JW Marriott Grand Rapids in Grand Rapids, MI

The hotel itself was fine - nothing special. The staff (other than the amazing valet) were marginal at best.I am only Gold Elite but asked for an upgrade at check in. Was told the hotel was fully committed. I was able to go online and see there was a ton of availability in all room categories. I don’t like being lied to but upgrades are never guaranteed so I lived with my low floor, roof top view next to the elevator and ice machine. Was offered lounge access for $70. I agreed but when I went to the lounge they had a small frig of drinks, snack mix and chocolate covered pretzels. I went back later for hors d'oeuvres which consisted of some cheddar cheese and cold falafel balls. Had dinner at the restaurant and sat outside. We left after not getting our food for over a hour. Tried to get breakfast at 6:30am but breakfast isn’t available until 7am at all restaurants including room service. No room cleaning at all. Garbage was overflowing but nobody ever came for service. The room was fine and bed comfortable but I wouldn’t go back.

We stayed here this past weekend. We drove from about 3 hours away to attend at concert at Van Andel and celebrate a birthday. I booked a few weeks in advance. A week or so before we realized that the 4pm check-in time would be kind of late since we thought we’d get into town earlier. I called to ask for an earlier check-in. I was not guaranteed an earlier check-in but they said they would make a note and I could call back the day of to see if I would have an earlier check-in. I called back the day of check-in and explained that I had called previously. I was told they would prioritize my room with housekeeping & while they couldn’t say how earlier I would be able to get in, I should be able to get in prior to 4pm. So you can imagine my surprise when I arrived at the hotel and proceeded to wait in a long check-in line because when I checked in with the app, I couldn’t pick an arrival time prior to 5:15pm. We did encounter traffic so we arrived after 4pm but it wasn’t even 4:30. I was honestly shocked when the desk staff asked for the best phone number to reach me because my room wasn’t ready. From the conversations happening around me, no one’s room was ready. They couldn’t tell me how long it would be until my room would be ready. This is after calling twice to ask for an early check-in. We were offered a pass to the executive lounge but the only reason we got into our room before 6pm is that I kept refreshing the app to look for the mobile key. Our plans for a nice dinner before the concert were dashed. By the time we got our room, freshened up, and got to the arena we only had time to grab food there at the concert. I’m not sure why there were no rooms ready at our check-in time but I think it would help to get rid of the noon check-out. Or perhaps they accommodate late check-outs over early check-ins. The room was fine, it was clean - everyone who worked at the hotel that I interacted with was pleasant but I regret picking this hotel. Arriving and not being able to check-in just soured the evening and made it stressful. I think there’s room for them to improve their check-in and check-out policies.

Let me first of all say that the staff were incredibly nice during my stay!! Michael Montoya was very gracious to give me a beautiful upgrade as well as provide a late check out for me as I was in town for a funeral. I followed up the next day with Tyler W and he made sure everything was situated. When we arrived to the hotel, Jacob and Nick helped gather our things from the vehicle upstairs to the room. When we got ready to check in, Tyler M make sure everything was situated. And when we look to the right, we heard some exquisite jazz beaming from the hotel lobby. When we went up to the concierge level, the views were breathtaking. LaLa was very accommodating and did a fantastic job, making sure we were taken care of. The next day we had a great breakfast. Hannah took care of us that morning. All in all it was a great stay. However, there are a couple of criticisms. The first is that the rooms are very tiny. That’s understandable because most new hotels are making rooms small. that said, I was a bit surprised to not see a couch in the room. It was just two chairs. Another one was even bigger. Remember how I said earlier that we were supposed to have a late checkout? Apparently housekeeping did not get the memo as one of them just walked right in without knocking or anything. It startled me and my girlfriend to the point where I had to go downstairs and talk to the manager who was very nice. So thanks Hannah for taking care of that. Again, it was all in all a good trip. The location is fantastic, the food is great. The music is dope and Considering the fact that JW Marriott is an upscale, luxurious, eclectic brand I most highly recommend this hotel.

We stayed 3 nights during my husband’s work conference and having stayed at other top tier JW Marriotts, we were excited to be here in GR. Unfortunately, there were many disappointments and frustrations. First, the mattresses are WAY too hard. In fact, I know of at least 4 other couples staying on different floors (5, 12, 21) complaining of the hard beds and their back and hips hurting. The towels were not high end “soft” in fact were coarse and hard on the skin. There is no turn down service as advertised and after our room was not cleaned one day (we left in the morning and returned at 4pm) and I called to have it cleaned and was told it would be, it never got done. We had only one towel and no coffee for the next morning and that is really all “the cleaning” I said we needed. The staff at the front desk are young and when I gave polite and private feedback on the mattresses they said they will be renovating in the future and also said maybe they just were not broken in yet. The mattresses are awful. And when I said our room wasn’t cleaned they said if I had left the privacy sign on the door they would not have gone in. Yes, I understand that and didn’t. My goodness. Two words lost in this conversation:”I’m sorry”. Breakfast buffet on Sunday very nice with a wonderful and friendly chef, but overall very disappointing stay.

Nice hotel, great location. Walking distance to lots of great restaurants. I want to give a special shoutout to the restaurant for breakfast. The omelette gentleman made the best omelette I’ve ever had and I could tell he truly enjoys his job! Will be back in August!