JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa — Hotel in Baja California Sur

CABO BRIDES: USE A DIFFERENT HOTEL

I am taking the time to write this review in hopes that I can save a future bride the headaches and stress that my fiance and I endured dealing with the JW Marriott for our January 2025 wedding. I want to start off by saying that this review has nothing to do with the rooms or services at the Marriott, but the Events/Weddings group and management.

From the get go, my fiance and I knew we were going to get married at Flora farms, so my wedding planners suggested we use the JW since it was the closest hotel to our venue. After our site visit, we were very excited because the property was gorgeous, the rooms were spacious, and the amenities were great.

Here is where things start to go down hill. We wanted to have a rehearsal dinner for about 40 people, and then follow that with a welcome party for about 80 guests at the JW. The JW agreed to host these events IF we booked a room block for "90%" of our expected guests. This meant that we HAD to GUARANTEE the JW 30 rooms, for all 3 nights of our wedding weekend. My fiance and I were hesitant about this because we had to sign a contract saying that if we did not book all 30 of these rooms for the 3 nights, we would be the ones paying for them. My fiance and I really wanted to make this work, so we agreed to the contract with the 30 rooms, at a discounted group rate. We went back and forth with the hotel about the room amount and rates, took weeks and months- so don't think you will be getting quick responses.

After we received a link for our room block, we had guests start to book their rooms. After about 5 rooms were booked, we had a friend tell us there were no more king bed options available in our block. I thought this had to be a mistake so I reached out to the JW directly. They let me know that there were "no more king beds available at the hotel" and that I "did not clarify what type of beds I wanted for my block." We were STUNNED by this response. The JW tried to tell us that the hotel had 0 king beds available for our dates, but when you went to their website, you could book the same level room for the same weekend. We went back and forth with the JW about this issue for at least a month. After this back and forth correspondence, the JW magically had king beds available for our block BUT they would be an additional $75 over the agreed room rate we signed for. My fiance and I were so worn down and tired of fighting with them at this point, we just agreed so that we could move on with planning.

Fast forward a few months- we have filled our room block. At this point, we have now guaranteed the hotel 30 rooms for 3 nights PLUS a rehearsal dinner and welcome party totaling more than $40,000. We were finalizing wedding weekend plans, and realized we needed a separate room for my fiance to sleep the night before our wedding. Surely the JW would give us a complimentary room for one night for him right? Nope. We were told we had to pay for the room at the regular block rate AND that my fiance could not have a late check out (he argued with management until we got it) which we needed for him to get ready for the wedding in that room.

When we arrived for our wedding, we showed up to the hotel around 12:50 PM. I understand that check in is at 3:00, but I really did expect the JW to have our suite ready considering the amount of revenue we were generating the hotel, and all the stress they put us through. That was not the case. Our room was not ready, and we were told it hadn't even been cleaned when we got there.

In general, we felt like we were being treated like regular guests, which was disappointing given everything we were spending at the hotel. Again, the rooms were clean, the service for our events was great, and we left happy- BUT I would NEVER advise a bride and groom to use the JW for their hotel block, or have your...

We arrived very late due to a very late Viva Autobus flight from Queretaro. The hotel is in a gated area called Puerto Los Cabos and you need to drive through a check in area to get to these posh hotels. It was very pretty at night time. We pulled up to the JW and a porter was there to take our luggage and park our car as they have complimentary parking at this hotel. Check in was quick and painless but before you come to check in there is a long cavernous hallway which gives an air of grandeur.  I thought that was cool and a great intro to JW Marriott. The same porter took us to our room on the second floor E 201. Once again I did not receive my Sweet Night Reward Upgrade in a Mexican Hotel. These are Titanium Elite Benefits and it was my last opportunity to use one so I was not impressed. The check in guy said they were over capacity and it could not happen but honestly the hotel was not full, so I believe this was just a ruse. The room was very nice and stylish and quite large with a large balcony with an ocean view. The bed was only a queen so that was disappointing for a 5 star hotel. The bed was comfortable at least. The bathroom was large and open with a separate toilet room and separate large shower room. Eureka there was a bathtub and I did enjoy using their complimentary bath salts which smelled heavenly and softened the water. We have stayed at 4 different places since we left for our Mexico excursion and not one of these places had a bathtub so I enjoyed it for a long soak. Unfortunately it was not long enough for me at 5'9" but I made the most of it. The lighted makeup mirror is a godsend for anyone over 50 and I was happy to see one in the bathroom which to me is a true hallmark of a 5 star hotel. I hadn't seen one in 3 weeks. I awoke to a beautiful view of the gardens and some blue ocean out the balcony. I made myself a couple of Nespreso coffees with the cutest cups. I was impressed with the coffee station and decor around the station.  The JW Housecoat and slippers are always a nice bonus in an overly air-conditioned hotel room. As always the wifi is strong in all Marriott branded hotels and this is important to us. We chose the complimentary breakfast as one of our Titanium Elite benefits and it was only a Continental Breakfast. We have stayed in countless Marriott Brand hotels in the last few years and we have always had a Buffet or Made to Order breakfast given to us so this was an unpleasant surprise.But when we reached the restaurant called Ua (which means 'welcome to my house' -in the native Mexican language), they let us know that we would have the full American style breakfast as complimentary. We chose a huge fruit and granola plate first with toast (5 choices of bread) freshly pressed juice, coffee, Darren's Coke, and then eggs, bacon and freshly made hash browns. It was an excellent meal with really great service. There are numerous outdoor spaces to sit during the day and night.  Many cozy areas with a fire table to sit and enjoy a glass of vino. I wish we could have stayed here longer maybe 3-4 nights to really enjoy the hotel but it was not to be, on to bigger and better...

This resort is like a Tesla Model 3, it looks great from two feet away but when examined closely it has some major issues.

On our first night we ate at the Nak Grill and were not so pleasantly surprised to be joined by cockroaches that took the liberty of crawling onto our table and eating our food.

Although we had two queen beds in our room, housekeeping seemingly flipped a coin each evening to decide on which bed to turn down. On some days, our room was not cleaned at all while on others we were woken up early in the morning by staff knocking on the door asking if we’d like the room cleaned.

The bathrooms come with two sinks which is great because one of them will likely be clogged. The bathroom stall is separate from the shower stall which is also a great feature as you may encounter water dripping from the ceiling onto the floor around the toilet. Being able to close the door to the toilet is a great way to contain the smell of the dripping water of unknown origins. To the staff’s credit, we only had to wait a few hours for the dripping water issue to be resolved, and we only had to call reception three times which is technically better than having to call reception four times.

The resort dining has a premium feel, that is if your definition of premium is paying 10 dollars for a bottle of water and 20 dollars for a margarita. The lunch burgers are on par with food I’ve consumed at Chuck e. cheese’s.

The location gets 3 stars because it includes a lovely ocean view, however the beach is currently inaccessible. No worries, however, since the resort offers a free shuttle to a beach 15 minute away with a swimming area smaller than my local YMCA pool and you only have to wait 2 hours for the return shuttle after rethinking the definition of false advertising.

The swimming pools all close at 10pm, although I believe this is to prevent people from cutting themselves on the rusty nails sticking out of the railings in the dark. Of course this isn’t posted anywhere but if you ask around the second or third staff member you ask will be able to tell you the pool timings.

One nice thing was the spa. This is accessible if you possess lots of money or have status with Marriott and includes a jacuzzi exactly like the jacuzzi next to the normal pool but without the view. There’s also a pool that’s slightly smaller than the normal pool but the fact that you have to pay for it is supposed to make the experience better.

Overall, this is a great resort to stay at if you’re planning a trip for someone you really hate out of spite. The distance from the town is perfect for making you feel trapped in dystopian Stephen King novel with no access to civilization. I would definitely recommend this resort to anyone who doesn’t believe that the best part of vacation...