I am staying at the JW Marriott in Orlando in November. If you have stayed there, I'd like your review of the place.

Try a quick search... there a couple of threads that talk about this property. The last one was from two or three weeks ago.

And, welcome to FlyerTalk!

Try these:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...t=grande+lakes

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...t=grande+lakes

It's highly rated at 15th out of 285 hotels in the Orlando area.

For details, try Trip Advisor at:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...o_Florida.html

I just added my review... we'll see if that #15 rating holds.

I am at the JW now, the second night of a 3 night stay on the $139 M11 rate. Seems nice enough--I'll post again when I check out.

Oops like you raised them to #14

:yikes: You're right! *lol*

I'm staying at the JW at the end of the month on the M11 rate. I called customer service and requested a balcony room, but they wouldn't guarantee it. Does anyone know of a way for a lowly silver to get one guaranteed - other than paying extra, of course.

Checked out yesterday after 3 nights, no problems with any charges. I was there for a convention (during a tropical storm) so my take on many features of the property are limited. Check-in went fine walked me to the elevator etc. I had a balcony room on the 20th floor overlooking the golf course--great view. Valet parking for 3 days was good--car was up front in under 5 minutes every time. Room was well appointed, separate shower, revive bedding, twice a day housekeeping, etc.
Because of the weather I was unable to enjoy the golf course and the pool--both looked great.
Lots of nice events occuring at the JW and the Ritz next door--many gowns and tuxes in the lobby in the evenings--IMHO this is primarily a biz hotel with resort features. If I was in Orlando for a biz function my family would have a great time while I was working. I would not come here strictly for a family vacation, it is not convenient to any of the Disney parks and Ren is much closer to Seaworld and Universal.

The biggest downside was service in the bars and restaurants: Had dinner once at Citron--food was OK service was poor. ( had I been with a customer I would have been furious). I was in the lobby bar several times, service was inconsistent. On one occassion, several of us walked down to the Ritz for a drink in their bar--nice jazz duet playing but to my surprise the service was worse that the JW.

Overall the property was beautiful, the desk staff, valet, and housekeeping were superior--the foodservice was very lacking. Perhaps if I had a chance to enjoy the outdoor features I would have a better impression of the place. This is ,however, a JW Marriott and ALL facets are supposed to be superior for business and leisure. Then again, I was staying at a wonderful property for $139 so it's all relative. If I was a guest who was unaware of the M11 rate and paid a significantly higher room rate I would be unhappy.

In terms of FS Marriott resorts in Orlando I have this place third for family vacations behind the World Center and the Seaworld Ren.

For what it's worth the 'companion' Grand Lakes hotel to the JW is the Ritz Carlton, rated #4 on TripAdvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...o_Florida.html

We had booked a 'normal' room but got upgraded to a corner Executive Suite which had two balconies, separate bedroom, huge living room, direct view of the pool ... even had a comp. bottle of bubbly and cheese tray upon check in. Service was great - Restaurant food was great but service not so great.

There is a free shuttle between hotels, even a horse & buggy ride, and it appeared more JW people were at the Ritz pool than the other way around. The staff at the JW seemed less interested. The whole complex is quite impressive...especially if you golf.

But what rate could you get at the RC?

My rate was $279 -- some special Amex deal with RC at the time. It was RC's decision to upgrade us - we didn't ask.

Have an upcoming stay here next week. Received a virtual concierge e-mail, and a reply via e-mail to my requests. Also received a follow-up telephone call today. Seems like pretty good customer service to me! Looking forward to see if the rest of the staff is as helpful, and how the hotel is in general...