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JW Marriott Austin Review: King Room
The JW Marriott is located near the river in downtown Austin. It’s a beautiful, brand spanking new, luxury hotel that really impressed us. We originally went to the JW the night we stayed at the Driskill to check out the bar, and also because I love seeing new hotels…especially JWs. I love a good JW Marriott. It’s a fantastic place to watch a game, grab a snack, or chill out at the lobby bar and if you’re single…to mingle. Ultimately, we ended up staying at the JW Marriott Austin later that night, checkin in around 2am, because of our “experience” at the The Driskill that sent us packing, lol. We set out for a really cool, surprise getaway to Austin that would had us visiting two hotels, and by freak encounter we ended up at our third hotel, The JW Marriott Austin, and absolutely loved it.
Our Unique Check-in
We left The Driskill like a bat out of hell. It was 2am, we were dragging our bags across downtown weaving in and out of the night crawlers, and headed straight to the JW. My girlfriend loved the vibe there a few hours earlier when we were hanging out at the bar, and when we got spooked in room 525, she was on the phone with the JW to reserve a room.
We arrived and the power was out. They apologized, were working on it, but only the Emergency power was on and one elevator was working.
The Deets:
- When – September 2016
- Room Type – King
- Loyalty: Marriott Rewards
- Status: Silver
If you don’t like big grand hotels…this isn’t your type of spot.
The room at our unique check-in
Even without power you can tell it’s quite nice. And was totally supposed to be for someone attending a conference…hence the La Crema wine.
And here’s what it looked like the next morning after we had power
The room had an incredible view. Felt very fresh and new.
Lobby and Restaurant area
There are 6 restaurants and a Starbucks
We ended up eating at 3 of them. Lobby Bar, Rooftop Pool Bar, and the Corner Restaurant. Of all of them I’d recommend the Corner Restaurant the most. It’s located on the ground floor and has easy access to the rest of Austin. The Rooftop Pool Bar is a very dope spot to just kick it and sip a cocktail or chill out. Not sure if it’s open to anyone but guests, but it was laid back when we visited.
One of the nicest gym facilities I’ve seen in a hotel
Amazing light, new machines, a spa opening soon that looked incredible. JW Marriott Austin is killing it across the board.
Overall:
The hotel is amazing. Fantastic location where you could walk to 6th street and also to the kooky shops of South Congress. If you’re looking for a fresh, contemporary place to kick back, relax, and give Austin a run for it’s money – look no further. If you’re looking for a more traditional setting that is quiet, historic, and offers a unique bar setting: check out the Driskill or the Intercontinental.
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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
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 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, 2024
- $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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