JW Marriott Hotel Santo Domingo — Attraction in Santo Domingo

If I had to briefly describe my stay and the hotel, I would describe it as the Wild Wild West…

I have never been to a Marriott International property that was so inconsistent with the values and standards of the brand; and for an average of $300+ USD per night for a business trip, I couldn't be more disheartened.

Let me briefly start by stating that entry into the Dominican Republic does not require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. They “randomly” according to their government website will pull people as they arrive for testing; they also rely on travelers to self-report if they have any symptoms. Therefore, as international business travelers we rely on international companies and brands such as Marriott International and the JW Marriott to provide a consistent level of service to keep us safe.

Marriott indicates that “For Caribbean and Latin America, face coverings are required for guests and associates in all indoor public areas.” The Dominican Republic government also states that masks be worn inside at all times unless actively eating or drinking.

Unfortunately at the JW Marriott Santo Domingo the guests safety is not their priority. They allow anyone to do whatever they want, they are not enforcing any local laws nor any Marriott commitment to clean standards related to face coverings; the first line of defense against COVID. Which is quite scary because this property is NOT taking COVID SERIOUSLY and they are exposing us as guests to a potentially dangerous situation. The carelessness of this properly is quite shocking.

Numerous times I came across or crossed paths with multiple people not wearing masks…be in the elevator with me, hallways, lobby or even at the gym. Mind you that 90% of the times that I came across those individuals without face coverings, employees were present and NO ONE enforced any of the masks mandate.

So as a guest you are left with 3 options: Risk engaging in a potentially combative interaction with a stranger (because the hotel is not doing their job) 2. Excuse yourself from the area (i.e. elevator or gym); which is quite ridiculous. 3. Risk yourself with exposure and potentially getting sick by not doing anything.

This hotel in particular does not only not respect its own governments laws, but they also don’t care about the Marriott commitment to clean standards or even respect us as individual guests. They clearly do not care about our safety.

Why is this a big deal? Because even vaccinated you can contract COVID. Which in turn means that you could test positive for COVID and as an American citizen…would be unable to fly back home as the USA requires a negative test for entry. This property does not embrace the Marriott Corporate nor the JW Marriott brand core values. This property is actually HURTING the JW Marriott brand and name. This property is POORLY managed.

The cherry on the ice cream of this disastrous overall experience was my last evening of my stay. At 21:30ish I started to hear a “whomps whomps whomps whomps” and it caught me off guard. I tried to dismiss it and go to sleep but unfortunately it just wouldn't stop and because of the vibration the noise was literally traveling through the walls and through the bed (as it touches the wall). 23:15ish arrives and I am still unable to sleep…contact the front desk and the response was a quick and short “there is a wedding and there is nothing I can do…”. I was floored at the response! The “whomps whomps” didn’t stop until 1:15 AM and as one can imagine I was not able to fall asleep much later than that. Needless to say my entire next morning was far from a desirable outcome.

I couldn’t be more frustrated, annoyed and bothered by my stay. As a business traveler we choose and stay at high end properties for the purpose of no matter where in the world and no matter how different the culture there is consistency in the stay. There is the discipline to follow and represent a brand such as the JW Marriott and all that comes with it; service, quality, luxury, respect and all of...

Overall - 3.5 (Expected better) Rooms - stayed in a Jr Suite. The room is comfortable but would not say it’s a huge upgrade from the regular rooms. Bathroom is definitely a lot nicer and what you expect from this caliber hotel and would be disappointed from the regular rooms. As far as amenities go, I was a bit underwhelmed with a detail about not having ceramic cups for coffee and instead paper cups(perhaps due to covid). Bathroom amenities are nice and everything worked as expected otherwise.

Hospitality/ service - staff is nice and courteous, but the area where improvement is needed is timely service. We sat in the hotel bar the first night for a drink and waited over 10 minutes to get a waitress to acknowledge us and then another 5 for someone else to ask for our drinks. We had another situation for breakfast as we waiting ~20 minutes for our breakfast to be served. Dinner had a similar experience for waiting around for someone to take our initial drink order which was probably over 10 minutes. Small details like this is really a deal breaker.

Food - Hotel restaurant is good and will satisfy most people. We had 1 dinner and 2 breakfast, everything tasted fresh and flavorful. By no means a 5 star meal but execution of the dishes were well done.

Gym/ pool - gym is not the golds gym but a separate small gym with basic equipment. Mostly machine assisted weight equipment, some cardio machines and a small selection of dumbells. For a quick stay it is enough to get by. The pool area seemed nice but we did not use as it rained both days although some people were out when the sun came out.

Location - situated on top of the Blue Mall and in Piantini district which is a nicer area of SD it’s a great place to stay if you are looking to be in the center of the city. Several nice restaurants are nearby and of course you can do some shopping at the mall.

Lastly we would not recommend to Anyone to take the hotel taxi. Compared to the normal rates here it is completely overpriced. My wife paid 1000 Pesos to go 7 minutes away, all while asking the driver how much it might be beforehand with the driver avoiding the question. For context, the ride back cost 200. I completely understand that things cost more at the hotel but a 5X increase is a bit absurd. The worst is how the driver did not want to answer the question. Very...

My first experience upon landing in Santo Domingo was not good. I had filled out a form and requested pickup service at the airport. I was traveling with several family members who were visiting the Dominican Republic for the first time, and I was willing to pay extra for the hotel's pickup service for added luxury, comfort, and reliability you'd expect with the JW Marriott name. The driver never showed up outside customs. My family had to wait out in the heat while I attempted to find places where the driver can possibly be. After about 30 minutes when it was obvious that the driver was not going to show up and my communication attempts with the hotel via the Marriott app went unanswered, I had to figure out how to get my family to the hotel. Uber was a failure as the driver who accepted the ride kept messaging me to pay in cash, which was unacceptable considering I had a credit card already linked to my account and I had not exchanged US money for Dominican pesos. I eventually found an official taxi willing to take me to the hotel, but it was unacceptable for the hotel to not have the transport at the airport, leaving me to figure out alternative options. When I mentioned it at the hotel upon check in, there was no apology, nor did anybody follow up with me. At the very least, a manager should have reached out regarding this major service failure. The hotel itself was excellent. Rooms were very modern and nice, with beautiful public areas. The only other minor hiccup was upon my first entry to the executive lounge. The attendant told me my rooms were not on the list for access despite me verifying access both at check in and via email in advance (I paid an upgrade fee for access). For a few minutes, there was a tentative feeling where I was made out to be somebody who had perhaps snuck into the lounge. Once again, it's a communication failure on the hotel's end which I did not expect with the JW Marriott name. As this was a family trip to Santo Domingo, I wanted my family as comfortable as possible and at ease with everything, but these service/communication failures made for quite the average overall experience with all things considered. I'd probably book elsewhere if I return to Santo Domingo as all the other hotel options I had researched had noticeably...