Our condo served us very well during our week-long stay for Spring Break. Plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, ample seating areas, and towels for the beach. We were greeted with a full water cooler, but no other amenities like shampoo or spices. A few of the dishes in the cabinets were dirty, but there were plenty of pots, plates, glasses, etc. Housekeeping came once, a day earlier than specified, but right in the middle of our stay which was very lovely.
The beach is truly the highlight of this property - clean, relatively private and absolutely beautiful waters just a few steps out our door! There were also a few small private pools and lounge chairs on the property. (The guards on staff are very strict about swimming in the pools or ocean after 8pm, which makes it a very quiet, family-oriented location.)
The clubs in the Hotel Zone are just a 15 minute ride on the local bus, for which the stop is very near and only costs 12 pesos a ride. For the same fare you can also take a bus from the same stop into the central city for shopping, additional restaurants, or to catch a longer distance bus at the ADO station. It is also just across the street from a mall with a Soriana full-service grocer to stock up on food and refill the purified water. There are a few restaurants in the immediate vicinity, some more tourist-oriented than others, but I would recommend traveling for at least some of your meals out for a more authentic culinary experience.
Overall, if we were to return we may try our luck with a new location but we had a wonderful trip and have fond memories of our time at Villas Marlin. Thank you to Marcela for a great stay in Cancun!