Pros: new hotel, great views, Caribean suite is wonderful, GREAT service

Cons: expensive, can't bill anything to room, club 91 is a rip off

The Bottom Line: GREAT hotel in Cancun. Read my tips and you'll love it even more.




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I wrote this review for another website two years ago..
We are finishing our week at the JW Marriott Cancun and I am out on our (one of two in our suite) patios surfing the web, enjoying the views and staying out of the sun! Overall I would give this property a 9 out of 10-and here's why:

Room: I am a Platinum (75+ nights per year) member of Marriott Rewards so we got upgraded to a "Carribean Suite." I was able to look at one of their "normal" rooms, but my experience is with the Carib Suite.

Our suite (1035) features a very large living area with it's own balcony with a very nice view of the Caribbean. It has a pullout couch, which, according to my 11 year old son has a horrible mattress in it. We were able to get them to send up two roll away beds which made it much more comfortable for our kids (11 and 8). If we were in a normal King room I don't think this would have been possible.

Our suite also features a very large master bedroom that is completely separate from the living room. It is quite large and expansive for a hotel room and more like a master suite in an executive type house. The bathroom is also very large, and has a walk in shower with two shower heads. There is marble everwhere and it is very nice and upscale. There is crown molding everywhere, which is also a nice touch.

They hotel provides you with JW Marriott inscribed slippers (two pairs) which my kids thought was neat.

Public Areas:
The lobby is expansive and has TONS of marble—I mean everywhere. They also have beautiful columns of marble and the look is very very nice, nothing like the business class Marriott’s I am used to in the US.

Club 91: We also took advantage of Club 91. I'd skip this upgrade (which is NOT offered for free to anyone, Platinum or otherwise). The cost is $100 per day is like a super snobby and upscale concierge lounge that you see in every full service Marriott around the USA. In their literature, the boast about "five meals," daily. This is total BS. I would say it is five appetizers--at best. There is NO way what they serve for either lunch or dinner cuts it for a meal. Period.

There a few "values" to Club 91.
1. The concierge attendants (usually two at all times) who work in the club provide a much higher level of service, i.e. making dinner reservations, helping with this or that, etc.
2. If you like to consume alcohol and can drink a lot in a short period of time, this is the place to be. They have an open bar every night from 6-8pm. During that time you can drink as much of any drink, top shelf or otherwise, gratis.
3. The lounge itself is stunning. There are four private "rooms" where you can admire the amazing views and have some quality time. This is really rather different than a regular concierge level.
4. You can check in and check out in the lounge (although my daughter liked the extra dierre (I don't know why you can't say AS$?) kissing, it really was no big deal).
5. They offer like five different pillows--here too not that big of a deal, but certainly unique.
6. If you stay at Club 91 they give you free internet access (wireless) that I am using now from my patio. This is great, since it is normally $20 per day, which IMHO is very high--about double what I pay in the US.

That's about it, I'd pass next time, but since I got such an outrageous suite I thought what the hell.

Pools: there really are only two pools. The main one is huge, but does NOT have a waterfall or slides, etc. It is free form and does offer an "infinite pool" view, meaning that from a small distance you look at the pool and it since it blends in with the ocean it goes on forever. The pools are also SALT WATER, which was different, however we stayed at the JW Ihalini in Hawaii for my son's 10th birthday (see that review) and simply put, the JW Cancun's pools KILL the Ihalini--not even close.

There is also an adult oriented "pool bar" where you can drink from the pool on little chairs built into the pool.

Finally, there is the diver’s pool, which is ONLY open for the hotel's use when they sell lessons. It is NOT open for swimming at other times--this was a disappointment, as their literature led me to believe otherwise.

Beach:
The beach is smallish, but the water is an amazing blue green color. They have numerous thatched huts that are first come first served. A word here, I found many people (guests) rather rude with their manners as it related to umbrellas at the pool and the huts at the ocean. The custom is to claim them with towels, etc. first thing in the AM and then think that they belong to you if you leave (and never come back). It is disappointing that the hotel does not do a better job of policing this as this morning my wife and I were at the beach for literally five hours and the hut in front of us was “occupied” but we never saw anyone.

The waves are rather large and strong and have strong under tows. Be careful with little ones.

The area:
The JW is located near KM marker 17 on the hotel strip. It is connected to the Casa Magna (the cheaper Marriott, but still nice) and is near the Ritz Carlton and Le Meriden. There is not much in the way of restaurants to walk to as the main area of Cancun is a taxi cab ride (or bus) away (about 3-4 miles I would estimate). Having said this though, if you want solitude in an otherwise boisterous place (think spring break) the JW would suit you well.

Things to do:
We rented a car and drove to Tulum (ancient ruins) and XCARET (Mexico’s version of DisneyWorld—I’ll take WDW any day over it). Rental cars are expensive (about $100 per day, which includes insurance—which you need) I did not find driving in Mexico any sort of challenge and would recommend to anyone that has even a bit of an adventurous streak to do so.

Deep Sea fishing: For my son’s 11th birthday he chose to go deep sea fishing. We went with Aqua World (they have a booth on the JW property). It was expensive (about $750 for six hours, but we had a private 40 foot fishing boat with a crew of three), but the good thing is that he did catch a sailfish (here too getting it mounted was expensive, a little over $1,000 total, probably more like $1,400 when we are all done). AquaWorld is good, but they try to sell you everything and want tipped every two seconds (much of Mexico is like that) If you are a beginner deep sea fisherman (like us) you’ll like this place. If you are looking for ESPN I am sure that there are better alternatives.

Specific tips:
1. Ask the bellman for coupons. I know that this might sound tacky, but they will give you 15% off coupons for THEIR restaurants. We went to the lobster and prime rib buffet at the Mexican restaurant and saved like $30. They have them for the restaurants at both the JW and the Casa Magna.
2. Buy water PRIOR to getting to the hotel. This is a BIG rip off. They charge like $10 for a bottle of Evian Water. Save yourself a ton by buying this prior to getting there (we went to Sam’s Club in Playa de Carmen and bought a case of Evian for like $15 total).
3. Get out to the pool and or beach early in the morning to claim your umbrella or hut. This is crucial as after about 10am everything is gone.
4. Go to the Seafood buffet at the JW. It is held every WED, FRI and SUN. The prime rib is great and it is all you can eat lobster tails that are grilled—you can’t go wrong there (a little pricey though, $46/person—beverage NOT included)
5. WEAR sun block. It is REALLY hot here, I mean smoking and I am from Texas. You will get burned very easily if you don’t use sun block.

The hotel is very nice and deserves it's five star rating. The staff are all very helpful. Room service was prompt and excellent. The main pool is very nice and kid friendly, the infinety pool is very beautiful. However, don't pay any attention to the pictures on the Marriott website with the nice wide white sandy beach! The ocean starts at the bottom of the stairs that access the beach. You can't find a foot of dry beach at this property and it because of the rocks it is too dangerous to even enter the ocean. False advertising at it's best! Marriott, Trip Advisor and everyone else need to change the picture used for this resort.

As a side note, skip the rental cars. We were pulled over by the crooked police for going 68 in a 70 zone. No violation, but they threaten you to pay cash on site or they will take you to the police station. Your basically stuck and forced to pay cash on the spot to pay them off.

We arrived via American Transfers who were wating for us at the airport. Security at the resort took our name and when we existed the taxi the door man aknowledged us by name and walked us into the hotel. We were greeted with a cool refreshing hand towel than escorted to the front desk. Our room was not quite ready so we enjoyed lunch at the Beach Bar Grill. The pool and grounds are kept exceptionally clean and they were beautiful.
After lunch we checked into our room which was 415 about seven rooms from the ocean. We don't believe that any room would have a bad view. We particually liked ours because it was on the same floor as the exercise room. The room was decorated nicely, clean and was adequate for our family of three. The bathroom in particlular was very spacious and had a large shower and tub with two sinks.
We used bus transportation for almost all our excursions. The cost was 65 pesos pp. On our first excursion on day 2 we took the bus to the Playa Tortugas stop and caught the ferry $15.00 pp round trip to Isla Mujeres. We rented a golf cart for the day at $45 and headed south. We stopped at Rolandi Hotel for the best breakfeast we had our entire stay, its located next to the dolphin swim. We did stop by the dolphin swim and just looked around. Later I was advised this was not allowed. We inadvertenly slipped in with a group that was ariving. My daughter got to see the seals and dolphins. Next we headed up to the beach across from the Avalon Hotel right before you get to the bridge. We rented some chairs and umbrella for 90 pesos and stayed there the rest of the day. The water is very shallow and we actually seen and held a star fish. Our waiter was the best.
Day three we booked a trip with Selvatica for a zip line, mountain bike ride and swim in the cenote. Highly recommend, they do an excellent job.
Day four we took the bus back to Playa Tortugas, rented some chairs/ umbrella 150 pesos and swan all day. Again our beach waiter was excellent.
Day five we hired a taxi, $34 each way, and went to Puerto Morelos which is between Cancun and Playa Del Carmen. It's a little fishing village and has a beautiful calm beach. If you go get dropped off at Ojo De Agua. They are only one of two places that rent chairs/umbrellas for 150 pesos and has waiter service on the beach.
Restaurants we visited were Bubba Gumps, Shrimp Basket, Pat O'Breins, Papa John's, but our favorite was Pericos. Pericos puts on a nice show and the food is delicious. As you can see we have a very picky 8 year old.
In conclusion, this was our first visit to Mexico and we were impressed. At no time did we ever not feel safe. Our daughter played with many of the local children, since this was there spring break. On the beach we meet a very nice local couple who gave us beers on the beach and wanted to take us to dinner. We declined the dinner only because we were at Puerto Morelos that day and only had swim wear. Our children played together all day in the ocean.

There is NO BEACH, it washed away. As a result, anyone who wants sun and swimming needs to use the pools and there are not enough lounges chairs. The result can only be called the 'Great Chair Wars". If you go down to the pools (there are 2 primary areas) at 8am, you will likely NOT find an unreserved lounge chair. People get up at 5 am to “reserve” chairs by putting a personal item (shoe, book, pool towels – this amazes me because the pool towels aren’t put out until 6am) on the chairs they want. What makes it worse, most of these people don’t show up to actually occupy their lounges until 10 or 11 in the morning so you have people looking for seats at the pool at 9 and all they see is an ocean of unoccupied, “reserved” chairs. We saw people arguing because they came down at 11 and someone had the sheer nerve to move their hotel towels so they could sit down.

If you want to spend a day at the pool, you need to get down to the pool before 7 to reserve a lounge chair (and you won’t have a huge selection at 7). It’s amazing how many people show up in their pajamas to get seats! It’s also amazing how many people are “Pigs” reserving 4 chairs (2 in the sun and 2 in the shade) and 2 tables for 2 people…….I guess they feel entitled to special treatment – they must have neon “I’m Important” signs at home.

The distressing thing is that the hotel management does nothing about this situation….it’s not their fault the beach washed away, but they could do something like removing towels from chairs that are unoccupied for 2 hours so other folks can sit down. Put up a sign (and enforce it!) that says “Items will be removed from chairs unoccupied for 2 hours”

If you want to go on vacation to get up a 5am every day so you can get a seat at the pool, this is the PLACE FOR YOU!! Personally, I’d rather sleep in until 7 (at least) on vacation, have a relaxed breakfast, and then go sit at the pool. I don’t need to be in a competition every morning for a place to relax while I’m on vacation.

As for the hotel itself, the staff is very polite, good, and efficient. The physical premises are beautiful. The rooms are “Marriott”. The grounds are well maintained. The food is good, the bars are not obscenely expensive. They could put coffee pots in the rooms rather than trying to squeeze the extra $2/day out of each guest to buy coffee in the lobby shop.

I paid for the hotel with Marriott points….I’m uncertain if I got my money’s worth.