Took a look at the map - this place is a long ways from any S or U-bahn stations - that would be a deal killer for me.

Any recent stays at this property?

Here now on a 5-night stay.

Hotel seems quite busy now over the holidays. Was upgraded to a front facing suite (superior suite, according to the app and executive suite, according to the front desk). Suite is large and spacious. Even though it feels like a 90s Marriott, everything is so clean and well kept, I wonder how they are able to maintain it so pristine. They have renovated a large number of rooms, but the process is time consuming and expensive, so I have heard.

The hotel has a new GM and he seems to be very on-hand. Visiting F&B outlets, lounge, saying hello to guests, even during the holidays. There are a few changes since my last visit in December 2022. The lounge is now open till midnight, and they have opened a cafe next to the bar. The cafe is super nice, with coffee made to order and freshly baked goods. You can sit outside, when weather permits. The lounge is, in my honest opinion, quite dull. A small stuffy room on the 1st floor. Gets very, very warm when the sun is up. So warm that many opt to sit outside the lounge, on the mezzanine. German beer and Spanish/German wine offered till 8 PM, same with the food. The food is generic and not that great. Food served in the Steakhouse downstars is good though! Last time beer/wine was self-serve, and now it is served by the counter by the attendants.

Bar 26 is, like last time, a great place for a beer or cocktail. They now have a lobby lounge serving drinks until midnight, but I do prefer the bar - it's open till 1 AM, everyday, except Sundays. The service in the lobby lounge is sloppy and slow, whilst the service in the bar is great!

They seem to be properly staffed nowadays. Every request is dealt with in a timely manner. Most employees are young and cheerful :)

Amazing breakfast, just like last time. Huge selection of quality items. Served till 10:30 AM.

Hi Folks.

I will be there on Monday, as a Plat. Nice to see, how upgrade will do. Although, I like the old Classic rooms over ugly renovated (Executive) ones.

Rumours say, there is a new lounge to come next to new Breakfast room (at some point). I have no clue, how current Lounge is, but is really too small. I live with that, I just would like to have the hot food to be as Marriott Berlin. That catering at Marriot was outstanding, as experienced on Easter. Wow!

To be seen JW. :)

I was quite worried about my stay at the JW (story below), but my stay ended up being quite nice, and I have no qualms recommending the property. I assuredly enjoyed it more than my experience at the Marriott last year. Here are my impressions and photos:

Pre-Arrival Story: At some point, I found that the property was offering a “Limited Time Offer Member Rate” for 123 EUR, which was 100 EUR less than my previously-booked rate. I absolutely switched my booking to this new rate. Unfortunately, the day before arrival, I noticed that my rate had been changed back to my previous rate. I called the Anytime Ambassador desk, and they spoke with the hotel to get my lower rate back. While it took about 30 minutes, I received 2 emails (a new confirmation and a direct email from the Revenue department) confirming my 123 EUR rate. There was no further issues, and my rate at check-in and check-out matched. I was quite worried my stay experience would suffer due to this low rate, but that was definitely not the case.

Pros:

• Upgraded before arrival to an Executive Suite, which was a nice full suite with 1.5 baths with corner views
• Bed was comfortable - plush pillows, medium plush mattress, covers of decent plushness
• Shower pressure was fantastically strong
• Living room couch was quite comfortable and soft
• Views included scenes of the Reichstag as well as the TV Tower
• Welcome gift of macarons were quite tasty (could have also picked dessert in JW Steakhouse instead)
• Proactively offered 4 PM late checkout
• Staff, especially FDAs at check-in and hotel manager (Michael) who came out at check-in, were very nice
• Lounge breakfast is technically the restaurant breakfast (lounge is in restaurant) - omelet, sausage, bacon, and cinnamon pastry were good

Neutral:

• Evening lounge offering desserts were only eclairs that were not my favorite and cut-up fruit
• Walkable to Potsdamer Platz (but would be long with luggage)

Cons:

• Shower door did not seem sealed enough to prevent water from leaking out on to the floor

I would definitely come back.

Photos (please expand the Spoiler tag):


Any pictures of the breakfast area and lounge? More details requested concerning breakfast and nightly lounge offerings. Thank you!

Sorry, I didn’t take any additional pictures or try any of the other evening lounge offerings. I saw some small dishes with perhaps meat or fish in some sauces and maybe a fried option along with some charcuterie. Nothing looked that appealing, but I am not a big partaker in savory buffet options during evening service.

I have the same Limited Time Offer Member Rate for 109 Euro per night in a few weeks. Happened upon it by chance while about to book elsewhere. Too good to pass up.

Do not have photos, however breakfast is substantial and with many variety of ethnic dishes available that are changed daily. Made to order eggs and mimosas as well.

Executive lounge breakfast is the same as the regular hotel breakfast. Both share the same food buffet area. Executive lounge seating is in a brightly lit and airy room next to the buffet area.

In the evenings, the breakfast buffet area is used for the executive lounge. Each evening the food offerings are different. I saw chicken satay, viet spring rolls, fish cakes, antipasti. There are two chefs that continuously cook and replenish the foods. While I did not partake, one could definitely make a meal out of it.

edit to add: completed my stay. Pre-upgraded to executive suite prior to arrival. JW steakhouse was good, thank you to the poster who mentioned it. Staff throughout the property were amazing. Fabulous service and cheerfulness. While the location isn’t super ideal for sightseeing for first timers, I like the location, great for walkers. And super close to the Philharmonic. Uber is easy and never much of a wait. The cost from hotel to BER is about 65 euros.

My previous visits to Berlin have found me staying at Westin Grand and Am Steinplatz - I would return to JW next time regardless of which rate I get.

*** loved the radiant heat flooring in the bathroom

I was just staying there and thought it's a bit of a mixed bag experience. I kind of like the style of the hotel, there is even a smokers lounge with nice liquors and cigars, also there is a steakhouse. The service in both was slow and kind of weird. The only positive experience was with the guy that manages the cigar lounge, he's cool and knowledgeable.

Breakfast was indeed huge with great selection, also the Happy Hour in the lounge was quite ok with reasonable food offerings. As others have said, there is not much in the area to eat or drink, so either walk like 10-15 minutes to Potsdamer Platz or take a taxi somewhere.

Unfortuntely they felt like not giving me an upgrade at all (Titanium), not even the tiniest. Did not even get one of the renovated rooms. Apparently nothing available however the app still allowed me to book better rooms. At least the late checkout was not an issue.

Anyone staying at the JW Marriott Berlin needs to be aware that, at the moment, ONLY the 6th (sixth) floor has renovated/refurbished rooms, and even these still have the small old bathtubs, with NO walk-in showers at all !

ALL other floors at this hotel have rooms with really old decor from somewhere between the late 1980s to late 1990s. While the older rooms are clean and well kept, it just feels like going back in time 35 years. Also the musty smell of the old carpeting in the older rooms hits you every time you open your door.

I had a chance to stay in both a newly renovated/refurbished room, and one of the older rooms, and was able to compare and notice that many things were either changed on the cheap, or not changed at all. For example, in the "so called" renovated/refurbished rooms on the 6th floor, the front room door, bathroom door, wall closets, safe, bathroom sink, and mini bar area, are all EXACTLY the same as the older rooms from 30 years ago. Even the desks and bedside cabinets are exactly the same, except that they added a layer of marble on top to make them "appear" more modern. The main change in the renovated/refurbished rooms is that the old smelly carpet has been ripped out and replaced with marble flooring, the walls have been repainted bright white, the curtains have been replaced, and 2 modern (yet strangely uncomfortable) single seater sofas were added by the window. As already mentioned above, the worst thing in the renovated/refurbished rooms is that they kept all the old bathtubs, and provide NO walk-in showers at all.

I will be writing a more comprehensive review at a later date, but for now my advice is to avoid the JW Marriott in Berlin.
This hotel does not provide a 5 star experience in any way.
Not in terms of the rooms, nor the location (with no shops, restaurants, or metro or train station nearby), and not even in terms of the staff or service (more on that at a later date). They also seem stingy with upgrading elites as well.
The only positive was the large variety and selection at breakfast.

You can get much better value for money elsewhere in Berlin.
The Marriott at Potsdamer Platz is miles ahead of the JW !

It's interesting how differently one can experience the same property.

I have stayed here probably 8-10 times since it became a JW, and while they had several teething problems (many of which have since been fixed), I feel that it is often excellent value for money. I happen to be staying at this property right now for four nights with an average rate of 120€ while the Marriott would have been 2-3 times as expensive, and that's not an outlier, but happens fairly frequently.

As to a few other points:

- I always book the cheapest room type and have never not been substantially upgraded - at least to one of the renovated rooms (which have a much higher price tag), and often to a proper suite (which happen to have walk-in showers). The Marriott has been much stingier in that respect whenever I have stayed there (think "supposedly better view" or useless "Club Level" upgrades).

- While there isn't much in the immediate vicinity (as in, within a 5 minute walking radius), I feel that the location is excellent unless one needs to be in a very specific area. Tiergarten a stone's throw away; Potsdamer Platz and (in the other direction) Gedächtniskirche/Kurfürstendamm areas both walkable. Most other "central" locations (difficult to define in Berlin) not more than a 15-20€ Uber away.

- I found some of their staff (including staffing levels) underwhelming in the past, but it's one of the things that was vastly improved during my last few visits.

Remaining issues are IMO:

- The in-house restaurant (JW Steakhouse) is quite bad. Not a big deal (for me) though as there are so many good dining options within fairly easy reach.

- IIRC, the renovated rooms don't have great desk space (while it's excellent in the suites).

- Funnily (considering that you mention it as a positive), I feel that the breakfast was better some time ago.

Perhaps the different perception has to do with expectations in the JW brand specifically, but to me this is certainly not worse than, say, the Marriott (and many other Berlin properties) in terms of product and service, and often much better value for money.

Sorry you had an unmemorable stay!
Just a data point: Suites do have a walk in shower.

Thank you both for the information, however when I stay at a 4 or 5 star hotel I do not want to have to pay for a suite to have a basic amenity that 70% to 90% of other modern hotels offer, even in the smallest basic entry level room. I find it crazy that if I go to a 3 star Moxy or Courtyard in Berlin I can have easy relaxing shower without fumbling over almost a meter high bathtub wall, and do not have to stand with my feet constantly together to stay balanced because the walls of the narrow bathtub curve at both ends.

Yet the 5 star JW Marriott has no intention of offering what the moxy, courtyard, and the other Marriott already has, even after a renovation. I'm baffled that in the year 2025 this is where we are at with some so called luxury properties.

We dined at the JW steakhouse. The food was good, but the service was awful despite there being 3 or 4 different waitresses. Despite the restaurant being half empty, it took 20 minutes for our table to be cleared after finishing eating, and another 20 minutes just to get our bill after asking. If that wasn't bad enough already, to add even more insult to injury, the next day at check out I discovered the restaurant got some receipts mixed up, and had also charged some alcoholic drinks onto my room which I never ordered. Obviously must have been from someone else's table.

Other problems were that frequently on different occasions I saw long lines at check in, and no priority lane for elite members.
Upgrade was not offered despite being a titanium member.....perhaps if I stayed a single night instead of 3 I might have had more luck.

Yes, the JW Marriott is sometimes cheaper (not always) than other hotels in Berlin, but you get what you pay for, and in this case you get less than what you pay for, in terms of the lacklustre service, poor location and old bathtubs. I did not see any other restaurants in the immediate area around the hotel, and walking back and forth 15 minutes each way just to get to metro station gets old quickly and sucks when it's raining or late at night.


Agree with you partially there....this is the 4th JW Marriott I have visited in the world, and despite visiting 4 different JW's in 4 countries, all them have been disappointing in one way or another, and none of them felt like a star 5 star luxury experience. Generally they all look like something that was luxurious 30 years ago, and are now hopelessly out of date in various ways. I think I'm done with the JW brand.