JW Marriott Miami — Hotel in Miami

This property and experience do not even align with the quality and service you would expect from a 3-star Marriott property, much less the JW “luxury” line. I stay exclusively at Marriott properties, so I am familiar with the standard and expectation enough to know they this isn’t even close. When I travel I try to be as low maintenance to a property as possible. I never ask for upgrades, early check out, etc. Never call the front desk to make complaints if things aren’t perfect. As a matter of fact, if possible I won’t even go to the front desk at check in and will do everything from the mobile app. ||However, I have one very specific request that I put in my notes profile and communicate in email and chat to the hotel before I arrive. If possible, I would prefer a high room, away from elevators, on the back side of the building. I do not boast status or spend when putting these requests in. However, I am titanium elite, have been for years, and in general this request can be met. After all, most properties do not have 200+ ambassador status guests putting in the exact same request. I ask with a big please, and note that I am understanding of this cannot be met so I can prepare adequately as I’m an INCREDIBLY light sleeper. ||At check in, I am told my room is ready and this request can be met. I head to my room. Low floor, literally right across from the elevator, facing the front. Not one request met. I would have been very understanding, and again, prepared. But why was it communicated to me this could be met? Rather than complain I make a simple ask. A room fan. You may be thinking, doesn’t the room have an HVAC unit with fan? Yes. It does. However, despite having the constant option on the unit I was informed it auto-shuts down regularly. I was told they would check for a fan and follow up. Hours pass and I hear nothing so go down though the desk. I have to make the simple ask for a fan again. I wait about 20 min only to have to go back and check in again and be told no fans. ||For starters. I have stayed at a hundred Marriott’s, Westin’s, Residence Inn, JW, Fairfield. Never have I ever had a hotel tell me they have no fans. This is supposed to be Marriott’s high end hotel next to Ritz/Regis. I ask about an air purifier or white noise machine. Again, I’m told no. Eventually, after all of this, I ask why I was told the accommodation was met when it wasn’t and if I could be moved. I was told no rooms meeting my accommodation were available. ||Again, interesting as I arrived 9AM on a Monday and stated I was in no hurry to get a room just to get a room that met my ask would be great. I fact checked this statement with a colleague traveling. That colleague made no requests, is a lower tier status, and arrived 20 min after me. You guessed it. They were placed on the back of the building, higher floor, away from elevators. In short, I was lied to. ||The rooms smell like a dirty locker room. Hotel is fine. But the rooms are musty and smell horrible. My colleague compared it to sticking your head in a dirty gym bag. ||I got the exact same breakfast order two days in a row. One day was nearly $20 more expensive and had these hidden unexplainable “open kitchen” fees. One day had more of these than the other. My order was very simple … the same order I get at every hotel. They got it wrong both days, I did not send it back or inform them but the order process was so drawn out and I repeated myself so many times I was not hopeful it could be corrected if I sent it back. ||Lastly, in the app, at check in I declined service. I also put the privacy sign up on my door. I came back into my room to find the toilet paper had been folded down into a corner and tissue box was fluffed as it would be at arrival. ||Horrible experience. I was only here less than 48 hours and used the property exclusively to sleep (which I was hardly able to do) and eat breakfast (which was incorrect and price fluctuated both days). Would not recommend. If you are expecting an experience in line with a JW or even standard Marriott you will likely be...

One of, if not the worst Marriott experience I have ever had. This property and experience do not even align with the quality and service you would expect from a 3-star Marriot property, much less the JW “luxury” line. I stay exclusively at Marriott properties, so I am familiar with the standard and expectation enough to know they this isn’t even close. When I travel I try to be as low maintenance to a property as possible. I never ask for upgrades, early check out, etc. Never call the front desk to make complaints if things aren’t perfect. As a matter of fact, if possible I won’t even go to the front desk at check in and will do everything from the mobile app. However, I have one very specific request that I put in my notes profile and communicate in email and chat to the hotel before I arrive. If possible, I would prefer a high room, away from elevators, on the back side of the building. I do not boast status or spend when putting these requests in. However, I am titanium elite, have been for years, and in general this request can be met. After all, most properties do not have 200+ ambassador status guests putting in the exact same request. I ask with a big please, and note that I am understanding of this cannot be met so I can prepare adequately as I’m an INCREDIBLY light sleeper. At check in, I am told my room is ready and this request can be met. I head to my room. Low floor, literally right across from the elevator, facing the front. Not one request met. I would have been very understanding, and again, prepared. But why was it communicated to me this could be met? Rather than complain I make a simple ask. A room fan. You may be thinking, doesn’t the room have an HVAC unit with fan? Yes. It does. However, despite having the constant option on the unit I was informed it auto-shuts down regularly. I was told they would check for a fan and follow up. Hours pass and I hear nothing so go down though the desk. I have to make the simple ask for a fan again. I wait about 20 min only to have to go back and check in again and be told no fans. For starters. I have stayed at a hundred Marriott’s, Westin’s, Residence Inn, JW, Fairfield. Never have I ever had a hotel tell me they have no fans. This is supposed to be Marriott’s high end hotel next to Ritz/Regis. I ask about an air purifier or white noise machine. Again, I’m told no. Eventually, after all of this, I ask why I was told the accommodation was met when it wasn’t and if I could be moved. I was told no rooms meeting my accommodation were available. Again, interesting as I arrived 9AM on a Monday and stated I was in no hurry to get a room just to get a room that met my ask would be great. I fact checked this statement with a colleague traveling. That colleague made no requests, is a lower tier status, and arrived 20 min after me. You guessed it. They were placed on the back of the building, higher floor, away from elevators. In short, I was lied to. The rooms smell like a dirty locker room. Hotel is fine. But the rooms are musty and smell horrible. My colleague compared it to sticking your head in a dirty gym bag. I got the exact same breakfast order two days in a row. One day was nearly $20 more expensive and had these hidden unexplainable “open kitchen” fees. One day had more of these than the other. My order was very simple … the same order I get at every hotel. They got it wrong both days, I did not send it back or inform them but the order process was so drawn out and I repeated myself so many times I was not hopeful it could be corrected if I sent it back. Lastly, in the app, at check in I declined service. I also put the privacy sign up on my door. I came back into my room to find the toilet paper had been folded down into a corner and tissue box was fluffed as it would be at arrival. Horrible experience. I was only here less than 48 hours and used the property exclusively to sleep (which I was hardly able to do) and eat breakfast (which was incorrect and price...

JW Marriott is one of the flagship brands in the Bonvoy family. I always look forward to staying at one of these properties, despite I live out of suitcase 35 weeks a year. On the surface level, this property is elegant and refined. It’s an older property, but the maintenance team does a good job at keeping it painted and repaired. I specifically like the elegant bars and out of the way nooks you can find here. It’s very comfortable accommodations.

The checkin process is easy and world class. We arrived after a week-long cruise and chose to stay for two nights as a way to recover from the trip. Since we arrived around 10:00 AM our room wasn’t quite ready but our front desk associate, Hannah, made us feel welcomed and valued. Tough to find a professional like her today. I mentioned to my wife as we were leaving the property later that week, “they should make Hannah the manager of this place.” She was charming and wonderful. She explained that she would contact us when the room was ready and the Bell team would manage our luggage for us. When it was time to check in, she quickly provided our keys and explained the luggage would be taken to our room shortly. Considering we had 6 heavy bags, that was more than appreciated. Thank you Hannah.

Our room was comfortable and had a panoramic view of the city. We spent considerable time in that room, so I appreciated the comfort and elegance it offered.

However, this is where things started to suffer. The towel rack above the toilet was nearly hanging by a thin piece of drywall. Certainly not the first time this was seen by someone. We requested a small fridge for my wife’s medication around 8pm the first night. Why doesn’t the JW already have a fridge in each room? Even La Quinta includes those. I was told they would send one up. 1 hour later I called again, and asked if I had misunderstood their response. She apologized and said she would personally make sure one was sent up immediately. After waiting another hour without a delivery, we went to bed.

Next morning, we went to breakfast inside the hotel. The buffet is very nice and has a lot of delicious options. Probably the nicest breakfast spread I’ve seen at a Marriott. However, beverages, including coffee, are delivered by a server. We never had a server greet us at the table. After finishing our meal, I stood up and searched for anyone who could help. No one was to be seen. I continued looking for another minute and found a woman cleaning a table. She didn’t speak English well but in my limited Spanish I asked for coffee. She said she would have someone bring it. Again, 5 minutes goes by, and no coffee. I start to search again and find a self-serve coffee station in the smaller room of the restaurant. Of course, it’s empty. I find another server and beg for coffee. Yes sir, we’re bringing it now. 5 minutes again and no coffee. My wife and I are both frustrated and I finally see the maître D who I explained the situation and request coffee from again. Two minutes later, we finally have coffee at our table. Extremely subpar experience for JW Marriott. The next day of breakfast was much better service.

One day, we sat out at the pool and had a round of mimosas in the morning. When I went to pay for it the bill came to $42 for two mimosas. This included an 18% service charge or tip. That’s a pretty significant gratuity on two mimosas. We’ve had mimosas around the country and this is by far the most expensive outside of an ultra pool in Vegas. They can charge whatever they want and I expect high prices at JW Marriott. Just putting it out there.

They have a nice gym at the property, including a nice sauna. You’ll have almost everything you need for a good workout.

Bonus tip: For dinner stop at the DC Pie Co, which is walking distance from the hotel. It is literally the best pizza I’ve ever...