Eddie H.
Yelp
One of the best hotel/resorts we've ever stayed at.
We were at Santa Maria Suites for five nights, and we could not have chosen a better resort. Our vacation started by us showing up early, and instead of the staff telling us to come back when the room was early, Ken was super nice and showed us where to hang out at the pool and get free smoothies and water while we waited for our suite to get cleaned. Our pool "bartenders" included Kristen, Christie, and Jenya, all of whom were super friendly and helpful. We also chatted with Nordi a couple times, and he, too, was very nice. I've never had such a good experience with hotel staff as I did with Santa Maria.
The location is perfect-- it's right off Duval Street, but it's the quiet end away from all the loud touristy businesses. But it's still a quick walk or bike ride to all that stuff (the island isn't that big, after all).
We had two bedrooms, and it was a split level apartment. Although everything was squeezed kind of tight, we still had plenty of room, and it was nice having the kitchen on the first floor and the bedrooms upstairs. It also had 2.5 bathrooms, which was a nice surprise. They don't have too many guest rooms, so they are able to focus nicely on the rooms and guests that they do have.
PROS: free smoothies all day at the pool, full kitchens including pots & pans & cutlery & more, happy hour from 4-5:30 that has free wine or pita chips & hummus, free Dove ice cream bars and chocolate bars delivered to your room daily, free local-made AMAZING blueberry or banana nut muffins delivered to your room daily, completely private pool area with plenty of chairs in the sun & shade, free sunblock at the pool, free wi-fi, and super nice staff.
CONS: a few tiny ants in the kitchen, two nights we didn't get muffins delivered, the shower water pressure was super weak, and the beach access is a block away (but the beaches there are rocky and stinky, so we stayed at the pool the entire time).
We had to struggle to come up with the cons above, and they weren't very bad at all.
If you're only going to spend a few days here, I'd recommend Sunday thru Wednesday because the resort got packed Thursday thru Saturday.
Overall, congratulations Santa Maria Suites for having an amazing resort and for helping us have one of our best vacations ever!