Originally Posted by danger

My stay here a month or so ago was quite pleasant. I was upgraded to a large king room with a ton of space. One annoyance was that a keycard was needed for power, including for the power outlets, so even when you're were out of room hoping to charge your devices, you needed to leave a keycard in. Frustrating.

The executive lounge had a very nice evening spread which was all of good quality. There were two beers, two wines but no spirits. There is also an afternoon tea service. As a Platinum I was able to take breakfast in the restaurant which also had an extensive offering.

I received twice daily housekeeping but, despite hanging the towels for re-use they were always replaced. I wonder if hotels will ever get this right.

I chose the F&B as the Platinum (this is pre-18 August) amenity. It was billed as a couple of bottles of local beer and some crackers but it was an extensive platter. An example of under-promising and over-delivering, I guess. When I returned one day for an extra keycard I was offered a choice of a further Platinum amenity and chose a pair of Romanian keyrings.

The hotel's gym is a public gym so it's extensive with plenty of equipment. There was a sauna and an indoor pool that was being refurbished while I was there. There is also a casino but it cost RON50 for entry and the table game area is not smoke free.

Hotel staff were wonderful at every point. Each morning at breakfast I was thanked for being a Platinum member (incidentally, by trainees, which obviously suggests that the training includes elite recognition which is great). One disappointment was the concierge booking me into a tour of parliament but neglected to mention I required my passport for entry so I walked the 12-15 minutes up the road only to have to turn around again. The other minor point is that the stay has failed to post to my Marriott account and the hotel has so far ignored three emails (after first acknowledging one) that they would provide me with an invoice so I can file a missing stay request.

The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle service from the airport to the hotel on the top of the hour but it does need to be pre-booked. The cost is a very reasonable RON45 (less than EUR10). The journey time is between 20 and 30 minutes and the driver met me with a JW Marriott sign at arrivals. There is really not much in the vicinity of the hotel, other than perhaps a carrefour a block away. Taxis are quite cheap but not particularly friendly. On three occasions I was quoted an off-meter price that was exorbitant so I simply used an Uber for a fraction of the cost (although on one occasion the Uber driver was smoking when he picked me up so I promptly cancelled). One of the bellman strongly suggested Uber over the local taxis.