W Amman = Great New Hotel in Amman

I recently had 6 nights in Amman and split my stay 3 nights in Fairmont and 3 nights in W to compare these two new hotels.  The W opened only 5 months ago and is getting great reviews on TripAdvisor so far.  The hotel is not 100% complete and some floors are still under construction, but for what’s open it’s about 70% full.  My ambassador told me before I booked (only one week before arrival) that for my dates I would most likely be able to get a suite upgrade which convinced me to give it a try.  As the hotel tries to build its clientele, I found a relatively low rate for my dates, in fact lower than the Sheraton and Marriott which I found surprising.  

The hotel is about a 30-minute drive from the airport, and close to several other hotels such as the Four Seasons, Fairmont, Sheraton, St.Regis, and where there will soon be a Ritz Carlton.  Unlike all these other hotels, the W is within walking distance of a shopping mall so I found the location a bit more convenient than the location of all other hotels listed above who are all in the same city block, and where there is not as much within walking distance.

As you enter the W hotel and walk towards the elevators which bring you to the reception on the 6thfloor, there is a narrow corridor with very high walls which is an interesting design to replicate the Siq in Petra.  

I booked the entry level room and we got upgraded to the W Suite which was quite generous.  That room sells for 4x the price of the basic room, if not more.  The room has an open floor plan and being in the corner of the building, it has windows on two sides of the living room / bedroom.  Even though it is open floor, I would not compare it to a junior suite because the living room is separated from the bedroom by the large counter next to the working desk and the counter where the TV lies.  The TV is in a panel which you can rotate to watch TV either from the bedroom or the living room, which reminded me of the setup in the room we had at The Library Koh Samui (Design Hotel) earlier this year.  The living room has a large L-shaped sofa which covers almost the entire wall/window of the living area.  The bathroom is actually split in two rooms or maybe you could even count it as three.  Off the living room you have a make-up area and then a counter with two sinks.  The mirrors are actually in front of the windows, and there is space between each mirror such that if you lift the blinds up you can have views of the city and natural light coming into the room.  At the end of the counter, there is no wall going all the way to the window, in fact if you lean over you can peak your head in the shower area.  There is another window with blinds right into the shower area.  The buildings outside the hotel are low-rise so no concern about strangers looking in the bathroom if the blinds are up.  The entire shower/bathtub area is very large and bright.  There is a separate door near the entrance for the toilet, bidet, and a sink.  Because of the way the bathroom is partitioned, it would not make sense within the design to have a second toilet somewhere else so if there is a drawback about this suite, I would say that suites with 1.5 bath are more convenient rather than only one toilet which is the case here.  

There are several mirrors on closets and walls throughout the room, and the color tone is mostly white for counters, desk, closets, etc. except for the dark color floor.  There is plenty of storage space to fit large suitcases.  

This W is one of the very few which will have a lounge, and I was aware before booking that the WIP lounge would not be ready for my travel dates.  My ambassador informed me that they had Platinum happy hour 6-8pm at the hotel bar as a substitute so better than nothing.  The bar near the reception area is not like a quiet lounge environment, but I later realized that you can also have happy hour one floor above reception too which, is far more quiet because there are a private sections a few steps down from the 7th floor.  It was a great setting.  In addition the pleasant surprise is that they do not limit Platinum happy hour to a few drinks on the menu as some hotels do.  You can have anything you want and they have a good selection of cocktails, spirits, several choices of wine, Prosecco, and champagne (Moët & Chandon). In addition, I thought food would be limited to some snacks, but you can also order anything you want from the bar menu. They have several salads and starters available, plus other dishes such as chicken quesadillas, beef burger, club sandwich, grilled panini, etc.  The Niçoise salad was particularly delicious.  To be honest this menu more than makes it a fair substitute for the lounge – food quality was better than a lounge buffet.  If as a couple you order a couple of drinks each, an appetizer each, and a dish each, then the total happy hour bill can come out to roughly the same as the price of the room, all complimentary for Platinums, which is great value. 

Breakfast spread was great and quality as well.  

We also ordered room service once and were pleased.  So overall, dining is excellent at this hotel.  

Service in the hotel throughout was excellent: not only at the bar during happy hour where we were almost the only guests, and also in the restaurant for breakfast.  There were more staff than guests when I was there and everybody was very friendly.  The only mild negative about service was housekeeping who was not always the most thorough. 

The gym is relatively small but obviously has state-of-the-art equipment in good condition.

Overall the W is an excellent hotel and I do not disagree with the very high ratings so far on TripAdvisor.  Platinum recognition is fantastic with the suite upgrade and happy hour.  That said, the W remains a notch below Fairmont in terms of luxury experience, but the price tag reflects it as well… if money is no object then feel free to book at Fairmont – I think it’s the best hotel in the city.  However if you want value for the money, once the Fairmont suite upgrade certificates no longer exist within Accor in a few months, the W will be the better value proposition by a wide margin for guests who have dual Platinum status with Accor/Fairmont and Marriott/Starwood.  Once the St.Regis opens I suspect the W will be a good cost-conscious alternative to St.Regis in addition to being the better choice for folks who prefer W-style rather than St.Regis.