Stay Report: JW Marriott Hong Kong Executive Suite + Executive Lounge
JW Marriott is one of the most premium hotels in Hong Kong, located at Central, its building stands alongside Conrad and Island Shangri-la and many people consider them the Golden Trinity of upper scale hotels in central Hong Kong. Don't get me wrong, they are not on a par with luxury chains like Mandarin Oriental or Peninsula. Besides, the property is no longer young having been standing there for 30 years. It still kept its competitiveness for a hotel that's on the verge of hitting menopause, sorry, I meant hitting a critical stage.
How I Got There:
By taking the airport express MTR train, I was able to walk from Hong Kong Station to Central Station, and with one more stop of MTR, I reached exit F towards Pacific Place at Admiralty station.Then, you would be able to see the signs that lead you to take the lift to lobby floor. There are also entrances from the Pacific Place Mall connected to the hotel.
Check In:
As I land at the airport eight in the morning again, by the time I reached the hotel around ten, I wasn't really hoping for any upgrades. There was no queue during check in, and the majority of lobby staff were well-informed of guests. So I walked to one of the available counters and the lady handled me with great profession, she asked me whether I would like the welcome amenities as points or snacks, and informed me with all the benefits of a Platinum member, she told me that I can only have breakfast at the executive lounge, but I will get a discount if I choose to dine at the restaurant.
I already heard how good breakfast at the lounge is, so I told her that I will be having it there, as for the welcome amenities, I voted on points. The check-in process took around five minutes, and she walked with me to the lift and waited together for another awkward three minutes for it to come, she handed me the key before telling me to have a nice stay, and only then was I able to find out the floor level is at 21.
I feel like I left something on this part, oh, yes, they honoured a suite upgrade, she asked me if I don't mind a smoking room, they have one available at ten in the morning for me. I gladly took it and thanked her for this gesture.
Practical Info:
Length: One night stay (early check-in)
Booked Room Category: King Guest Room
Upgraded Room Category: Executive One Bedroom Suite
Booking Made: Marriott App
Marriott Rewards Tier: Platinum Elite
As I said, the property is quite old now, so in the hallway, there isn't any window, they had to use an air ventilator, still there was a bit of smell; A middle-aged housekeeper walked passed me and greeted me as I was walking to my room, I wasn't sure if it was planned or maybe it's just a nice coincidence. Though I did feel very welcomed.
Twenty-first floor isn't necessarily the highest they can offer, but it has impeccable views already.
The dinning area in the living room.
The living room is in the size of a standard guest room, but I presume due to the old design so the executive suite does not have a guest bathroom.
Around five minutes after I entered the suite, the friendly housekeeper came knocking on my door and brought me the welcome fruits and tea. I thanked for her hospitality and tipped her.
The welcome fruits and tea was another nice gesture and if you asked for turn down service at anytime of the day, they will refill it for you instead of taking the plate away.
Other amenities in the living room come as standard like many other hotels, they offer espresso machine and a tea kettle, as well as complimentary bottled water, you probably noticed already the antique-looking piece of work is actually the ice bucket they are using at the hotel, though I never requested ice during this stay, but still, DOPE.
A very well-thought-out mini-bar display, from snacks(there are even more up on the shelf) to drinks variety. From Evian to MÖET, they are all very recognisable brands.
Their thoughtfulness does not just end there, a microwave is also placed under the counter, talking about those late night cravings.
If I have one bone to pick here, it would be the safe, the safe is great in functionality, however, this is the first hotel I've been to in Asia where I can't fit my 15 inch MacBook in, this is not a first-world problem, I believe many business travellers can have PCs easily in that size, and there's no safe in the bedroom closet, which means space is rather tight here.
The Bedroom:
The bedroom also has the squared floor end where two floor-to-ceiling windows are placed perpendicularly, this gives you more view of the harbour from two different angles.
The bed itself is not huge, but holy-bruce-wayne-batman is the mattress the most comfortable piece of furniture I've ever slept on, it gently sucks you in alongside the help of those soft pillows and bedsheets, I only slept for one night at the hotel, but lord did I tucked myself in bed a dozen times without any turn-down service just to hear the sound of joy coming out of my mouth.
This is one of those freakish fetish you get to discover by staying here, but one thing turns my switch on more than necessary is the night stand monitor.
Just look at all those buttons, I mean I can play with it all day but that's not the only thing they offer in the bedroom.
It is normal to have an office area in the room, but it's not normal if they have thought everything through for you, I mean talking about a person who often procrastinate in life, it made me feel even uncomfortable not to work for a bit as other than standard notepaper and pen, in the drawer on the side of the glass desk, you can find useful stationaries at your disposal.
Different kind of sockets are also prepared along with adapters. Things you need and don't need are all there for you.
The armchair next to the desk with separate footrest.
The closet looks chic but still it can't hide its ages, the marble exterior is made of plastic-looking material which could be tacky in present day, overall it looked alright but more like something vintage from old Hollywood movies.
Another cheap move is the flooring that when you open the closet doors, it's on the same floor level as the room, with the identical carpet. Maybe you can call it semi-walk-in-closet for a child? I managed to fit myself in it, so here are the amenities in it.(Sideline: talking about my dedication writing reviews.)
A convertible luggage rack, a shoe-shining basket and an ironing set, with standard two pairs of slippers.
For JW Marriott, it's usual that they prepare two pieces of silk-surfaced spa robe with velour material inside, you can also find Japanese bathrobes typically under the drawer of the TV stand, heck, you can try both of them since the bathroom came with a jacuzzi.
Another thoughtful thing they've prepared in the drawer of the nightstand is a Jogging Map around Central, Hong Kong. You can also find religious pieces in there.
I do recommend doing an early-morning jog around the hills, you can see the city coming alive and surrounded yourself with the energy and liveliness of unalike groups of people together. Just don't get lost, rush hour drivers will horn your brains out.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom size is generously huge, and what I first thought was a two-persons' bathtub turned out to be a functioning jacuzzi. Not to mention the BVLGARI shower amenities they offer. Again, sorry for my chicken paw here.
Everywhere is clean and nicely-prepared and the fresh piece of flower really bring out the luxury of the place.
With separate shower and bathtub(jacuzzi), prepared with two sets of shower amenities, I can't praise them enough here.
The jacuzzi can easily fit a couple in there and even four skinny ones if you ask me, however, as I test-runned the thing, I can't help notice the small pieces of dust coming out of the pipeline, that's not a problem of housekeeping but more of the age of facilities at this property.
Two more bottles of water with compliments and nicely stocked towels everywhere. Clean and neat, but black marble is no longer in just like my new Gucci flip flops, but men,those BVLGARI are gold standard. As literally they are people selling those on eBay around 18 dollars a piece.
Other bathroom amenities are standard Aromatherapy like many other JWs.
The Executive Lounge:
Located at 33rd and 34th floors, the lounge has spectacular views of the city but the staff weren't especially service-mined as maybe it's more of a self-helping service they're trying to offer here, I didn't mind it but that's definitely something to be aware of.
The vestibule decor piece is different to my own floor's.
I thought it would be quiet easy to get a spot, but the entire first floor is occupied at nine in the morning, I did managed to grab a seat after a few minutes.
On the right side of the lounge, there are business zone where magazines and newspapers are prepared and you can use the iMac or the iPad whenever in need.
Here's a picture of the seating area during breakfast when I was about done. However, the impressive feature is not those empty chairs, the breakfast display was the real highlight of the stay.
Bear in mind it is a lounge breakfast offering, so typically you would have standard continental breakfast which the majority would be cold. But not with this one, it looks like they live to enchanter here.
You can access snacks, fruits and drinks all day long while breakfast and hor'dourves come with much more varieties. The staff is busy refilling plates and seemed to be always chitchatting on their own, nothing wrong being joyful, but it was a bit chaotic when several guests were trying to pick stuff from the same counter area.
Easy-to-grab fruit pieces is not enough here, you think you've learned how to call out the names of different fruits since kindergarten, but no, they had like ten different cut fruit offerings, and two of them I simply just can't figure out what they are. You can see for yourself here.
It does not taste sweet as it's more like plain potatoes with a more watery aftertaste, so I don't know why they offer that, as typically in Hong Kong tropical fruits are the mainstream, thus they must have their reasons.
Cold plate offerings during breakfast hour in the lounge.
The covered counter is for liquor offering during cocktail hours.
All-day snacks and cookies display, four different kind of cookies, and they all tasted very fresh.
Gluten free offerings for those unfortunate.
The hot plate offering during breakfast cannot be compared with normal lobby breakfast buffet, but it's a decent selection of dishes both western and oriental, plus those local delicacies - dim sum.
They do have an omelette stand where you can order how you would like it done, however, if you are thinking of wonton noodles, you are out of luck here.
The pastries are amazing, they smelled great and tasted freshly-baked and with so many choices of jams, I thought I should watch out for diabetes. The point here is, I would no doubt have some more of those pineapple bums. Yum.
The Swimming Pool:
The swimming pool is conveniently located at the 7th floor and they have bar-featured restaurant onsite right next to the pool which is quiet popular among guests. The lifeguards are very attentive with offering you towels and locker key.
You can see their competitors' buildings right behind the pool lounging area; even Conrad's swimming pool if you look through the bushes carefully.
The beauty of Hong Kong is that you can be in the urban and the jungle at the same time.
The pool is large but not very deep, as it's more of a social pool where people can order drinks from the bar in their bikinis and walk around with it.
You should still bring lotion as the sun can be extremely strong.
Bottom Line:
This is one of those perfect stay experience where you do not to have play the DYKWIA card and they proactively pay attention to every single detail. I can't praise them enough, because when you are well taken-care-of, you do not even think of your status, as you are truly pampered by what they have to offer already.
I am definitely coming back and maybe live here for a much longer period. Their room rate certainly is not cheap, but they are not the most expensive ones in Hong Kong either.
I will be happy to see a complete renovation being done to this property, they are currently refurnishing parts of the building, but if Shangri-la has done so to their legacy properties, maybe JW can follow?
Overall Ratings:
Check-in Experience: 7.5/10
Staff Experience: 8.5/10
Status Recognition: 7.7/10
Room Comfortability: 8.5/10
Lounge Experience: 7.3/10
Housekeeping Experience: 8.4/10
Overall Experience: 8/10
Thanks for reading this stay report, and was your stay here equally impressive? Leave a comment.
