My partner and I stayed in the Vilas I for 1 week the first week in May 2008. We absolutley had the BEST time. We have traveled the world and stayed in many many places and the Mariott Villas Desert Springs is one of our favorites. We stayed in the 2 bedroom villa, top floor, corner unit facin the golf course with the main pool in view with the amazing mountians in the back - amazing! The room was huge, the patio was large and spotless, the kitchen was fully stock and the place was totally renovated! Talk about a ton of rest & relaxation - the pool, the JW spa (a must!!!), eating and shopping in town, walks around the property and the AMAZING scenery everywhere!!

WE WILL BE BACK!!!!

Will offer a review of the 'guest room' option at the Villas, versus most of the other reviews that cover the 1 and 2 bedroom villas. We were renting the room and are not timeshare owners or traders. We booked here when the JW Marriott Hotel there had no availability.
THE GOOD: the room was fairly large, offered kitchenette amenities (tall mini-fridge, toaster, microwave oven, coffee maker, and some dishes/utensils). The bedding was decent quality with comfy pillows. The patio area was fairly large with small dining table and a lounger, all facing nice views of golf course. The bathroom had his and hers vanities. Bedroom area and bathroom and plenty of storage for clothes and toiletries respectively. The room was very near extremely well-appointed tennis courts, which you get access to one hour daily for free (or free on first come-first serve basis after 7 p.m.). The nicest element was access to the hotel facilities, including the large pool areas and spa daily use. The spa has been beautifully renovated. Spa rates are fairly high, but lower than most rates in large urban areas.
THE BAD: The beds were too hard and air conditioning at night seemed to be at half power, resulting in stuffy, too warm room. Both problems resulted in poor quality sleep for our whole trip. The walls were thin, so could hear our neighbors. At times, many hotel areas were off-limits due to the many conventions scheduled at the hotel, resulting somewhat of a goose chase to get back to the Villas I. The "jetted tub"- a third of the jets didn't work and remaining were very weak. Would be better off going to the public hot tub for jacuzzi experience.
THE UGLY: As a 'renter," you will get the least nice units behind timeshare owners (#1 priority) and timeshare traders (#2) when asking for a renovated unit. This was definitely true given condition of room's bathroom (and it was obvious we did not get our request for a renovated unit). Tile in shower was dingy and some normally white grout was downright black. Some of floor tile in bathroom was either cracked or missing altogether, resulting in a 1 1/2 inch by 6 inch gap next to base of vanity---very shabby (not chic). Kitchen and bathroom cabinets were pretty banged up. Would expect better upkeep for a time share residence with annual maintenance fees from each owner. If you bother to sit through the timeshare session, count on spending nearly 3 hours there rather than the quoted 90 minutes. Also expect the extremely "hard sell" approach. All in all, I was glad I booked for a discounted government rate, because the lowest internet (midweek) rate of $209 per night would have been way too much. Have paid similar rates for very comfortable rooms in San Diego, San Francisco and Las Vegas. I would not stay here again, even for the discounted rate. I would stay at the JW Marriott hotel at Desert Springs as I have never been disappointed there.

After reading several reviews I thought I would write one as well. I have exchange for this Timeshare for the past 10 years. I love this place!

We get the 2 bed, 2 bath villa on bottom floor. I go with several members of my family so this definately fits our needs. When you walk into the villa you are standing in a foyer. You have two locked rooms. One to the left which is the main living area, and a lock off to the right. The main living area is so spacious. Nice fireplace. A table that fits 6 plus a kitchen counter that fits 3. The main suite has a Ca King bed. This room is spacious as well. The bathroom has a jacuzzi tub plus seperate shower. The space in the bathrooms are awesome. Especially if you are traveling with lots of females! The lock off unit has two queen beds. Kitchenette, microwave, utensils and small refridgerator. This unit also has shower and jacuzzi tub. All units look out to the golf course. It is so beautiful. We stay in the down stairs unit because at this time all the baby ducklings have arrived and they are so fun to feed. They only come up to your patio if you feed them. They are not bothersome at all. They also have a free shuttle that takes you back and forth to the main hotel. You can use their hotel pool or choose several different pools the villas offer.

Villas 1 gives you access to the spa at the Marriott without paying a fee. The spa has been newely renovated so it is fabulous. I believe it is 30.00 just to use the facilities. YOu get this for free. There is also a great "adult only" pool. So quiet and relaxing. They have pool attendants, water, sunscreen, great lawn chairs. If you go to the main pool at the hotel in May be prepared to see several sideshows. This is the time that you have several weddings so it can get rather wild. I feel it is absolutely off limits to kids.

They have also renovated the lobby area. They have a sushi bar, great walk up bar, music. A real nice atmosphere. Starbucks, and several shops. Shops of course are very expensive!

A couple of tips.....
There is a Ralphs Grocery store on the corner of Country Club and Monterey This is a great place to stock up on groceries. This is a great store with a great bakery, deli etc. It gets rather expensive to eat out every night so this is a nice option.

I really enjoy my stay here. Like I said before this is a favorite for the last 10 years.

After reading reviews for both the JW Marriott Desert Springs, and the villas, we chose to Villas I to accomodate 5 people in a 2 bedroom/2 bath villa. They are just now beginning a renovation and update of the villas I, so we asked for a newly updated one when making our reservation. These villas are huge! We had a wonderful living area, witha full kitchen with granite countertops, new appliances, a dining area to seat 6, a large sectional that did double duty as a pull out bed. There is a lockout room as an entry, the master bedroom is large with a vanity and soaking tub, and attached shower/restroom/vanity bath. The second bedroom had two queens, a kitchenette and a bathroom with a soaking tub. These villas are extremely close to the facilities at the JW, but not as busy and much quieter. All the villas have patios that face the golf course.The villas also offer a shuttle service back and forth to the JW Marriott, and you can take advantage of its pool, spa and restaurants. We were surpirised and how much we did enjoy the villas, and we will definately be making a return trip!