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Review: JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, 1 Bedroom Executive Suite
If you’ve been following along on my Mom’s 75th Surprise Birthday Trip around the world you may remember that before we boarded our first flight to Hong Kong from Boston my Mom had guessed Dubai as the destination. It was actually Beijing via Hong Kong, but she knew her husband and son too well – we wouldn’t plan a trip around the world and not take her to the world’s HIGHEST high tea. Not only would we have a reservation for High Tea at the Burj Khalifa, but we would be staying at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai – the world’s tallest hotel at 77 floors ( The Ritz Hong Kong has rooms higher, but the building isn’t entirely hotel). What I’m saying is DUBAI WAS LITTTTTTTTTT 😉
We couldn’t find Rocco, but we could easily find The JW Marriott Marquis Dubai because of its two twin towers.
The Deets:
- When: April 2017
- Where: Dubai U.A.E.
- Loyalty: Marriott Rewards
- Status: Platinum
- Rate: 35k + $70 per night
- Room: 1 Bedroom Executive Suite, 947 sq ft.
Deciding on the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai
In the family we carry status with the following hotel statuses:
We were looking to get two rooms or one suite with a rollaway.
There are a lot of hotels to choose from…how did get to the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai? Suites. The JW Marriott Marquis was offering an outstanding rate of 35k Marriott Rewards + $70 for a Deluxe Corner Suite. Combine that with our Platinum status and you’re getting a 1 bedroom Executive Suite with club access and a free rollaway ( which I believe is $40-50 a night normally) for the price of an entry level room + $70.
Check-In.
The JW Marriott Marriott Marquis is no small hotel – it’s over 1600 rooms. That’s Vegas size. There is a small village of bell hops waiting to help you with your bags and escort you to the front desk. Our elite status was recognized and since we had reserved the largest suite available ( other than specialty suites) we were told that we’d receive no upgrade, but that we had club access, etc. That wasn’t a big deal at all, and 947sq ft would really be great for us.
Impression of The Suite.
Absolutely Outstanding value. There was plenty of space for all of us, and it felt quite luxurious. I will say this tho…I’m a fan of JW Marriotts and Grand Hyatts. I like big, grand hotels that cater to corporate clientele that come with Huge lobbies and large club floors. This is a general statement as there are situations where you want more personal service and a more intimate feel…like Mandapa. But, we were looking for space, ease, and a deal.
The Next morning when we all woke up we were greeted with the coolest phenomenon. Dubai has rolling fog and it drapes the city in clouds. So dope.
The Club level:
It’s an entire floor. Half of it is specifically designated for business meetings, work, etc and no food is allowed. The other half is all food and drink. It’s cool just to walk the entire floor because you will end up with a 360 degree view of the city. There is ample seating even when it’s busy. And lemme tell you…it gets busy for breakfast and evening snacks. However…as you can see in the pic below – midday it’s dead.
The breakfast selections:
The evening selection:
The Pool:
I visited the pool area three times during our stay and the most, combined bar + pool, was roughly 15-20 people. For a hotel this size, and how busy it was everywhere else, I was pretty surprised. We were there in April as well, so it wasn’t CRAZY HOT, and I thought I’d see more people.
The Gym:
There are hotel gyms and then legitimate fitness centers that happen to be in a hotel. This leaned far more towards the latter. It was large, had classes, and tons of modern equipment.
Overall:
Would I stay here again…Absolutely. A couple years ago I stayed at the Grand Hyatt, and while it’s a nice hotel, the JW Marriott Marquis is next level. It’s newer, has nicer finishes, views, and I prefer the location as well – I think it’s technically called the business bay. You’ll be taking a taxi to most places because it’s so hot and the JW Marriott places in you a position where you’re less than 15 minutes to either of the big malls, and of course the Burj Khalifa. It took us roughly 30-35 minutes to get to Atlantis and ride the tram which I’d recommend.
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- Singapore to Dubai
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
- Lufthansa Business Class A321 Nice to Frankfurt ($10k)
- Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Bali
- Mandapa, Ritz Carlton Reserve 1 Bedroom Rice Paddy View Villa ($600/night)
- Conrad Bali 1 Bedroom Ocean View Suite ($400/night)
- Singapore
- Dubai
- Abu Dhabi
- Cannes, France
- Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, France ($300)
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Bali
- Singapore
- Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge
- Etihad Business Class Lounge
- Etihad Shave Experience
- London
- British Airways First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Nice
- Living Room Azur
- Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal A
Afternoon Tea
- Peninsula, Beijing
- Raffles, Singapore
- Burj Khalifa, Dubai
- Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
TIPS:
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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