Hotel review: JW Marriott Juhu, Mumbai

Marriott operates 30 hotels across India, of which 7 are JW Marriott hotels. My stay count so far has been 3 of those 7 (Bangalore - twice, Delhi Aerocity and Sahar Mumbai). I realise now that I haven't written about my stay at the JW Marriott at Aerocity Delhi. I haven't been able to find the pictures I'd taken (yes, shameful!). Nonetheless, I thought I'd write about my stay at the JW Marriott in Juhu, Mumbai, from a couple of months or so back.

They've got a fabulous location - the rear of the hotel is on the beachfront with direct access to the beach.

View of the beach from the poolside

Also, they've done a good job with the overall decor, etc, especially in the public spaces of the hotel. However, the general exterior and the rooms gave me the feeling that this was a relatively older hotel (it is 14 years old), and that they aren't looking to upgrade themselves in a hurry. Plus the food was pretty average, as was the F&B service experience.

Anyway, on with the review.

The hotel's main entrance is on Level 1, accessed via a ramp from the main gates. The ground floor (or lower lobby) hosts the banquets rooms, the nightclub and the coffee shop, which can also be accessed from the lobby level. The foyer itself is pretty large, and gives a good feel of space and openness.

JW Marriott Juhu Lobby view

JW Marriott Juhu Lobby view

JW Marriott Juhu Lobby view

JW Marriott Juhu Lobby view

Walking straight on from the entrance, is a grand staircase that leads to the coffee shop, and thereafter to the grounds outside.

JW Marriott Juhu Lobby view

JW Marriott Juhu Lobby view

JW Marriott Juhu entrance to coffee shop

The hotel is designed in a "U" shape, with rooms on each side and a long corridor connecting the two arms of the U. Which means, there could well be a long walk to reach your room. 

   

JW Marriott Juhu corridors

I stayed in a standard room, which had a reasonably nice but small view of the shore. 

JW Marriott Juhu Sea view from my room

I understand, however, that the suites and higher category rooms are directly sea-facing, which would be awesome!

In comparison to some of the hotels I've stayed at in the last two or three years, my room at the JW Marriott Juhu has to count as one of the smallest, if not the smallest. Having said that, at least it had the benefit of being compact, and unlike the typical me, I didn't have to search for stuff I might have left at random places in the room!

Take a look at these pictures of the room.

JW Marriott Juhu Room view

JW Marriott Juhu Room view

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view - bed

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view - work desk

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view - couch

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view - iPod dock

JW Marriott Juhu Room view - Artwork

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view - coffee machine

JW Marriott Juhu Room view - minibar

If it looks even reasonably large, that's because of the sliding doors to the bathroom, which run perpendicular to each other. Sliding them out makes the entire bathroom space feel like a part of the room, which makes the overall room size appear large. Here's a picture of the room with the sliding doors closed, so you can tell the difference.

 JW Marriott Juhu Room view with sliding doors closed

As with the living area, I found the bath area to be quite small too. 

 JW Marriott Juhu bathroom

  JW Marriott Juhu bathroom

 JW Marriott Juhu bath products

And note the absence of a bath tub (not that I need it, but all the JWs I've been to so far have had bath tubs, so it looks like an inconsistency). But what irked me most about the bath was the unified control panel for the rain shower and extendible shower.

 JW Marriott Juhu bathroom shower controls

The upper handle toggles between the two showers, while the lower one is for force and temperature controls. There is really no grip, barring the little knob on the upper handle, to alternate between the two showers. And from experience at this hotel, I can tell you that it is very difficult to use without seriously injuring your hand!

I ordered room service, which was served on a roll-away tray with extendible support for more "table" space.

 JW Marriott Juhu Dinner - room service

The only place to keep this was between the bed and the TV. And once extended, there was absolutely no space to walk around the table - I had to jump over the bed to get across to open the door when they came to clear the table after dinner. 

A word about the dinner itself - I ordered a thali, comprising some Indian breads, steamed rice, dal and two vegetable dishes. While the bread and dal were just fine, the sides were excessively oily.

I headed out to the coffee shop for breakfast the next morning. As with most good hotels, they have an extensive selection of Indian, Asian and continental dishes on offer, a live eggs station, and separate stations for cold cuts, breads, juicies, etc. Also on offer were various other cooked-to-order stuff such has parathas, dosas, as also waffles and pancakes. In particular, they had an reasonably wide selection of local (Mumbai) dishes on offer, including chats.

 JW Marriott Juhu Coffee shop

 JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

  JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

  JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

  JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

  JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

 JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

 JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

 JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

 JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

 JW Marriott Juhu breakfast

While not spectacular, breakfast was on par with other Marriotts as well as higher-end hotels of other chains. However, I did like their selection of juices, which included both fruit and vegetable juices.

There were two service issues at breakfast, both with the live counters. Number 1: I'd asked for an egg-whites omelet and a waffle, which would've been delivered to the table. I received the omelet but not the waffles, which didn't come even after I reminded the server about it. Number 2: I ran into an associate who I chatted with over breakfast. She was waiting for his egg-whites omelet made with three portions of egg-whites. She received one with the standard single portion. Having seen my failure with getting the dish I'd ordered, she chose to ignore the matter and get himself something else.

Unlike most of my stays, I had some time after breakfast, so I decided to take a little walk and explore the hotel grounds and the swimming pool are, which were really nice. Plus a cool breeze blowing that morning helped add to the freshness of the atmosphere. There was nobody in the pool, which also meant the place was extremely quiet - a very calming atmosphere, overall.

 JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside - exterior view of the hotel

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

  JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

 JW Marriott Juhu Poolside

I personally thought the best part of staying at this hotel was the view of the Juhu airport runway from the east-facing corridors of the hotel. There are no rooms as such that face east, which is a shame. Here's the view from a corridor:

You can see the runway between the two larger buildings opposite the hotel.

Readers: Have you stayed at this hotel? What are your view, impressions and feedback? Leave a comment below.