Marriott Bonvoy hotels in Jordan
 

There doesn't seem to be much information on this property on FT. Anyone have any experiences to share. In particular there are 2 categories of room (Regular and Deluxe) The price differential is around 25% - are the rooms that radically different? FWIW I am Marriott nothing.

Thanks for any help.

Completed a 2 day stay here last week, thought I would post a few impressions. The pricing differential on room types had been replaced by one for length of stay - stays of 2 days or more go for JD39 including breakfast - a relative bargain at USD50!

The rooms are more Holiday Inn than Marriott, but a modern, spotlessly clean and well put together with both a/c and heating installed. My out of date Silver card (expired Jan this year) got me an upgrade to valley view room - which has to rate with a HK harbour view as one of the most spectacular sights you can get from a hotel room.

Breakfast is buffet style, with a decent spread of the usuals - thought obviously no pork. There is a bar (very overpriced) and 2 restaurants which we didn't try.

The hotel is about 4km from the ruins itself - no problem if you have a car. There were several tour groups while we were there - and very few 'independent' travellers. All in all, a decent deal.

Marriott Hotel Petra Wadi, Jordan comments please
 

I did a search. I called Marriott reservations and sent an email to this Hotel. It was rejected back. I called Marriott Customer Care and got two other email addresses from them. They did not come back but no one replied.

Can someone comment on this Hotel? Any comments appreciated. Can someone comment on night and early morning tours? Tried to arrange with hotel but obviously that does not work. The agent called the Hotel and was first told they (hotel) does not have internet service. Yikes! Actually at this point thinking of cxling but hotels are full in area. Thanks.

Just got back from staying at this hotel on October 6th. The hotel is fine...nothing special at all though. Rooms were ok, food was nothing to brag about, service was also not up to Marriott standards. The employees were nice people but were more or less just 'there'...not really into helping out much. The view from the property is pretty outstanding, although any view around there tends to be...

We couldn't arrange a tour from the hotel either... they do have a shuttle in the morning that takes you down to the entrance to Petra. We were kinda 'toured out' so we just did Petra on our own and had a great time. We walked a ton though and put in a full eight hour day of walking and climbing. The hotel will not pick you back up at the end of the day and I think the Taxi was around $5 JD so that's not too bad.

Also, the hotel is not in Petra per se. It is a ways out of 'town'. Only ten minutes probably, but you're gonna be stuck at the hotel for any and all of your needs. If we went back to Petra we would not stay at the Marriott again. Not because the hotel was all that bad, but coupling the quality with the location and all the other negatives it just wouldn't be worth it.

Hope that helps. If you're gonna just be staying for one night it'll be ok for you...Don't order the chicken morsells either... trust me...

The Moevenpick is the most convenient property. Almost literally outside the front gates (200m at most).

All tours are arranged through the visitor centre where guides are available. You arrange the night tour there too. This 79 y.o. by the name of Hani Ali is said to be the best. He's been doing it for 50+ years.

Thank you both. Reading our confirmations it includes breakfast and dinner which I think the rate if ok. The Hotel is now sold out. The Movenpick is available I think. Will check.

Was it worth it to go into town just to walk around? Did the Hotel have internet service? Since I have received no replies I am beginning to doubt it.

I will ask for Hani.

So does that mean run from the chicken? What food in Wadi is safe? Please tell me if we should have cocerns about food. Thanks. More comment welcome.

Can we wear shorts? We want to be respectful. Can we wear shorts to tour Petra? Thanks.

Yes you can wear shorts...you can wear shorts ;0) We were there during Ramadan and nobody had any issues with us doing our own thing on our own schedule...and we asked repeatedly to make sure we did not offend anyone!

I concur with the other poster, the Movenpick looks like a great property, I'd look into staying with them. They are right outside the entrance to Petra. Also, don't stress the tours. You'll find a tour guide no problem. Aside from getting them set up at the hotel, you can arrange a tour guide when you buy your entry tickets to Petra as well. Or you can do it all on your own.....

Thank you.

Wadi Musa is quite a ways up the hill from the Moevenpick's entrance. There's only a few small hotels, shops and restaurants near the Moevenpick. I'd say Wadi Musa hasn't got too much of interest (it's new town built to settle the Bedouin when lots of them were evicted from Petra) but there's a very nice Arab pastry shop on the main drag coming up from the Moevenpick. They sell wonderful pastries by weight. We only drove there as we rented a car and drove down from AMM.

I'd also highly recommend against taking the alternative route into Petra (suggested by the Lonely Planet) that takes you through a tunnel (by the entrance to the soq) and down this slot canyon.

Finding very few reports from the Marriott-affiliated Dead Sea properties...any recent reports?

Marriott Petra report 11/2007
 

Preface: Into area to visit Petra. Considered all hotels in area and this seemed like the best value. Tried to contact the Hotel a number of times by e-mail and that was useless. Rely upon other sources. For journey into area check my report in Hyatt forum for Grand Hyatt Amman and Trip Reports for the entire journet.

Status: None. But I do have a old silver status card.

Rate: The rate is 85 JOD plus plus. This includes dinner and breakfast.

Transportation: From Amman we have a car and driver who brought us here. He will spend the night in Wadi Musa and then pick us up tomorrow morning at 6 AM to start out.

Parking: n/a

Check-in: We were determined to get view rooms and made that happen. I don't think my old Silver card did anything but we made ourselves clear.

Perks: none

Lounge: none

Room: You enter onto carpet. To the right is a set of closets, followed by a mini bar, place for luggage, built in desk, flat panel LG tv, table with chairs and king bed with night stands. I have two picture windows with views out to the value. Very very nice. A ok dated room.

Bathroom: Now this is dated. A single basin, tub/shower combo and toilet.

Internet: This was the 100 JOD ? before arriving. They do have wired access at 10.50 JOD per 24 hours with lower rates for longer periods. Ok speed.

Gym: not been there yet

Spa: They have limited limited services. The guy at the counter also does the treatments. Get it. The Turkish bath and sauna are complimentary.

Eating venues: Nice bar with views out to valley. Will have dinner later so can advise on that.

Local markets: None.

Local area: Petra which I would have done in a day trip. But this is working out ok. Will end up seeing more than I thought.

Negatives: The Hotel is dated but what you would expect for the area. People are nice and helpful once you get here.

Closing: I would stay again but have no reason to be in the area again. A ok place.

We had the buffet dinner included in our room package and it was excellent. Nothing special on the menu but it was tasty.

We decided to head out tomorrow at 7 AM instead of 6 AM so we can catch breakfast since we will be on the run all day.

Btw.
 

The room does not have any coffee/tea making machine. I know that matters to some people. Also. There is a connector door between certain rooms. If you see on of these get a room change. The noise comes thru from the other side loud and clear. There is a highway which runs in front of the Hotel and I would not even want to know what kind of noise that is. My friend has a room with better sized window but has a to left side view of that highway and you can hear the highway when you open the windows. Maybe it is just a busy street. The roads here are pretty good but I would not want to be doing the driving myself. Our driver seems to know his way obviously but I would be clueless of course. I will post later on the breakfast buffet and in the Trip Reports area on Petra and our stops later today.

Marriotts in Jordan
 

Recently I stayed at all 3 Marriotts in Jordan and thought I would post a review since information on them was lacking when I was planning the trip.

Jordan Valley Marriott at the Dead Sea - Its a spectacular resort. This was a point-saver award stay for 1 night. Status was not acknowledged and was given a room overlooking the pool and Dead Sea (half the rooms have this view since the hotel is U-shaped). Several restaurants - Italian, Champions sports bar, Arabic lounge with hookahs, pool bar and another bar by the lobby, and the main restaurant where the buffet is served at all 3 meals. We were told breakfast was included for all rooms (nothing to do eith status) in the main restaurant. The breakfast buffet was rather nice. While it was a bit cold, we did get into the Dead Sea early in the morning to bob around just for the experience in the extremely saline wanter. The italian restaurant was booked for a private event so we ordered room service. It was delivered promptly but the pasta was rather average.

Marriott Petra - 2 night paid stay. This hotel is nothing great and the Crowne Plaza and Movenpick are definitely better choices in town but the rate at the Marriott could not be beat so we opted to stay here. The pizza at the Italian restaurant was great. Braskfast buffet (included in room rate) was average. Cooked to order eggs were great but the baked items were nothing great. No status recognition. I had Premium Pound vouchers and the hotel refused to honor a proper exchange rate (look up in Marsha) and only gave what was posted for cash conversions on the front desk. Rooms were nothing to write home about either. However, Petra itself is spectacular.

Marriott Amman - 1 night award stay. Great hotel with a Mediteranean restaurant and Champions sports bar. We ate at the Medi one - Arabic items were great but the Italian ones were lacking. Had an early morning flight so did not get a chance to try breakfast. Was granted lounge access based on status and given a room on the Executive floor. Great lounge staffed from 6 AM to midnight with 2 computers.