First time my husband and myself visited cancun. The hotel was fantastic. The service was the best. I recommend this hotel to friend and family. We think this is the best hotel in cancun. Next vacation we will stay at JW Marriot.

I visited the JW Marriott Cancun between June 14th, and the 21st. I used this site extensively in making my decision on where to stay in Cancun, so I thought it would be right to return the favor. I would consider myself an avid traveler with discriminating tastes. When making my travel plans, I was torn between the JW Marriott and Le Meridien based on the reviews. Obviously I chose the JW, since I am writing this review - and here is what I found: The JW Marriott is a great hotel, hands down. It is visually and asthetically pleasing. The spa is amazing, and the hotel is decorated beautifully in all of the common areas. The food is wonderful in all of the restaurants (as others have commented). Pools are beautiful etc.. I did visit Le Meridian for breakfast one day and I got to see their lobby, and pools and they were quite appealing. This hotel had much more of a boutique feel to it than the JW did. The JW feels like a large hotel to me.
There ARE a lot of people at the pool and you DO have to go reserve seats in the morning to get good ones (Le Meridian had a much calmer feel in their pool area - and it was GORGEOUS!). Since the JW is so large - you have more eating options however. One thing I liked about the JW is that they had small shops where you could buy food to go - that was convenient since eating in a restaurant 3 meals a day gets old. My biggest beef with the JW is that the room we had smelled SO BAD! Since the rooms are carpeted, it absorbs the moisture in the air (and believe me - it does with the level of humidity in the air) and it smelled like a basement. By the end of our stay we were happy we were leaving for this reason. Our sleep was getting disturbed, and sleeping with the doors open wasn't possible. The humidity was so strong that it would inevitably make the carpet situation worse, and it created moisure on the bathroom and hallway marble floors - making for a dangerous situation. I am not sure what Marriott is going to do about this problem, but it seems like one that is not going to go away (based on the number of other complaints on the same matter). I would not stay at this hotel again because of this issue. For this reason - my advice is to book yourself at Le Meridian. I will next time.

Just returned from 5 nights and not a drop of rain. What a great hotel.
Without question it is the nicest in the Hotel Zone. We were between the JW and the Ritz and chose the JW because of the spa and the fact that a drink or a hamburger would not break the bank. We were right.
The ritz seems like it needs a facelift and the rooms and the pool at the JW are nicer. In fact all the rooms at the JW have a great view and balcony. The Ritz only have balconies on upper level floors. We stayed on the 11th of 14 floors and were in awe of the view. I definately recommend the premium ocean view room upgrade, it was worth the few extra bucks. If you have children and want easy access to the pool and beach then ask for a ground level room. Friends we met ended up with one and were pleasantly surprised. They all face the beach and pool. No parking lot views at this hotel. The food was very moderately priced compared to restaurants in other areas and we thought it was better.
Room service is fast and excellent and available 24hrs. The pools are fabulous and the beach is hard to believe that the sand is real. They rake it everyday and it is so soft. The ocean is clear blue and clean and the perfect temperature. We were surprised that the air temperature was as mild as it was. It seemed to us that is was cooler than Florida.
The restaurants are all very good and the prices are not bad. One tip, if you are interested in seafood, wait for a night that they have the seafood buffet. Although the price seems high at aprox $50 per person, it is roughly half what we paid when we went to the plantation house (do not go to that tourist trap). We ventured our for lunch the first two days and came to the conclusion that the hotel was better and cheaper. Salsa has some great authentic Mexican food and the breakfast buffet is incredible. Worth every penny. Other restaurants we visited and recommend are Cambalache the Argentinian steak house, Dulce Vida the Italian restaurant across the street, Mikado at the casa magna next door. They are doing some construction to the piping on the North end of the Hotel but should be done soon. If you are going in the next week or so you may want to ask for a room on the South end. We like the south side best because it is away from the main hustle and bustle and still has a beautiful view. The South pool is where the swim up bar is and is somewhat quieter. If you want an umbrella, which you will need, put your towel out early and they will not move them. I was placing mine by 7:30 to get what I wanted. Only a few minor negatives but I spoke to the Hotel front desk manager and he immediately addressed most of them. When we arrived no one took our bags. I guess they were all busy. When we left we called an hour before departure and no one showed to pick up our bags. Not fun, but excusable. The hot tubs are not very hot except for the private ones on the second floor of the spa. But that is about all. We found the rooms were not musty as many had mentioned, the maid service is late but if you ask them they will come early every day. I found the thermostat in my room worked best in celcius and I used the high fan for night time use. The walls are a little thin but the high fan setting takes care of that and is comforting. The spa is incredible, don't miss it. Even the work out room is great. They have some great fruit drinks at the desk near the workout room. Massages are quiet and relaxing and professional.
Downtown has the best shopping at the flea maket. The first one is the best. There is a lot of junk there but we found one place at the east end by the bank that only sold pottery and she had the best quality and prices. She will not bargain though but we found she already had the best prices. Be prepared to bargain with all the rest. Sometimes we were able to negotiate at least 50% less than what they were asking.
Don't be afraid of the bus or going downtown. It is very safe and not one person asked for a hand out. We were very comfortable every where we went. All in all it is an excellent hotel and we had troulbe making our selves leave every day. We will be back for sure. We booked our trip through American Airlines vacations and it was the best price and they include everything. When you are shopping consider that the departure tax is $40 per person and you will need transportation to and from the hotel. American includes it all. Another tip. There will be people handing out small bags at the exit of the airport. Don't turn it down! It has coupons for every restaurant at the JW as well as the spa and for many other places. Look for the little coupon book inside. Once you give up the last document for customs, you are now in the time sharing area. Don't be fooled by their tourist adviser badges. This is the best place in Cancu to stay and we couldn't find anything that compared to it anywhere else. Do it! You'll love it!

This was our family's very first trip to Cancun. What a wonderful place! The JW was fantastic...the people are wondeful, the hotel is gorgeous, the food is great, the service is exceptional. It has the best pool I have been to. You feel as if the pool is part of the ocean the way it is designed. If you are looking for beach fun, there are parasailing companies and jet ski rentals right outside your door on the beach. We went parasailing twice and rented jet skis. The spa is to die for. Had the best facial I ever had....even came with a foot massage...never had a facial that included a 15 minute foot massage! WOW...we just loved this hotel! We plant to go back again and again! My husban's only complaint was that there were no newspapers available for the visitors. You would think that they would carry USA Today but they carried no newspapers whatsoever. Go there anyways!