This is not a five star hotel. You’re warned. On first glance it looks ok. I am ambassador level with Marriott Bonvoy and this hotel is no my strict no go list.
The rooms are outdated. They look ok when you walk in. No desk in the room and a lack of power outlets. No iron or ironing board. Definitely not catered to business travelers or families. The bathroom is open. You can see in. Good luck if you have a teenage daughter.
The Resturants are ok but way over priced. Not bad but not a good value and I do expect to spend more at a JW.
The staff is very polite but very intrusive. In the gym there is literally a monitor walking around harassing the guests. I was told three times the machine I was working out on was making too much noise. Really annoying being interrupted with such nonsense. I was literally slowly working out and was extremely gentle to keep the gym czar from hounding me. On the plus side, the equipment was great except for the ellipticals.
They charge for the Sauna area. It’s $33 USD. It’s clean and nice but nothing special. It has a dry sauna, a wet sauna , a cold tank and a hot tub. Plus showers. Again the staff was polite but very intrusive. Constantly watching you. It was like a creepy horror story. The facility is nice, say 7.5/10, but the attention to details stink. No bath towels! Zero! They had hand towels maybe 18 inches by 12 inches. Nothing bigger. On top of that the staff follows you around and insists over and over that you get naked. I was wearing nice bathing trunks. Shocking that an international hotel chain is so clueless. If you want/require people to walk around naked give them a bath towel. They had shaving.cleaning stations in the shower area. Shaving cream and used combs were available. No razors to use with the shaving cream. I was actually talked to by the female receptionist that the policy is to be naked in the sauna. I told her the hotel should invest in towels. The sauna area had no drinking water. I couldn’t find any. None! In one of the frequent episodes of inappropriate staff intrusion, I asked the guy where the water station was. No answer. He disappeared and came back 10mins later with a bottle of water. Ridiculous. Also, I was asked if I had tattoos. I don’t. I asked why and the receptionist showed me the terms of use and no tattoos are allowed in the sauna area. A gym and Sauna are on my must have when I travel. I picked this hotel because they had it.
The bottom line is I don’t select a JW to be constantly bothered by the staff and to follow weird policies. I’m not exaggerating at all. I expect staff to be polite and helpful. I don’t expect them to be intrusive or creepy. I don’t blame the staff individuals, maybe except for the gym tyrant, I blame the general,Anaheim. He set this tone and he cut the budget. The first hotel I’ve been in that had no water or bath towels in a Sauna at any price point. To me, this is rated “avoid at all costs.”
