JW Marriott - Awesome Stay!!

[MinnieGi]

We stayed at the Grande Lakes JW Marriott the last full week in October and had a great time. This was our first off-site stay and I have to say this was a gorgeous hotel that gave out wonderful service. My DH had a conference there that week and the kids and I went down too. We weathered Hurricane Wilma which was not bad at all in Orlando and the hotel staff had kids activities going on to help pass the time. Following are some tidbits on the hotel, if you have any further questions just post.

Travel time to Disney: The hotel is 2 minutes to Sea World and about 20 minutes to WDW. However twice while taking the kids to the parks I-4 was backed up due to congesition and accidents and then it took 30 - 35 minutes. We were not in a rush and did not mind the drive, however if you need fast park access this might not be your hotel

Pool: The pool was beautiful. It was a large lazy river that meandered around larger water areas to play and swim. It was heated. One of the entry points was a large circular zero entry shallow area perfect for children. They also had a seperate circular zero entry wading pool for toddlers that my 14 month old loved. The staff had pool games during the day and there were floats you could purchase for the pool. Beautiful pool deck area with waterfalls and bridges.

Room: Very clean. The decor was subdued and nice. We loved the bathroom set-up. They had a seperate shower stall and tub plus a double vanity and toilet. It felt very spacious for a hotel bathroom. The beds were comfy. We were on the 19th floor and could see quite a distance. Next time I'd love to have the pool view though.

Staff & Service: Everyone we came into contact with was friendly and energetic. They have three concierge desks in offices off the lobby who were always ready to answer questions and help. They usually had one of the concierges standing right outside to greet people and show how accessible they were. When one of the kids put stuff in the safe and then locked it without knowing what code she put in to lock it, a call to the service desk and they had security up in less than five minutes to open it. Housekeepers were so very pleasant and always chatted greetings when we were walking up the hallway. They gave each of our kids a stuffed JW mascot who I think is a hippogriff.

Restaurants: They have a Starbucks right inside. I loved that!! In fact one day I still had my Starbucks cup in hand when we entered the AK and a woman came up to me and asked where I had gotten it. You could tell she must have been suffering from too much Disney instant coffee. Citrons was a more family oriented restaurant with buffet or a la carte. Primos was not so child friendly so we didn't eat there.

Next door is the Ritz-Carleton and both hotels share the spa and golf course. We felt very refreshed after our stay at the JW and I'm hoping DH has a conference here again in the future!!!

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Oooooooooooohhhhhhhh, MinnieGi............great review. I want so to go there. I think we would need two rooms, since we have 5. So I might still have to dream.

Sounds like you had a great time. The pools sound fantastic.

That's funny what you said about the coffee. I'm not a coffeeholic but I do like a good cup every once in a while. I don't understand Disney's thinking on the coffee thing.

We are staying at Radisson Resort Parkway in a couple of weeks and for $59 I will get Starbucks coffee and Krispy Kreme donuts. You'd think at least all of the deluxe hotels at WDW would have better coffee than instant Nescafe. ( I know you can get some other coffee at AKL or Poly, can't you? Why can't they make it at all of them? Whatever.)

So glad you had a great time and you took it easy with the traffic. You made the best of it. It sounds like the rest of the hotel more than made up for it.

 

[MinnieGi]

I did see a rollaway coming out of one room so I guess you could squeeze five however it would definetly be tight. If you could get away for only an adult trip the JW would be an awesome place to stay!

Have fun at the Radisson and enoy your Starbucks and Krispy Kremes! I really wish WDW would spread their better coffees that they make at Poly around to the rest of the World or better yet partner with a Starbucks!!

Enjoy your trip.
Gi

 

[coachyo]

I am so glad to hear a good review of the place. I've been looking at staying there June of 06 and have seen mostly fair or negative reviews. I am thinking of the concierge level rooms. Did you see them? What kind of room should I try to request? I'll have more questions later if you're up for it.
Thanks, YO

 

[MinnieGi]

Hi Coachyo - I can't imagine having a negative stay there, the staff seemed eager to please to us. Hope your stay will be just as good.

I'm not sure what level conceirge is on or what it entails at the JW. Everyone in the hotel has access to the conceirges in the lobby and everyone receives nighty turn down service. I would definetly request a pool view room. We faced the other way and although it was cool to see the Orlando area from the 19th floor, I bet the pool view was beautiful.

I'd be glad to answer any other questions as well.

 

[coachyo]

MinnieGi,
Thanks, do they have a view of Sea World?
It's right across the street isn't it?
What is the buffet like?
Is it a 3 meals a day?
What is the cost?
Do they have a shuttle to SW? I don't want to pay to park if they charge like everyone else would.
The pool is not just a lazy river is it?
How late is the pool open?
How tall is the hotel?
Will it feel too much like a conference hotel? with too many people working and not vacationing?
Thanks again. Anything else you can throw out would be great.

YO

 

[MinnieGi]

Hi Coachyo - The hotel is about 2 miles away from Sea World. There are probably a few rooms where you could possibly see Sea World from a distance but the majority of rooms do not face in that direction. However from the rooms on higher floors and on clear days you really have a nice view. We could see the airport from our 19th floor room. The hotel I think has about 26 floors of rooms, but I'm not totally positive about that, I'm just remembering from the elevator buttons. They do have two banks of elevators one for lower and another for upper floors. This is nice as you don't have to wait for a bunch of different floors before you get to yours.

The pool is a lazy river that connects larger pool areas that are big enough to do laps or play water games etc. There are several of these larger pool areas. One is shallow and zero-entry which was perfect for my 5 yo to romp around and play. There was another area that had a basketball net on the side and the acitivity staff brought out other water play games for the kids throughout the day in that area. They seemed to always have at least one water game scheduled each day by the activity staff. Then there are still two or three other pool areas to swim and play. All of it is connected by the lazy river. There are also at least two if not three hot tub areas I remember seeing. They are of course not on the lazy river. There is another small wading pool that is also not connected to the lazy river that is perfect for toddlers. I think the pool opened around 7:00 and closed at 11:00 pm. The pool is gated and you need to use your room key to access it. There is a pool bar with outside and under cover seating. Pool towels stands are throughout the pool complex. They also sell tubes, sun lotion and other pool things next to the pool bar area. In this area there are also hammoks for relaxing.

You asked about the buffet. The buffet is at a restaurant called Citron's that is located on the ground floor of the hotel. They do have the buffet set up for all three meals but they also have a la carte menu selections. I believe the buffet was $18.00 for breakfast and $24.00 for dinner. Lunch I assume would be priced somewhere in between. We were not at the hotel for lunch. Kids 6 and under were free. I ate alone with the kids for breakfast and once for dinner. Since both my kids were under six the buffet offered everyone a nice selection and I thought was a good deal for us. I liked their breakfast buffet selection plus they made special order pancakes for my kids. However dinner I was not as impressed with. There meats were to overdone. But they did have nice salads to begin with and a huge assortment of desserts. We went to Citron's as family the first night and ordered a la carte which I liked much better. Primo's is a restaurant on the Lobby level which looked very nice, however it did not look kid friendly so we never checked it out.

I'm not sure about a shuttle to Sea World. We had a rental mini-van so I used that when we went out to parks. My guess would be that they do have one though. I used the valet service everday which ran $15.00. For me with the kids this was easier. While we were there the parking lot was filled and hard to find a spot close to the hotel. I did not feel like lugging our souvineirs and the kids all the way through the parking lot. I kept the stroller in the mini-van as I did not like it taking up all that space in our room. (we had a big double). To park in self-parking you need your room key, otherwise it is $7.00 a day.

You asked if it will feel like a conference hotel. During the weekdays It may very well to you. My DH's conference had the hotel filled. It did not reall bother me to see people is business attire and laptops walking throughout the hotel. I see the same thing often at Swan & Dolphin. After the conference ended on Thursday you could see a more vaccationing crowd come in and spend the weekend.

Best wishes. If you think of anymore questions post a note.
Gi

 

[coachyo]

Wow
That was very good info. Just what I was looking for. Thanks, now I have to find a decent price.
YO