JW Marriott Hotel Bogota — Hotel in Bogota, Capital District

Check in||-we arrived at 1 pm and were asked to wait for our room for hours if we wanted to be upgraded based on our top titanium status.||At 3 pm - the standard check in time - our room was still not ready even though the suite room type was available online for booking. We had appointments that day, so we had to take all our valuables and travel for 7 hours with them as we could not leave them in the room. As everybody knows, walking in Bogota with valuables is not a good idea, so we were disappointed that such a high end hotel could not provide a safe storage for our valuable belongings. ||||cleaning:||Cleaning was not consistent with spots being missed and forgetful gestures, like lack of soap, missing towels or lack of daily water bottles. ||||Room:||the room was not sound proof and heavily radiated due to the surrounding EMF towers. In the night there were noises we could hear all night from the streets, despite a top floor, leading to little sleep and constant waking up. ||||Location:||it is not the best area of Bogota, and it lacks restaurants/bars and other amenities next door. There is maybe one restaurant you can walk to. If you want to have a proper meal, you have to drive everywhere, which is not ideal. ||||Breakfast||-the breakfast should offer more fruit selections (that are abundant in Colombia), fresh squeezed juices per default, and bottled glass water - a standard expected at high end hotels.||||JW Marriott Executive Lounge||The executive lounge is basically setup as a top status guest trap, that operates like a scamming restaurant, where everybody that has more than 2 drinks is (surprise!) handed a bill with excessive prices for bad glass of wine or liquor.||I have observed many guests being shocked and disappointed when they were handed over a bill at an executive lounge that was supposed to be a free perk for their hard earned status!||||The lounge also does not offer a mineral still water. It has only “tratada” water in plastic bottles that who knows where it comes from, and what was this water treated with. ||The lounge also lacks basic 100% fruit juices. There are only carbon junk sodas to drink. ||||You would hope that the food during the Happy Hour time at the lounge will compensate for the poor drinks options, but unfortunately it does not… the food was not just scarce but also simply not good. On top of it, they were very hesitant to accommodate any life threatening allergies, not taking them seriously at all!||||The waiter at the lounge also expects you to tip him for the non existing foods, drinks, and lack of real service…. Very disappointing!||||With countless, highly competitive restaurants and bars in Bogota, where you can get an excellent wine and hand-crafted cocktails for half the price, there is no point of even visiting the executive lounge to support this scam🤷🏼‍♀️!!!||||The Hotel Manager||The lowest point of all the horrible experience was dealing with the hotel manager - MARIA JULIANA BERNAL PARDO - that showed her complete lack of customer service, ignored our concerns, was laughing at us and insulting us, which I documented on the video. Once she realized she was being recorded, she escaped to the toilet to hide any evidence (for real!).||||She preached us, that despite our top status - Marriott bonvoy nights - achieving 115+ nights this year just by the month of May, she really doesn’t care about any people with status as everybody should be treated like they have no status at all according to her rules! ||||She even forced me to pay for a horrible drink at the Executive Lounge lounge, even though I didn’t drink it, as she said she can’t pour that vodka back in the bottle! When I said I won’t sign the bill then, she said she doesn’t need my signature and will just put it on my room bill!||||Yep! You heard it right! 5 star “best in Colombia”JW Marriott hotel in Bogota not taking any responsibility for bad drinks and charging you without your consent!!!||||Her attitude was mind boggling as we have never experienced anything like that at hotels claiming to be the best and charging $500 plus a night, especially in a cheap country, like Colombia. And I have no idea how this woman ended up being a hotel manager, but she should never be allowed to be at such a high position in hospitality business representing such a pristine brand like JW Marriott. I think in her mind she is running some gangster casino where every guest has to be grateful to even be allowed to be there, behaving as they are told and be punished when they don’t listen! ||||The horrible experience might have to do with the fact, that JW Marriott Bogota is just a franchise of Marriott as we got told, NOT a part of International Marriott company, poorly run by a bunch of cheapskates. You are treated like at some 2 star horror motel, instead of the advertised “best 5 star hotel in Colombia”! No joke!||||Marriott International Brand should really be more careful about WHO they allow to represent their...

To set the scene, I have Ambassador Elite status with BonVoy Marriott. This is supposed to be one of the most regarded statuses with Marriott after many stays within a year. Pre-pandemic this was one of my favorite hotels but since then much of the staff I knew have left or have been let go. Thus, the quality of service has changed maybe due to policy or other unforeseen changes. I have noticed the staff of the front desk not being very accommodating or friendly. I have felt lied to on some instances when dealing with them. The majority are new faces and before this I knew staff by name and vice versa.

The location is ok. Th JW is not in the most popular sector but close to Zona G by foot and a quick taxi-ride to Zona T/Zona Rosa where you'll find reataurant, bars, etc. They sometimes have events on the first floor with live music in an open-air but covered area. The live music can be heard in some rooms but usually ends by 10p. There is no rooftop here but there is a small balcony off the executive lounge.

I usually find the best service in the lounge where they know you by name and remember what cocktail you prefer. The lounge offers breakfast and dinner. Although the last few trips dinner in the lounge has not been too appealing but the food will keep you from having to leave the hotel. Two complimentary alcoholic drinks per person per day is allowed in the lounge. Food from room service is usually better.

The gym is definitely not their best amenity but it will fulfill the need if not crowded. It's on the basement floor so no nice views of Bogotá while on the treadmill. It needs to be moved to a higher floor and updated. There is an indoor lap pool and spa at this location.

The rooms are nicely sized and comfortable. The sheets, pillows and bedding are soft and good quality. I have noticed some small things need attention or need to be replaced like bathroom knobs and faucet wallplates that should be stationary but move. The bathrooms are nice usually with a separate shower and separate bathtub. The water pressure is not the great at the JW. I usually have to hold down the toilet button for 10seconds or more to flush the toilet. The regular showerheads have low water pressure so it feels like a light rain. I prefer to use the handheld showerheads that have much more force and have an average-person eye-level wall mount In the shower so you dont have to hold it and the water will wet you atleast from the neck down if you prefer to use the handheld. There are room-darkening blinds that block out a majority of sunlight or city lights at night. TVs are about 50 inches or so but the channel guide doesn't always match what you're watching. The TV stand also has many inserts if you bring additinal audio or visual equipment. There are mini-fridges usually stocked with mini-bar snacks and drinks. Overall, the general rooms are great.

Part of the perks with Ambassasdor status is complimentary room upgrades, which I used to receive often at this location. Or atleast they would make the effort and call me to let me know a suite is available. Of course this depends on availability. The last few trips to this location have not worked in that favor. Since the pandemic I have visited the Marriott El Dorado and the Marriotts in Cali and Medellín using points and I still received upgrades even the Presidential suites. I have visited and paid at other JW Marriotts and other Marriott brands inside and outside of Colombia and I have received upgrades. I have definitely NOT felt that my status is worth any value at this JW recently and I am really considering not staying here when visiting Bogotá...

This was one of the most elegant JW's I've stayed at. Perfectly located in a residential neighborhood close to restaurants, cafes and shopping.

We ate at two of their in-house restaurants; The Market and Tamarine. I rated these separately and gave them 5-stars. The Market, open 24 hours, has a full menu of burgers, sandwiches, pizza, salad, pasta and more. We had breakfast here each day. The breakfast buffet offers everything you would expect. I appreciated the omelette station where I was able to choose the ingredients I wanted in my omelette. Tamarine offers an Asian flair where on two occasions I had Pad Thai and vegetable rolls.

The decor of the hotel is warm and elegant. The staff were all very welcoming and provided excellent service. A special shout-out to the restaurant staff in The Market. They deal with a high volume of guests and work at a very rapid pace to please everyone. They all did it with grace, but more important, they all had a smile. I also have to give another shout-out to the Housekeeping staff who worked hard to keep our room organized and clean twice a day.

We had a standard guest room that was larger than expected with a beautiful bathroom. It had your standard amenities. So many hotel thermostats are difficult to figure out. Thank you for having a thermostat that was easy to use!

The gym is a bit on the small side, but it has the basics. Most of the equipment they have are cardiovascular with some free weights and a few machines. Swiss balls, exercise mats and stretch bands are available. The exercise mats are hidden so look for the cabinet where the towels and bowl of fruit are. You'll find the exercise mats inside.

As much as I love this hotel, a few areas of improvement are needed:

The guest room we had was on the 6th floor and overlooked an outdoor restaurant called Circo. It also faced an office building. During two evenings of our visit, the restaurant appeared to have live music playing. The rooms are not sound proof when music is playing. Ear plugs and my white noise app didn't help. I called "At Your Service" to report this. They said the music would end at 10pm. Very irritating if you need to go to bed early for a flight in the morning.

I requested some additional bathroom amenities via the Marriott app. I never received my items nor did I get a reply. I called "At Your Service".

When I was checking in, there was one person staffed at the front desk. Multiple guests were waiting. Eventually, another staff person came out to assist.

The hotel will need to update the guest room information booklet. It still has the old names of the restaurants prior to the rebranding/refurbishing.

I'm adding these issues of improvement so that hotel management are aware. This is a great hotel. If I were to return to Bogota, I would definitely stay at this...