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| - In Short: This was one of the poorest experiences I've had with Marriott, having spent many nights in a variety of Marriott hotels and having hosted large events with Marriott. This poor experience is entirely attributed to the room quality, not service.
Despite having spent only a single night here, I had a relatively poor experience, given expectations associated with a JW Marriott. After my experience here, I am not at all surprised that this JW was downgraded from 5 to 4 AAA Diamonds in 2013.
This is not to say there are not positives. While I did not use any of the facilities or take advantage of many amenities, the resort seems well appointed and maintained. Furthermore, the service met expectations that I have for a JW Marriott. Staff are attentive and given my situation (which will become clear below), were helpful as well.
The main detractor was the room (technically rooms, as I had my room changed twice). Having just been at Sanctuary at Camelback not two miles away from the JW, the room contrast was stark. The rooms at the JW are noticeably older and antiquated. The bathrooms have seen some updating but not to the standards seen at Sanctuary. Furthermore, the living and sleeping areas are distinctly out of date. I understand that an "Old Southwest" feel is the goal here but it really just seemed old and outdated.
But even if I set aside the personal taste element, the experience here still warrants two stars (if that). Here's why.
Room 1: I was placed in room 460 (or something around there). It is a standard two bed room on the ground floor. Within two minutes I spot a decent sized cockroach scamper across the bathroom. This does not entirely surprise me, as I noticed a good-sized gap between the front door and the floor. I'm not terrified of insects but I find the idea of a cockroach in my hotel room (especially a five star hotel) generally unappealing. I called the front desk and they have me moved to another room (apparently there were no rooms off the ground floor, so I was moved to another ground floor room).
Room 2: I am shuttled to room 327, closer to the pool and lobby. When I'm let in by the bellhop, I notice it's a little warm (let's say 80 degrees, relative to the 110 outside). I check the AC and turn it down and nothing happens. The bellhop says he'll get an engineer to check it out and leaves. Twenty minutes later there's still no engineer. It's not unbearably warm (no more than 85 degrees still) but I'm getting a little irritated at this point. I check around the room to see if anything else is wrong and lo and behold I find a dead cockroach under one of the beds (accompanied by another dead insect of an unknown species). This tells me two things. One- this room is in fact accessible by cockroaches and two- housekeeping neglected to check under the bed when cleaning. I suppose a third possibility is that room remained vacant for long enough for two insects to crawl under a bed and die together. Upon this discovery I walk to the front desk to inquire 1) where the engineer is and 2) can I be relocated again due to said dead cockroach. They apologize and move me again and cover my rate (I was staying at a government rate so this didn't take much).
Room 3: I am relocated tom room 117. It's a second floor unit (somehow it got freed up in the half hour between when I first was moved and when I ended up in this room). I check through the room and find no issues. The rest of my stay is uneventful.
This hotel has significant issues to rectify. While its decor can be set aside as "not matching my taste", the prevalence of cockroaches of varying degrees of health indicates that the hotel has shoddy construction (a staff member at the front desk indicated the slat between the door and the floor was recently installed by contractors and that some of them were not installed low enough, hence insects getting in- but if this was identified as an issue that just means they knew it was a problem and haven't fixed it) and inattentive cleaning staff (or rooms that remain vacant for long periods of time). None of these should be associated with a five star hotel (or a four diamond AAA, more appropriately). This JW earns two stars because of the staff's willingness to put up with my incessant complaints. I would consider this generous as usually the presence of cockroaches is an instant one star in the minds of many.
Tip: Stay at Sanctuary at Camelback until there are indications that these issues have been fixed. It's around the same area, slightly more expensive but apparently pest-free (and better appointed in my opinion).
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