JW Marriott Dubai

This is actually the world’s tallest freestanding hotel. So now that you know that, here’s what you should know about staying at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai.

Rooms: B+

The rooms are super spacious with massive bathrooms (honestly borderline too large), comfortable beds and all rooms come with fantastic views either over Dubai or the ocean. Two BIG issues though with my room in particular. One, the elevators take absolutely fucking forever. Pardon my French, but its just ridiculous. And two, the outlets are not even close to the beds. So that sucked.

Location: B

Not quite within walking distance of anything but just close enough to everything at the same time. Being on the canal is nice and I’m sure that in the next decade or so, this area will develop quickly (like the rest of Dubai) and there will be plenty in the immediate vicinity of the hotel, but for now, there’s just a (nice) running path along the creek - for anything else, its a 10-20 minute drive.

Amenities: B+

There’s a nice pool, but I would say that there is certainly not enough space or lounge chairs around to accommodate the hundreds of people using the pool from the hotel. The gym and spa are massive though, and very state-of-the-art.

Dining: A

There’s like 20 restaurants in this hotel. Rooftop restaurants, outdoor restaurants, Michelin starred restaurants, etc. You name the cuisine and they got 2 options for you just within the hotel. For us, we only dined at the executive lounge (shoutout mother for being a loyal member), and the breakfast there was phenomenal, easily one of the best I’ve ever had at a hotel executive lounge.

Scene

Look, this place is just massive. Its a destination in itself. There are weddings, business events, drunk Brits, young kids - literally an entire city operating in and out of this hotel. In a sense, its energetic and vibrant and engaging to see all these different types of people from around the world, but that same eclectic nature can also be taken as impersonal and detaching for some. If you ask me, overall, I got a kick out of the spectrum of personalities at the hotel.