We enjoyed our stay at Tropical Cottages in Marathon, however some of the amenities that were advertised on the AirBnB page were not what they stated. It is a nice setting, and having a Tiki Hut Bar and a Food Truck on site was very convenient. The Food at the truck was delicious, and the bar-staff at the Tiki Hut were friendly and provided great service. The cottages offer a maid/cleaning service every day, however we did not use it during our stay. We brought our dog with us,and pursuant to their rules, the cleaning staff would not come into our cottage when a dog is present. We could have, if we chose, made arrangements with the cleaning staff, however, our plans were always up in the air, so we could not really set a time where we would definitely be out of the cottage.
There are, however, some points of concern that could have made this stay top-rated. We stay at AirBnb's because we like to cook our own meals most days. This ensures we eat some-what healthy and it keeps our spending down. The Tropical Cottages AirBnb page states that there is a kitchen. This is not really true. There is a kitchen area with a sink, but they only provided a toaster oven and a microwave. There was not a full-size oven or stovetop. Unfortunately, the toaster oven was very dirty and the microwave wasn't much better. The cups, dishes and sparse set of utensils were stained also, so we opted not to use any of them. I ended up going to a local store and purchasing coffee mugs and paper cups and plates. There also was not any type of cleaning supplies to clean dishes or wipe down counters. They did provide two (2) dish towels, but I purchased a cleaning sponge to wash my own dishes and purchased a multi-cleaning solution, so we could wipe down our counter and table. Since we could not actually "cook" in the cottage, we had to eat out for all of our meals, and that ended up costing us an additional $1,000. That is a lot of money that we were not planning on spending.
Since we were not using the cleaning services, it would have been nice if there was a broom in our cottage, so we could sweep up the floors ourselves. There was not any type of entry rug or mat, so we were bringing in debris from the outside.
The Tropical Cottages also state that there is a hair dryer to use. What that actually means, which I found out on my last night there, is that you have to go ask the bartender to get it out of the office for you to use and then return it when your are finished. Also, there were not any outlets in the bathroom, so I could not plug in any hair appliance to style my hair - unless I used an outlet in another room, which would be difficult without a mirror.
Two days in a row our water was turned off without any notice. I understand emergency repairs come up, but it would have been nice if the staff would text the guests, so they knew before getting into the shower, or using the toilet.
Again, we did enjoy our time here. It was unfortunate that this was advertised with amenities that in reality were not there. It was more like staying in a Motel Room - which in hindsight, would have been a cheaper option for us.
