In April, we enjoyed a 5-night stay at the JW Marriott Hotel in Chengdu, China. The sparkling hotel lobby (pictured above) is on the eight floor of a high rise building.
The black high-rise building (center) in the photo above is home of the JW Marriott Chengdu Hotel. It’s located near Tianfu Square in central Chengdu, with easy access to the subway.
Arrival and Hotel Check-In
Since were going to be traveling for 36 hours to get to Chengdu, we pre-arranged a private transfer from the Chengdu airport through the hotel. (We could have taken the subway, but in our groggy, jet-lagged state we were happy to have someone meet us outside of the customs hall, and drive us to the hotel.) It was about a 30-minute ride.
Once we arrived to the eighth-floor hotel lobby, check-in was quick, despite our morning arrival.
Hotel Room
We received a nice upgrade to a suite with a spacious living/work area, a separate bedroom with a king bed, and two bathrooms.
Suite #1512 was on a lower floor of the hotel, so its views were mostly of other buildings. We were very happy with the large space, luxurious bath and other amenities, such motorized window shades that could be closed with the push of a button.
Our suite was one of the nicest we have experienced at a JW Marriott property.
Visit this post for an in-depth photo tour of suite #1512.
The Executive Lounge
The JW Marriott Chengdu has a large and well-appointed executive lounge on the hotel’s 28th floor.
Open every day from 6:00 am, the Executive Lounge offered a breakfast buffet with a wide selection of fresh fruit and some hot items until 10:30 am.
In addition to the buffet, the lounge offered a made-to-order noodle station where the chef also cooked eggs and omelets to order.
The Dan Dan noodles with minced pork and vegetables were exceptional. You could order them for breakfast, or during the happy hour buffet served each evening between 5:30 to 7:30 pm.
There was a nice selection of western and Chinese foods each evening, along with sodas, coffee, tea, beer, wine and a limited selection of hard liquor. While the food stopped at 7:30 pm, you could have drinks until 9:30 p.m.
The lounge staffers were professional and eager to please. They knew our names after the first visit. There were some language issues — we don’t speak Mandarin and English is not widely spoken in Chengdu — but nothing that couldn’t be overcome with some patience and a smile.
Our stay fell over Mr. Jones’ birthday; the lounge staff very thoughtfully surprised him with a cake.
Restaurants in the JW Chengdu Hotel
Thanks to Mr. Jones’ Platinum status with Marriott Rewards, we were also given the option of eating breakfast at the hotel’s eighth-floor restaurant called The Table. We did this a couple of times but found the lounge less hectic.
We also enjoyed an excellent Dim Sum lunch at the hotel’s Man Ho restaurant, which was surprisingly crowded and very good.
The restaurant’s dining area had a window to the kitchen. We could see six or more chefs busily creating made-to-order Dim Sum. The price was reasonable by hotel standards, with guests being able to order unlimited Dim Sum for about $20 a person.
Overall Impressions of Hotel
We found the JW Marriott Chengdu hotel exceeded our expectations. The hotel is new and well-appointed, and our suite was spectacular in both size and amenities.
As a Category 4 Reward Level hotel in the Marriott Rewards program, we considered this hotel a terrific use of points.
The Executive Club Lounge was a relaxing, welcoming space with a hard-working staff. We found the hotel’s central location ideal for exploring Chengdu on foot, as well as easy access to multiple subway lines.
Two notes: the hotel seemed somewhat sterile and did not have an active “vibe.” For example, the bar in the beautiful eighth-floor lobby was almost always empty. And, for being part of a western hotel brand, the staff’s English skills were lacking to non-existent, except for a few women at registration and in the Executive Lounge.
Have you been to Chengdu? Where did you stay?
Interact with us on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram.