Faro Blanco Resort Marathon Florida Keys, Curio by Hilton Reviews

I still can't believe how perfect my wedding day was. Not only is the venue absolutely stunning, but Kristy & the staff are out of this world. My guests are still raving about how fun & perfect my wedding was. I can't say enough good things about Kristy and my experience. Her communication was 10/10. Anything I could possibly stress about, she had an answer and solution. She is VERY organized and has everything down to a science. She goes above and beyond for her brides & makes them feel so special. I kept telling myself "expect at least one thing to go wrong on wedding day" & let me tell you, everything went completely smooth. No hiccups or anything. What else can I bride hope for, right?! I can't say enough good things about this venue. If you don't get married here, you're missing out!

If you are contemplating having your wedding at the Courtyard Marathon, let me tell you stop debating and act now. The whole planning process was so easy! Most of the vendors are included in the package so you only need to choose your details and upgrades.
We had the absolute best time; the staff is phenomenal, the food was great, and the DJ kept the vibe fun. Our guests are still talking about what a wonderful experience it was. I have no idea how anyone gets married without a wedding coordinator. Kristy and her team will make your day a breeze and keep everything running like clockwork. She saved me when I was a disorganized, scatter-brained mess. Run, don’t walk, to book your wedding at the Courtyard Marathon. You won’t regret it.
Hot tip: Sign up for their emails, they routinely send out special offers and deals.

We had our wedding here and stayed for the week!! Everyone here was amazing!! Our wedding was perfect better than we could have imagined!! The hotel is clean and the rooms are huge! All our guests had the best time!! The beach was the perfect place to get married!! Food was amazing too!! Kristy our wedding planner was amazing. She was completely on it and made the day go so smoothly! She made the day completely stress free!! The DJ was amazing also. The whole night was perfect! The only thing I would change is I would have made the reception longer!! Our guests were all so impressed with everything!! Thank you to everyone there!! We will be going back just to vacation!!!

I cannot stop thinking about how perfect our wedding day was! My guests are still raving about everything from the scenery to the food to the service and so on. I was unable to visit beforehand, and totally left everything up to Kristy and Linda. I couldn’t be happier with the experience I’ve had from start to finish when it came to planning this wedding. Kristy was unbelievable…I am very impressed with her and so were my guests! Thank you SO much for all of the time and effort that was put into my wedding. I would give them more stars if I could!

Sara

We were married at the Courtyard Marathon on 11/21/21 and could not have asked for a more amazing day. From the views, the service, the food and the music. Everything was perfect. Our guests had an amazing time and we can’t wait to go back again. Thank you to Kristy and the team for making our day so magical.

The whole experience planning this wedding was a breeze. Kristy has everything down to a science. This wedding went better then expected and I cannot believe how helpful and nice everyone was! We had about 45 guests and they have not stopped talking about the weekend we had there, and they especially can’t stop talking about how wonderful chad the bartender was! I’m so glad we choose this venue and would do it 100 times over again

We had the most beautiful wedding at the Courtyard in Marathon. We loved the fact that we had our own private beach for the entire ceremony until the end of the wedding reception. Kristy is amazing. And helped us plan our wedding from beginning to end. Being out of state was a bit of a challenge but Kristy made it easy for us and she made our day exactly how we imagined it. The staff at the Courtyard Marathon is amazing. All our guests felt welcomed. The rooms are so clean and a pretty good size. Our bartender, Chad, was great with making all our guests feel welcome. Our guests are still talking about what an amazing, fun time they had. We highly recommend this venue for a beach wedding. The sunsets are amazing. It was our dream wedding day.

I am a type A bride who tried to plan a Serbian and American wedding from Illinois. I wanted a fairly easy wedding planning experience as I am a teacher (in COVID year), in grad school, and a coach. Time is not something I have a lot of! I didn't have to do much in terms of finding vendors, and most of the decisions happen in the last 3 months. The biggest help came the days leading up to the ceremony. I'm not sure how I would have handled things without Kristy there to manage it all. Kristy was very flexible with me and rolled with the flow, which is not something I'm great at doing. I could not dream of having my wedding anywhere else. It ended up being a 3 day wedding, with our guests coming down on Friday, rehearsal dinner on Saturday, and wedding on Sunday. We had a welcome dinner after the rehearsal and the food was delicious. We had tacos for the welcome dinner and an open bar for the dinner.

The day of the wedding was more fun than I could have imagined. It was 103 out, which was probably what we worried most about when we decided to have an August wedding in the Keys. Just make sure the guys wear white and it won't be noticeable... lol!

Dan did a great job coordinating Serbian and American music alike, Kristy made everything flow, and Chad made great drinks. I honestly couldn't imagine it being more fun than it was. The three days made it a wedding experience. instead of a wedding day. :) The 10pm end time worried me a little but the resort and bartender Nick gave us an easy transition to an afterparty at the resort pool bar. We stayed there for a couple of hours afterward and had more fun with Nick's bluetooth speaker! Everyone wants you to have the best experience possible.

We used BellaLuxe for hair/makeup, Sweet Savannah's for gluten free cake (the resort also accommodated this for the food) and Publix for other deserts, and Stephany Barboza for photography. Everything else was included in the package. Feel free to message me with questions! I love this resort and I love my wedding experience. My "small" 53 people destination wedding was more perfect than I could have imagined. It was so beautiful, so fun, and so memorable.

P.S. I found them and booked them through here. :)

Kristy and her team were awesome to work with! They were prompt, organized, and knowledgeable. Our wedding day was stress free and a day we will truly never forget. We couldn't have asked for a better experience.

I really can't say enough things about the Wedding Coordination team at the Courtyard Marriott in Marathon, Florida. From the moment I met with Kristy in December of 2020, through all the planning with her and Linda, to the day of the wedding. These ladies are on top of their game and no matter how many questions they ask they are so happy and helpful to answer. Even when I asked the same questions twice because I forgot, they are there to help you. Everything went so smooth, I was able to relax and enjoy the entire process. I cant thank them enough for all they did. One of my guest were so impressed they are talking about contacting them for their vow renewal in the next 2 years. This team, including the staff has just been impressive. The wait staff was there all day/night and always had a smile on their face! THANK YOU!!!

Everything about the Courtyard Marriott was absolutely perfect! From the venue itself, to the set up and the best wedding planner ever (thank you Kristy!) myself, my new husband and our guests could not believe how incredible our weekend was. We could not have had an easier wedding day and are so happy we chose the Marriott!

I can’t even begin to describe how amazing our wedding weekend was at the Courtyard by Marriott Marathon Florida Keys! The staff was beyond amazing and our guests had an wonderful time. Kristy and her team made sure all of our wedding weekend activities were perfect.
If you have the chance to stay or have an event here I would highly recommend!!

I know that every bride thinks her wedding day is perfect, but with the help of Kristy and her team, my husband and I had a better wedding day than we could even imagine. After COVID-19 canceled our original wedding (planned for over 8 months) just 1 month before the day we wanted to get married. We met with Kristy and she instantly became way more then just an employee at our venue. She became a full on advisor, wedding planner, friend, and even sang a special song during our reception for us. I definitely recommend the Courtyard by Marriott and their entire team for any event! Great team who made our day better then we thought possible.

Kristy was fantastic in helping my husband and I coordinate our wedding. She was extremely responsive throughout the entire planning stage all the way up until our ceremony and reception. She suggested wonderful vendors. The staff on site was amazing to work with and helpEd make our day perfect. . This venue is fantastic. We couldn’t have been more pleased with our Wedding and our entire stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Marathon Fl. This was absolutely the best day ever! Our guest still rave of how perfect everything was!

What can I say about experience? I’ve never had anything go so flawless! I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Everyone was exceptional! The way we were treated, the food, the service, the responsiveness to our questions. Everything was handled from start to finish with such deep care for us, that we felt like we were the only ones there! I could not have done this so gracefully without Them. Especially Kristy Harvey. We thank you for all you did!

-Heidi & Aaron Kommuck.
November 3rd 2019

Everyone at the Courtyard by Marriot was more than amazing to us. Planning a wedding from Minnesota is hard but they made it very easy. From the planning to the food I was more than I could have expected. We had very loud and rowdy wedding party and everyone was more than awesome to us. The hotel pool and beach is also beautiful! I would hands down reccomend this place to any future bride!

Rooms very clean, food excellent, very accommodated

As a South Florida Wedding Planner, I have planned years worth of events and I barely ever get a venue as amazing as the team at The Marriott Courtyard in Marathon. The staff, Kristy, Linda and Paul (the chef) were absolutely amazing and truly handled everything from beginning to end. It was my sister-in-laws wedding and trying to be a planner and a guest is not easy but the whole team helped so much that I got to enjoy the day to the fullest, as did the bride and groom.

The hotel was clean, recently done so it looks great and the whole family had such a great experience. After weeks, they are all talking about it! We planned the wedding in 6 weeks and it looks like we had planned it for months. They are super flexible and accommodating, not to mention they answered every email and question quickly.

I truly could not have asked for anything more and have added them to my venue list as a top spot in The Keys for all my future couples!

Thank you everyone!
Jessyca Canal - Events by Jess

I can't say enough about the wonderful staff and service. We knew we wanted our wedding in the keys and went down for a week to find a place. Every place we went we were told the person wasn't available or they would call is back for an appointment and we are still waiting. We stopped in at the Marriott and again the person wasn't available, however the front desk staff quickly not only grabbed us some brochures but instead of telling us to "show ourselves around" like everyone else, they got Danielle who was more than happy to show us around the property and give us ideas of what our day would look like. We knew that this was the place for us, between the beautiful sunset, spectacular grounds and phenomenal customer service we knew our guests would enjoy their time and our day would be perfect. We were so happy we chose this venue, our day was perfect! Kristy and Linda took care of everything and kept an eye on the weather, we were supposed to have rain and wind and they ordered roll up sides for my tent and left the chairs out for the ceremony because I was determined it wouldn't rain, and luckily I was right, but they told me they would do whatever I wanted, even if it meant doing everything outside in the rain. The food was delicious and we did the cheeseburger luau the night before as a welcome dinner. Everyone at the wedding said it was the best wedding they had ever been to and most beautiful. I also have to say it was the most stress free gathering I have ever put together and I was planning from New England. The guests also commented on the wonderful accommodations and how they didn't need to leave the hotel to find stuff to do and how nice and accommodating all the staff were. Danielle, Kristy, Linda and Paul made our wedding week the best time of our lives and we are so greatful for everything they did for us and our guests. Sidney and Yani at the bar were also a big hit!

We were planning a wedding from Chicago in Marathon. The Courtyard staff was so helpful and responsive to our inquiries and requests. The venue is gorgeous - ceremony and reception right on the beach. It was totally private from the rest of the resort as well. The service and food was exceptional. Everyone working the wedding was so nice and friendly. They really went above and beyond our expectations. All of our guests said it was the best wedding they've been to!

Nothing could compete with the value of this venue anywhere in the Keys! If you are doing a destination wedding - this is your spot!

The staff at Courtyard Marriott Marathon made our wedding perfect. It was a fairy tale. They handled all the details and made coordinating super easy from North Carolina. Highly recommend!

We are so pleased we chose the Courtyard Marriott for our 30th Wedding Anniversary Vow Renewal earlier this year! It was a huge concern for us (over in the UK) trusting people and places overseas that we hadn't met/visited and didn't know, so we were extremely anxious preparing everything in advance, but once we were in situ, it just felt perfect, and we are so glad we were able to celebrate there! We really appreciated that Jill and Isabel bent over backwards for us - from the speakers and candles on table, to helping with the walk out and keeping everything on track was so helpful, and we were hugely grateful! If there was one thing we would have changed, it would have been the chairs on the beach for the five of us - they were more 'conference' style navy than the white seats we assumed we had hired, which would have been better for the photos, however, everything else was perfect. Thank you again!

When I first started planning my wedding I knew I wanted to be near the beach. I knew I wanted to be as stress free as possible. And that I wanted to really soak in my special day. From day one when I reached out to Jill, she provided me with all the information needed and answered all my questions in a timely manner. She gave me numbers she gave me options, not like the other consultants that first try to lure you in without providing details. She was transparent. She was incredibly helpful. Jill and Isabel were outstanding. They were timely, they were transparent, they paid attention to the details. And I was able to be stress free. The scenery was beautiful, the food was amazing, everything went by so great because of all their hard work. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Jill and Isabel- for making sure my Best Day Ever- was everything I wanted it to be and more!!

Jill and Isabel did a wonderful job at our wedding!

The Courtyard by Marriott in Marathon was a great location for our destination wedding. We were planning our wedding from Denmark, sight unseen, which was a scary thing. Jill was very quick to respond to all my questions when we were picking a venue as well as during the planning process, making us feel very comfortable with the decisions we were making. From arrival, all of the staff was very friendly and helpful, making sure we had everything we needed. The beach ceremony and reception was incredibly pretty and well done with very little stress on our part! We chose to have our ceremony around sunset, and the lighting was perfect. It was a great value as the setup included the ceremony chairs, reception tables with linens and place settings, tables for cake and guest book, and pretty string lights.The food also was amazing- guests were raving about the tostado appetizers! I highly recommend the Courtyard in Marathon for a lower stress destination wedding!

Jill was absolutely incredible! She did everything she could to make sure my wedding was nothing but perfect. She was accommodating, went out of her way to ensure my bridal party was next door to my suite, kept checking on my husband during our wedding day and kept things on track and on time. Couldn't have went more smoothly without Jill's help.

My fiancé + I wanted an intimate, outdoor wedding venue with water views for our party of 30. We browsed through many hotels, rental villas, party boats, etc. We are so HAPPY we chose the Courtyard Marathon!

We were immediately impressed with Jill Campbell and her responsiveness. Jill was quick to respond to our emails and had an answer to all of our MANY questions. We gave her a rough number of guests and what we envisioned for our wedding. She provided us with a couple of budget scenarios, catering menus with pricing, bar options, etc. Even up until the wedding day as I walked down the "aisle", I always felt reassured. Jill and team are true pros and had everything under control.

The venue is truly as a beautiful as the pictures. We had our wedding, reception, and dancing in the sandy area at the back of the hotel. With the palm trees and string lights, pretty blue skies, clear blue water, and a lighthouse as a backdrop, we didn’t need anything else. It was a picture perfect evening!

Our wedding day turned out to be a really warm day so the hotel placed some fans on the seats. It went with our beach theme + functional, too! The hotel added a cute reception sign onto one of the palm trees which was such a nice surprise. Jill suggested a timeline to perfectly coincide with the sunset so the photos and the evening were just magical. I never would have thought of that!

BONUS: Although this has nothing to do with the hotel, the county courthouse is just minutes away from the hotel (less than 5 miles). It was quick and easy; No waiting period for a marriage license. Just fill out some forms and you’re ready to get married!

I planed my wedding at Courtyard Marathon and I can not say enough wonderful things about the Courtyard Marathon. I use to be an event planner in my past career at banquet halls/hotel venues and planned weddings all the time. One of the main factors to selecting my venue was the person at the venue I would be working with. You put a lot of trust in the person at your venue to ensure everything goes well. Jill and Isabel at the Courtyard are the reason why I selected the Courtyard. The staff goes above and beyond to ensure your wedding is perfection. The wedding location is absolutely breathtaking and perfect for larger destination weddings (close to 100 people at mine). Choosing the courtyard was the best decisions I could have ever made.

From start to finish the team at the Marriott was accommodating, accessible and knowledgable. The entire process felt effortless as Jill was familiar with all of our vendors. Her and her wonderful staff was there for us every step of the way. We planned our wedding in under a month and no task was too big for them. Our guests couldn't stop commenting how they wanted to get married in the same spot. On our wedding day we didn't have to think about a thing. It was all taken care of. My husband and I highly recommend the property.

I got married at the Courtyard Marathon on July 9th and the day was PERFECT!!! Jill helped me every single step of the way from the very first email up until the day of the wedding. As stressful as the planning process could be, Jill was the only one I could count on throughout the process to make sure everything worked out perfectly. She was extremely helpful, offered several recommendations for vendors throughout the process, and offered suggestions for changes in the ceremony and reception to make the day even better(and she was right!). The hotel and location cannot be beat and all of our guests thoroughly enjoyed their stay at the hotel as well as the wedding. Our dinner was buffet style so guests were able to choose from several different foods and everyone said the food was outstanding. I am so glad I chose this location for our wedding and we cannot wait to go back!!!!

This venue with literally perfect. The hotel is amazing.My husband and I got married there yesterday and our guest cant stop raving about it . The service is above and beyond and the food amazing. It is so kid friendly, yet romantic. we had a total of 95 guests, and almost all our guests stayed at the hotel for a couple days and made it a vacarion. Everyone loved it. I really can't say enough about this place, and Jill is so easy to work with!

If you are looking for a destination wedding, look no further than the Courtyard Marriott in Marathon! Jill Campbell will assist you in everything that you need to get the planning started for your special day! There are many local experts available who will make a stunning ceremony and reception come your big day! The food at the Courtyard is to DIE for! Our guests chose between chicken over pasta and steak. Both options were delicious along with the scrumptious appetizers during cocktail hour. I felt so at ease of everything getting set up and ready on time. The view is amazing and if you are as lucky as we were, you might even get to see the dolphins on your special day!

This venue was beautiful! When I booked, I had the option to choose a ceremony at the Courtyard Marriott and then a reception at the Faro Blanco. I don’t believe they do the packaging anymore so I’m unsure how it will be price wise from here on out, however, I can say that the view is absolutely stunning. The private beach is such a great ceremony site. Very intimate, gives a beachy but elegant vibe, and easily accessible for guest. My 93y/o grandfather was able to get around via wheelchair (and someone pushing him) very easily. They were super accommodating to the elderly. I loved the long aisle walk to the arc for an extra moment with my father.
The reception site was a short little walk away from the ceremony site but was also beautiful. I wish it were just a little more private, as it’s right outside the Faro Blanco Restaurant and very openly visible to the public. They did, however, a great job of separating the event from the restaurant and making it feel very secluded. The food was good. The skirt steak, the veggies and the rice were amazing. The chicken was a little dry but that’s chicken at a buffet. Chef Hamilton was absolutely amazing and extremely accommodating with all requests.
If you’re looking at this venue I’d mostly recommend reaching out to Kristy Harvey from Best Day Ever Wedding Planning to assist with your special day. I believe everything ran beautifully and smoothly in large parts to her efforts.

This venue was beautiful, but smaller than I would have expected. There’s many different areas to have private access to, but only for x number of hours and you’re still close enough to other not private areas to hear other groups. The venue was completely at capacity for my brides wedding, which made for a very different situation than what was originally promised. Guests had to wait significantly longer to check in, items at the bar ran out, guests weren’t given their welcome packages, elevator services kept breaking down, and other essential services were bogged down - including cleaning. The staff did their best to handle the situation and responded (for the most part) as timely as could be expected given the circumstances. With the exception of one front desk employee. When guests were checking in, the hotel was putting holds on debit/credit cards for billing, as to be expected, but they do so in a way that can cause multiples of the same charge to go through on your card (depending on your individual bank) which caused issues for multiple guests at the wedding. The employee helping at the time did not handle or explain this correctly, and throughout the rest of the stay refused to speak to, acknowledge, or be anything but rude to much of the wedding party. Totally get that tensions were high, but no one in the party was overly dramatic or rude to them, so it stuck out as an issue for the rest of the stay. Billing in general seemed to be problematic, guests were double charged for parking (even if they didn’t have a car parked there) and other misc. issues arose at the end of most guest’s stay. The rooms were nice and fairly large, overall only a couple issues with cleaning or getting fresh towels - which given the full capacity situation was reasonable. With the number of guests in the party too, some issues were bound to happen so all in all what did happen was reasonable. The wedding coordinator was generally very professional. In my opinion however, where the professionalism lacked was scheduling so many weddings (5 within the same week I believe) in such succession while promising an unrealistic level of quality at that volume of business. When it came to game time though, she was right there and had everything on time and flowing as planned. Our bartender for the wedding was so much fun, we had plenty of drinks and no issues with running out of anything. The food from the venue was so good, not a single issue and very few unfinished plates. The couple did the s’more cart for dessert which was super fun for everyone. The coordinator made sure the bride & groom got to have some time to themselves right after the ceremony which was very important for them. She also managed to work in some last minute changes and requests which was greatly appreciated. The views, beach, pools, food, and drinks at the venue were all just truly amazing. You can’t go in the ocean at the venue, the beach areas are cut off at a retaining wall or just turn into very rocky peaks, but with the pools it’s not a big deal. Other beaches in marathon and along the ocean highway are very accessible by car and offer great beach swimming. We even had a cook out at one beach which worked out very well. I’d also highly recommend the tour at the turtle hospital which is a 5 minute (or less) walk down the street. Super cool, informative, and fun for all ages. It is $30/person but that does go to helping these amazing sea turtles in the Florida keys. I would highly recommend guests rent a car if they are flying in, flights into the keys directly are expensive and limited so flying into my Miami is the most realistic. The venue is then a 2 hour drive on the ocean highway, so if you don’t like driving on high, long bridges or long distance you’ll have to keep that in mind. There is a greyhound bus route throughout the keys but the schedule likely won’t align with your flight, or checkin and checkout times. We had checked Uber and taxis out but they do get expensive and are limited. Walking to a grocery store, restaurant, attraction, or beach from the venue is doable for the able bodied. For older visitors, kids, or those with special needs it’d be harder to get around without a vehicle - especially in the heat. It didn’t pose a major issue to our party but most of us did have cars and those who didn’t were able to ride along with those who didn’t.

All in all, the bride and groom had a beautiful wedding and everything that was essential was done very well. I would recommend the venue, especially for smaller weddings. I’d caution future couples to keep in contact with the venue to get the most up to date information on capacity before the event and to have agreed upon billing rates that are part of your final event contract. Had the couple known in advance the level of capacity and change to available checkin, the other guests could have adjusted arrival times and avoided being stuck I’m limbo while waiting for a room. Additionally, if the guests had been given rates for certain and made aware of the various fees ahead of time, it likely would have reduced some of the billing issues.

Lets start with the good.
Amazing food. Our wedding dinner was wonderful. Every item on my plate was delicious. The view was spectacular. What a backdrop for all of our wedding photos. Just breathtaking. Wedding coordinators were very helpful in making sure all of my decorations made it and were stowed away till my arrival! Lets not forget the bartender. Sydney was the best! Honestly she probably deserves a raise. Every one of my guests loved her!
Now, lets get to the bad.
In one year time, the hotel went through 3 coordinators, and I dealt with each of them. Many things get lost in email and I had 3-4 people to email about my 1 event. It was frustrating to say the least.
I didn't see either(there were 2) of my coordinators till I started walking down the isle. Which was at 6:30pm. My ceremony was supposed to start at 6pm. I understand that it was me running late, but a coordinator is supposed to check in on you to make sure everything is happening when it should. A bride and groom should not have to worry about every little thing on top of being nervous on their wedding day. The second time we saw 1 coordinator was immediately after the ceremony. She brought us a drink. The third was when a glass was broken. That is it. I didn't see her again after my wedding dinner. I was disappointed in the amount of money I spent for the coordinator(it was included in the price of everything). I feel we did not get the services that we paid for in that sense. I would recommend to a friend. Literally for the food and the backdrop.