We had a very pleasant 4 night stay at the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort. We got a great rate as, like a previous reviewer, we kept checking the hotel rate in the three months between booking and staying. Rate fell by almost a third in that time, saving us nearly $200 for the four nights. We were upgraded to a lovely room with a balcony on the top floor in the Spa Tower overlooking the golf course and mountains, with Las Vegas just about viewable too - best of all worlds! Huge bathroom with separate shower, two sinks and large clothes closet in hall. Self-parking was free, no need for valet parking at the high rate charged. Internet worked fine but daily charge of $9.95 was applied. Staff were courteous and helpful at all times. Didn't take the shuttle bus as we had a car and the hotel was easily accessible to the Strip (15 minutes drive) but satellite navigation is very useful.

Spent 3 nights at the end of June (second visit to hotel). Still think the bathrooms are the best part - huge & luxurious.

I wanted to mention specifically the golf available, particularly with reference to overseas guests who may not have brought their clubs. At present the hotel has negotiated a deal with the TPC Las Vegas & Angel Park (courses next door) to provide club hire to guests free of charge. This is a significant saving. So pack your shoes, glove, and a few balls and you have all you need. Hopefully the hotel will set up a similar deal at Badlands soon (another excellent nearby course).

It should be noted that to get this deal you must book the golf through the hotel's golf concierge. I tried to arrange direct with the TPC without success.

Incidentally, I'd read a couple of poor reviews about the condition of the TPC, but we found it in good shape late June 08.

Cottons.

We booked this vacation nearly 1 year in advance. We chose this location as we are fans of JW Marriott and we have had great experiences at our 2 visits to the Phoenix Desert Ridge JW Marriott resort. We thought it would be great to be off the Las Vegas strip but close enough. From the reviews at Trip Advisor I expected the JW Las Vegas to be at least as good as our experiences at the Phoenix resort. We chose June/July as we love the heat.

The biggest advise I would give with regard to staying at any Marriott is to go back and check room prices frequently leading up to your stay. You can do this online quite easily. As I said, we booked this approximately 1 year in advance (July/August 2007). When I checked the room cost 4 months later (December 2007), it had dropped by nearly ½. We called and we were given the new, discounted rate. When you’re talking about 7 nights at an upscale resort, which can be a significant amount.
Again, I checked the room rate 2 weeks before we were scheduled to leave and it had dropped again to the tune of $150 for the week. We called and they gave us the new rate. Keeping on this saved approx. $1000 for the week.

When booking we requested a balcony room upgrade as high up as possible. We also had them document that this was our 25th anniversary in the hopes that it would impact getting a better room at check-in. We waited until almost 4pm and our room was ready. It was a beautiful, very large King room. Did we get upgraded…no. But we got a great balcony room on the top floor (6th) with a great view of Red Rock Canyon just like we requested. Mid-week the hotel sent up strawberries dipped in chocolate and champagne for our anniversary. Very nice touch.

When we first arrived our room was not ready so we decided to take a walk through the resort. First impressions…..the place was very nice but darker and more closed in that I expected. Nearly all the restaurants and lounges at the resort were either directly attached to the casino or you needed to walk through the casino to get to anything. Apparently a common practice in Vegas. Although the resort and restaurants in Vegas are non-smoking, the casinos are all smoking….cigars and cigarettes included.

There are 2 main buildings (“Towers”). The Spa tower and the Palms tower. The Spa tower has only 1 restaurant in the lobby area (Ceres), which is where we spent most of our time. The food was decent and the drinks were good. What we liked most was the Ceres lounge area which has couches and over stuffed chairs. The lounge is full service and you can order off both the lounge menu and the restaurant menu. Very comfortable. The Palms tower was actually more nicely decorated, but there is little going on. If at the Palms tower, however, you have easy access to the Starbucks, Woolighans Irish Pub (greasy food), Speidini Italian restaurant (high quality food but lacking in flavor), a Shizen Japanese Steak House and the Rampart Buffet without having to go through the Casino. All the restaurants and lounges are operated by Marriott except the Casino, the Promenade café (literally almost IN the casino – SMOKEY), and the Buffet. The Waterside Grill by the pool has a great Mai Tai and OK food. It closes early though. I believe around 6pm.

I had read a lot on the shuttle at Trip Advisor. Some said too crowded and long waits, others said a long ride to the strip, and yet others said no problems. Our experience…..no problem. The shuttle was never full. That said, we went in June/July, apparently the slow season.

Our stay was from June 28 – July 5. Based on what I had read, I was not expecting anything significant for the 4th of July. When we arrived, we asked the concierge at the hotel if July 4th was a big event in Vegas. She too stated that it was not. The 4th came and nearly all the hotels shot off fireworks. It was quite a display.

When we made our plans to visit the Las Vegas JW, we knew we wanted to visit the Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon, and the Grand Canyon Skywalk. We did, therefore rent a car. I would not, however, recommend driving on the strip if you can help it. The traffic is unbelievable. That said, it is extremely easy to get around and through Vegas. The highway system is well designed and fairly easy to navigate. Just avoid the strip when driving if you can help it. Wall to wall cars, red light after red light, and crazy taxi drivers.

We visited Hoover Dam. Amazing. We took a hike in red Rock canyon. Beautiful. Just remember to bring lots of water. Never made it to the Grand Canyon Skywalk – 3 hour drive.

A few other things to note: Nice pool but not the cleanest. We actually called to complain because there were tissues and a used Band-Aid in the pool for 2 days. They say there is a refrigerator in the room, but is actually a crisper and not cold enough to cool drinks or keep leftovers. The resort is still using big 32 inch tube TV’s. I expected flat screens.

Overall a nice resort. If we were to go back we would stay for less time and stay at the Bellagio, which is in my opinion the most spectacular and classy hotel on the strip.

If you’re thinking of vacationing in Arizona or Nevada, I would recommend the JW Marriot Desert Ridge in Phoenix which is far and away a nicer place than the Las Vegas JW Marriott.

Great hotel away from the strip. The variety of restaurants was good, the food not totally memorable. The hotel is just up the street from some great restaurants. The room was huge with an awesome bathroom - jetted tub with separate shower complete with waterfall shower head and a seat. While the complimentary fitness room was not impressive, the spa was well worth the extra fee - it had every thing needed to get a great work out and the steam room, whirlpool, sauna and waterfall shower were great for relaxing. They should extend the spa hours.