Alpha

I didn't see a master thread. If there isn't one, I'll kick it off.

I'm here for three nights and the place is GREAT. I'm in a bay view room on the 29th floor.

Pros:

• Bed is super comfy
• Room is very modern and super clean. It is also very polished and has a lot of nice touches. Like a light turns on automatically in the closet when you open the door.
• TV is ENORMOUS and there's also a TV in the bathroom mirror.
• The view is gorgeous
• There's a veritable army of service staff who are very helpful, if not incredibly warm.
• The minibar prices are surprisingly reasonable ($6 for a "Imported Beer")
• The bathroom is huge- certainly luxury hotel size, with a separate tub and shower.

Cons:

• The room is so high tech that there is a lot of light pollution at night. There are no fewer than 10 devices with a red or green light shining at night. I had to unplug the phone and turn the alarm clock against the wall. I also couldn't figure out how to turn off the bathroom TV for a while.
• Food is very expensive, but not obscene. I paid something like $40 this morning for eggs benedict, a small pot of coffee, and a glass of orange juice to be brought to my room.
• The minibar has nice stemware hanging in the door, which is great, but it's really easy to accidentally slam the door.

EDIT: Seriously, be careful with that minibar door! I just opened it and a wine glass fell out and broke on the floor. Also, while I'm no stranger to expensing a good drink here and there, a MacCallan 12 in the DB Restaurant/Bar (Branded Daniel Boulud) set me back $21 pre-tip!

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the report!

Does the property have an exec lounge? Is it open on the weekend? If not, are there brekkie coupons? If not, is it key accessible? Does it have i-net terminals?

Cheers.

Alpha

I'm a lowly Silver so I'm not sure about the lounge but I will ask and report back.

MSPDeltaDude

Sweet, I have stay coming up here and would love to know!

Alpha

There is a lounge for Plats & I assume people who pay for club-level rooms. Free breakfast and it's open on the weekends.

Enjoy!

sumayya

I had stayed there last month and found it absolutely FAB!!! Being a Platinum Elite, they upgraded me to a suite along with other perks like lounge access , free internet etc. The suite was one of the best ones I have ever seen in North America. The lounge had views that just cannot be described but the food presentations were v v disappointing. They even accepted my request to have breakfast in the main restaurant which unfortunately was worse than the lounge. Otherwise this hotel is a fantastic property. And yes...how can I not mention the staff....everyone ...everyone was excellent in their performance and assistance. This stay will remain for a long time in my memory.

SkiAdcock

Sounds great! I'll update the exec lounge thread when I land in NYC if I have time before the FT Awards.

Cheers

dchen2

Stayed at the JW Marquis Miami last weekend and really enjoyed my stay. Most impressive US domestic hotel I have stayed at, you can really tell the developers spared virtually no expense.

Best part is the suite to rooms ratio is very favorable, 257 rooms and 57 suites, normally JWs, Renaissances, and FS Marriott's have just a 20:1 to a 15:1 room to suite ratio so this JW having 6:1 ratio means elite suite upgrade chances are even better.

My flight got in early at 11:30am Friday and I tried checking in at 1pm after lunch and despite according to the front desk a pretty busy weekend 50% occupancy rate (weekdays would be even busier since they are a business oriented hotel), they said if I was willing to wait for a hour or two until housekeeping cleaned the suite, they could upgrade me from my reserved entry level standard room to a 1066sq ft suite with two 55" TVs and an awesome master bath. Suffice to say I hung out at the pool and waited for my suite to get cleaned!

My suite exceeded my expectations and despite the living room, bedroom, and bath all having huge floor to ceiling windows facing the Epic Hotel/Wells Fargo tower, the AC didn't struggle at all to keep the room at a cool 68-70 degrees. I was upgraded to the 33rd floor middle suite (33rd floor had three suites, one on each end and mine was the middle one that wrapped around the elevator.) Very good soundproofing, even though my large suite wrapped around the elevator shaft, I didn't hear any elevator noises and once apparently never heard room service knocking on my door... "At your service" had to call my room to inform me room service was outside knocking and waiting to deliver my food.

Very impressive technology, the rooms has super fast wireless internet that speedtest.net clocked at 30mb/down 25mb/up speeds. Loved the fact each 55" TV had full internet connectivity and pre-installed Hulu+/Instant Netflix apps so I was able to log into my accounts and watch movies/shows in full HD glory.

Only disappointment is the 36 floor concierge lounge though still open on the weekends, has very limited service. No breakfast or evening hot snacks/drinks, just bottles of soft drinks/waters in the fridge and chips/snack bars on the counters. Props for including Perrier mineral water and power bars among the selections though. Large and beautiful lounge with breath taking views of the Bay as noted earlier. When I came in at 1pm the attendant was just clearing out the four hotplates they were using for the breakfast presentation so I imagine the weekday lounge service is pretty good.

According to the attendant, the limited lounge weekend presentations is only during the Miami summer slow season, hopefully when it cools off and the hotel gets busier the lounge will have full service again during the weekend.

One thing to note is according to the lounge attendant, contrary to previous reports about the JW Marquis Miami, this hotel no longer offers complimentary alcohol ,it's $6 a beer and even more for mixed drinks I imagine. No big deal since there is a CVS with a decent selection of adult beverages a block away and my suite had a stocked minibar with reasonably priced $5 domestic/$6 imported beers.

As compensation for the closed lounge, the front desk did give me a voucher for 2 free breakfasts (tip included) each day at the cafe, which for the American full breakfast buffet is retail valued at $25+tip each. So I can't complain too much about the limited weekend lounge presentations. Great breakfast buffet spread with a good variety of European style cold cuts, salmon, and cheeses, though the cafe wasn't very busy the one morning I ate there so I imagine the reason why they stopped the full service lounge on the weekends was because so much food went to waste previously.

Good room service the two times I ordered meals in my room as well. Reasonable prices from the 2nd floor Marriott owned restaurant menu (also shared with room service). $20 8oz Filet Mignon, $12 Cobb salad, and $15 1/2lb burger, not including $3 delivery charge and 19% service charge/tip. Room service brought my order up within 25-30 minutes of my phone call and each time, with my two ordered entrees they brought in a expandable roll away dining table with table cloth/settings for two. Beats the typical room service TV tray you need to set on the computer desk or coffee table to eat with.

The independent celebrity chief directed/owned DB Restaurant on the first floor is a high end French Restaurant, so the expensive menu is par for the course there.

JW also had a great gym with distracting good views, complimentary orange and lemon flavored ice water, and a full free weights set, which is very rare for hotel gyms. Also the billiards room which can be reserved for $25/hr or bowling at $50/hr or full size basketball court at $100/hr.

The 19th story roof top pool was also awesome. Great way to lounge the late morning away.

Short 15min/$15 cab ride to South Beach and a 10-15minute walk south to Mary Brickell Village area which also had a more laid back though still very busy nightlife scene for when you don't feel like partying until 5am in South Beach.

Very good value staying here for $179 a night, especially as a platinum with the EEO BOGO nights and meals certs compared to the Marriott South Beach and Eden Roc Renaissance resorts that go for $350-450/night and are excluded from the BOGO night offer with much inferior rooms/facilities. The only other similar caliber property might be the SPG W South Beach, Fountainebleau resort, and Ritz Carlton South Beach which all go for $450-550 for a standard room.

The front desk said this was a very popular JW for Marriott Elites and I can definitely see why!

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the detailed trip report! Cheers.

libuser

I had a very difficult time redeeming an EEO there. Was given 10000 reasons as to why my EEO was not valid. I was the first one as well to use it(Early March). I hope they have learned by now....

dchen2

During my stay it appeared this hotel improved it's EEO certs handling since March. I booked the stay through plat desk and they noted the res as using the EEO BOGO. Then when I checked in and handed the printout to the front desk, they seemed like they seen the cert before because they accepted it like it was a normal thing.

When I placed my room service orders, both times the AYS rep said she'll check and got approval from her manager when I noted I was using the BOGO entree cert and accordingly, the second entree's price was taken off my bill when I reviewed my room charges from the bill I was given under the door morning of my checkout.

The free night was also taken off my bill so it saved me a trip of having to go to the front desk.

eleeut

@ dchen2

so the Concierge lounge is open on weekends? i'm up for a res there the weekend of Aug 19-21 and the Gold MR desk said that it was closed. i was there last December and had an opportunity to spend a bit of time at that lounge and is by far the best Marriott lounge that i have been to. the views of the bay are great.

also, you were able to use the EEO BOGO on a promotional rate? i'm on one right now but at the full weekend rate - they weren't allowing stacking of the offers apparently when i booked. or is this a MR Plat benefit thing that i'm missing?

darkhawkkg

I sent an e-mail to ask if the lounge would be open for an upcoming weekend stay and the hotel answered that they anticipated fully staffing the lounge again in mid-October.

eleeut

here for a long weekend on 1 night rev (package deal stay) + 2 nights on points. the CL is now open on weekends for their high season. staff there are incredibly helpful, serving cappucinos and other speciality coffees or teas at our seats.

had a dinner at the DB Bistro on Friday and am still thinking about the Pork Belly Charcuterie.

touringuy

Any Plats stay here recently? Wondering what my chances of an upgrade would be for a 2 night stay during the week later this month.

Any other recent reports about the hotel overall are also appreciated. It sounds like a great property.