was only 1 option for breakfast: the beach restaurant (or room service, but that became more of a hassle). The beach restaurant has great food, but it's a long walk from the hotel (not easy with young kids hungry in the morning, especially since the restaurants are generally slow service!). Second, when we finally got our kids dressed, sunscreened, playing at the beach, there was no food at the beach between 11am - 1pm (breakfast closes, and there isn't beachside food service until the beach restaurant reopens at 1pm). This makes it quite difficult when the young kids get hungry again after breakfast (no easy snacks or food options), and resulted in us packing up and making the long walk back to the hotel where their poolside restaurant opened. It just felt like we were missing out on the beach experience because of lack of anything to eat for our kids. Third, by the end of our week, we felt a lack of variety given there was only the 1 breakfast restaurant open, and only 2 dinner options available. Finally, we stayed at one of the demi pools rooms. In theory this is great for young kids, but we noticed they had turned off the pool heater by the 2nd day we were there (likely because they are trying to save money with fewer guests), and it made the pool quite cold for my family. Luckily, the main pool stayed warm and heated. We do love a lot about the resort, in particular the rooms are spacious, beautiful grounds, low key but elegant atmosphere, and the service is fantastic (special callout to Elian at the pool who was kind, helpful, and attentive). However, I can't recommend it to other families with young kids at this time. We will likely look elsewhere in the coming years and hopefully return when our kids are older.