Review: JW Marriott Bucharest, Romania

Name: JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Address: Bucharest, Romania

By: Ben Schlappig

Published: November 5, 2019

19 comments

Booking The JW Marriott Bucharest

The JW Marriott Bucharest is a Category 4 Bonvoy property, and for our date a free night would have cost 35,000 points. That worked out perfectly, because Tiffany and I both had free night certificates through Marriott’s co-branded credit card, valid at a property costing up to 35,000 points per night.

The paid rate for our stay would have been 235EUR per room, so that represented a great use of the certificate, given how much lower the annual fee on the card is than that.

JW Marriott Bucharest Review

We only had a fairly short stay at the JW Marriott, as we arrived in the afternoon and departed the next morning, and we did do a bit of touring in the afternoon.

The JW Marriott Bucharest is about a 30 minute drive from the international airport (we dropped off our car there before going into the city). The hotel has over 400 rooms, and certainly meets the “grand” description.

JW Marriott Bucharest exterior

The hotel’s lobby was beautifully maintained, and reception was easy to find.

JW Marriott Bucharest lobby

There was also a small shopping mall of sorts just off the lobby, with some high end stores.

JW Marriott Bucharest shopping

At check-in I was helped by Alper, who was incredibly friendly. He explained I had been upgraded to a family suite on account of my Ambassador status, asked if I needed late check-out, and also familiarized me with the executive lounge, which I had access to.

JW Marriott Bucharest Family Suite

I was assigned room 846, located on the eighth floor.

JW Marriott Bucharest hallway

The suite was absolutely massive. There was an entryway with a half bath and a small kitchen on the right.

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite entryway

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite bathroom

JW Marriott Bucharest suite kitchen

Then there was a large living room with a dining table with four chairs, a couch and two chairs, and a desk.

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite living area

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite desk

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite living area

The minibar setup (including a coffee machine) was along the wall closest to the entrance.

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite living area

There was a welcome amenity consisting of a bottle of rose and a fruit plate.

JW Marriott Bucharest welcome amenity

Since this was a “family” suite it had two bedrooms — talk about a completely unnecessary upgrade! Closer to the entrance was the second bedroom, which had two double beds.

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite second bedroom

Then further into the room was the main bedroom, with a king bed.

JW Marriott Bucharest family suite main bedroom

The main bathroom was nice enough, though nothing special. It had a single sink, a tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.

JW Marriott Bucharest suite bathroom

JW Marriott Bucharest suite bathtub

JW Marriott Bucharest suite toilet

JW Marriott Bucharest suite shower

Toiletries were from Aromatherapy Associates.

JW Marriott Bucharest suite toiletries

The room had views of the city — Bucharest isn’t necessarily the most picturesque city (at least after being in Transylvania for nearly a week), but the views were still quite nice.

JW Marriott Bucharest suite view

Wifi in the room was fast and free, so all around I have nothing but good things to say about the room, especially given the awesome upgrade.

JW Marriott Bucharest Executive Lounge

The JW Marriott Bucharest executive lounge is also located on the eighth floor, and is open daily from 6:30AM until 9:30PM. The lounge has the following services:

Breakfast from 6:30AM to 10:30AM
Afternoon tea from 3:00PM to 5:30PM
Evening happy hour and snacks from 5:30PM to 7:30PM
Open bar from 7:30PM to 9:30PM

The lounge was spacious, and never really got busy. There were some dining tables deep into the lounge, then some couches facing TVs, and then also some high-top seating.

JW Marriott Bucharest executive lounge

The afternoon tea selection was nice but not substantial, and consisted of chips, snack mix, fresh fruit, pastries, cakes, and some scones.

JW Marriott Bucharest club lounge afternoon tea

Then the evening selection was brought out, which included mostly cold options, though also had a few hot dishes. All alcoholic drinks were served by the lounge staff.

JW Marriott Bucharest club lounge evening happy hour

JW Marriott Bucharest Breakfast

The hotel’s signature restaurant is JW Steakhouse, which is one level above the lobby. As a club guest they let you have breakfast in the restaurant rather than the lounge, which is awesome (and not required). Restaurants almost always have better spreads than lounges, so it’s nice when you get the best of both worlds.

Breakfast in the restaurant was served daily from 6:30AM until 11AM.

JW Marriott Bucharest restaurant

Breakfast consisted of an excellent buffet, along with cooked to order eggs and other hot goodies. I’ll let the pictures speak mostly for themselves.

JW Marriott Bucharest breakfast buffet

JW Marriott Bucharest Gym & Pool

The JW Marriott Bucharest has World Class Healthy Academy in the basement. This is an outside gym that is used by locals, but hotel guests have complimentary access.

JW Marriott Bucharest gym

The gym was large, had great equipment, and even had a pool and spa. I went at 6:30AM thinking it would allow me to get pictures, but the gym was packed even shortly after opening. So I wasn’t able to get pictures, so I’ll instead share the below pictures from the hotel’s website.

JW Marriott Bucharest gym

JW Marriott Bucharest pool

JW Marriott Bucharest Bottom Line

While we only had a quick stop in Bucharest, the JW Marriott was great. The service was friendly, the hotel is beautiful, I got a great upgrade (Tiffany also got an executive suite upgrade as a Titaninum member), the lounge was good, and as elite members we even got restaurant breakfast.

I have heard that the hotel maybe doesn’t have the best location if you’re looking to explore the city. The hotel is close to parliament, which is convenient, since it’s one of the biggest tourist attractions in Bucharest. But otherwise the surrounding area isn’t necessarily that charming.

I’d stay here again in a heartbeat.

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