Lost item at JW Marriott Grande Lakes - BEWARE of lost valuables. Stayed at JW Marriott this past weekend. Left an item behind on the bed by accident. Contacted JW that evening and again the following next two days without any resolution. Security there has not responsive and never returned my calls, despite telling me they would contact me that day. Item was easily visible to housekeeping. JW knows who cleaned the room and when after my departure but still don’t get the impression they have even asked the housekeeping staff. Security just says “nothing has been turned in”. Beware.

Drab, Dirty, Dingey and Horrible Customer Service I will start this review by saying I have reached out to the J.W. Merriott Grand Lakes 3 times to speak to a manager about our stay….all 3 times I was assured that a Manager would contact me as the issues I brought up were not J.W. Merriott standards (it’s been almost a month since our stay and still NOTHING). First off...we went to the J.W. Merriott to celebrate my Birthday. When I say “we” it was myself, my daughter (pre-school age) and my husband. The main reason we decided to stay here was the lazy river/pool area. We checked in and headed straight to the pool to be able to really enjoy it! It was packed! And it’s not that it was packed just with guests….we were floating in the lazy river and were able to hear multiple conversations from people about how they snuck in and how they are going to text this friend and that friend about which gate to enter, etc. There were also multiple groups of kids/teenagers who were jumping off of the bridges and rocks (there are signs stating to NOT do this), however…they were and there were no staff asking them to stop. Lets talk about cleanliness. You would think that especially this year (16 months….whatever) that the hotel would be on top of keeping things pristine! Keeping them super clean and making sure that guests felt comfortable and safe in their rooms! I noticed when we checked that on the credenza beside the elevators on our floor was an empty Red Bull can….this dirty, empty can stayed on that credenza our entire stay. Our room…I’ll just say it, I was not impressed when I initially walked into the room. The rooms seem dated and dark and dingy….the blackout curtain was ripped and torn to shreds. It looked as if someone had taken a knife to it and had sliced and diced it. Also, around the bottom of the window looked to be black mold growing on the wall. It was a splotchy black patch. I wouldn’t touch it and wouldn’t allow my daughter to go towards the window just in case. I then looked over and noticed how dirty and gross the air return was (it’s at eye level and in the wall, it’s not hard to see) there was also a dirty Q-tip sticking out of it….yuck. The bathroom was a mess…peeling paint on the ceiling, mold and mildew in the shower, there were pencil marks on the tile outside the showers where they must have been measuring something and didn’t bother to clean them off and after flushing the toilet it would continue to run, and run and run! The bedside table had suspicious white glob/streaks running down it…..I will tell myself that it was lotion…. We checked out and I brought up the issues with the young man who checked us out (I will add that when I checked out, there was NO ONE ELSE checking out….I was the only person standing at the front desk). I had made a list so that they could address and look into the issues. I also wanted to make sure that if it was busy at the front desk I wasn’t taking up a bunch of time with them having to take notes. I also showed him pictures that I had taken in the room so he knew I wasn’t just making things up and that they were legitimate concerns. The young man looked at me and said “Well, I will tell housekeeping they need to do a better job cleaning” and then walked over to his computer….didn’t look at me….then handed me my bill. I couldn’t believe that I didn’t even get a “Oh my goodness, I am so sorry to hear that…that is not our standard” or “Thank You so much for bringing this to our attention, I will definitely have our management team look into this” or “Here, let me take care of your self parking charge” I was so shocked that I just walked away. I was in disbelief that a hotel that strives to be a “luxury” property would treat me in such a way. I have since called the property 3 times requesting to speak to a manager about the issues. All 3 times I was told that a manager would call me back…..I have heard NOTHING from them!!! I filled out the survey that they sent and expressed my concerns in the survey….and again….have heard nothing! I have been waiting to post this review as I had hoped they would have been considerate enough to at least return my phone call…but no.

False cleanliness commitment We checked in on 7/26/21 at around 8:30-8:40 pm at room 16044. The room was not clean. When I went to wash my hands, I noticed that the sink was dirty.  Upon further inspection we discovered dry blood all over the toilet and floor. The air vents were super dusty. This was shocking to me. I was expecting cleanliness above all, especially during the pandemic.  I went back to the front desk and the same lady that checked us in moved us to another room. She was polite and understanding. We were relocated to room 14002. This  room was better cleaned. However, the bed sheet of one of the beds had some yellowish spots on the corner. I called the front desk and asked for housekeeping to change bedsheet. Housekeeping came and changed it. Housekeeping lady was nice, she apologized and changed the sheets.  Instead of checking out on Friday as planned, we checked out today 7/28 since we didn’t feel confortable anymore and skeptical. As a healthcare worker, I can appreciate the significance of sanitation as crucial factor to avoid the spread of diseases. When we leave home to stay in hotels, we trust our health to businesses like yours, especially when commitment to cleanliness have been made.  I appreciate the positive demeanor of the staff I have interacted with. Nevertheless, checking into dirty rooms is not aceptable and deceiving for customers. I think supervisors should have a quality check method to guarantee that rooms and all the hotel areas are properly cleaned. With the Covid-19 pandemic, every hospitality business should follow protocols with higher standards. I provided this same feedback to the hotel and got some emails back apologizing and offering some points..??? I will never come back here and I do not recommend this place to anyone that cares for cleanliness and health.

Heaven On Earth Beautiful hotel. Amazing Staff. Love the lobby bar. Fabulous lazy river. It's connected to the Ritz Carlton. First time here and won't be the last. Will NOT be staying anywhere else when I'm visiting Orlando. Now I'm thinking about purchasing property at The Residences.

If You Like Cold Showers Unfortunately this fine property seems to be struggling. 1) I had hot water for my shower only on the last day of five -- even after they moved me to a different room. 2) The rooms are missing furnishings. The television remote was not in the first room and in the second room there were very few furnishings (less than the site description includes for that style room.) 3) When the adjacent Ritz Carlton put a charge on my bill, the JW required me to walk the 3/4 of a mile through the heat to that restaurant to straighten it. Fortunately I had noticed this in my online charges and didn't have to try to do it at the last minute. For my age I'm pretty mobile. Don't know what I would have done otherwise. 4) 30 minute plus check out line due to lack of sufficient front desk personnel. 5) Apparently the "guest services hotline" on the room phone simply rings to the front desk where they are so understaffed it just never gets answered. A long way to travel to the front desk to ask for very simple service requests such as when housekeeping somehow skipped my room one day. 6) The second room I was in had a thermostat that was on its last legs and could hardly be changed, if at all. Apparently the staff has trouble too because it was set on a frigid 62 degrees when I entered the room. And I say unfortunately they are struggling because there are so many outstanding things about the property. 1) The staff is uniformly congenial and affable. Everyone from housekeeping to front desk to restaurant and bar staff. 2) The food is terrific. I was attending a 5 day conference and, although I have attended a lot of conferences in my years, the food was absolutely the best ever -- in quality, quantity, variety, and server support. Simply amazing. 3) The front desk staffer who realized my problems gave me a $100 credit toward my room charges -- without my even asking. So kind. 4) Unlike many hotels currently reopening, the JW is offering full housekeeping service as standard every day. The freshness of the rooms and bedding reflect that. 5) I didn't use the pools or golf but they look really nice and well maintained. If they can overcome their current property management problems, I will consider returning. This property certainly has lots of the necessary components to be a top notch facility. But for now, I probably can find a better facility among the numerous Orlando resorts.