Great hotel but with a very bad and rude front desk management. Booked the hotel directly with Marriott website under special marriott rewards rate. While booking I was promised for free breakfast, Free Internet, free upgrade if available and 20% of on dining, etc. We got the upgrade but were charged the difference ($100/day). Nothing else was honored. When I asked for the manager, it took them around an hour to have him show up. They kept on demanding that I need to have the print out of the reservation (I have been staying at Marriott's forever and never had to carry or print a confirmation). When I asked him to call Marriott booking/rewards, he completely refused. Matter never got resolved and I ended up paying for all that should have been included. Other big issue was they do not recognize Marriott rewards status etc. and have no one knows there anything about it.

We just returned from a week at the JW Cancun with our two kids, ages 8 and 5. The hotel is lovely. We had an oceanfront suite, room 502, which was also great. We've stayed at three hotels the hotel zone - JW, Westin, and Fiesta Americana Grand Coral. This was the nicest but NOT the best for kids. There are no resort type activities by the pool - no bingo, no games, etc. That's to be expected, I suppose, because it is a "resort" but it would have made our trip with the kids a little more fun. The kids club is at the Marriott next door and it is really for little kids - my boys would not even enter the room. I'm not bashing the hotel for these things, just letting people who are traveling with kids what it is like. The staff is great, everyone was super friendly and accommodating. My son was sick and housekeeping was quick and effcient while we were in the room. Because we had a sick child, we ate a lot of room service which was quick and not too unreasonable for service charge and gratuity. The beach restaurant menu was tasty and they were really accommodating about allergies and special requests. There is no coffee in the room so you have to go to the store for it. A large drip coffee costs $35 pesos which is $2.90 - more expensive than Starbucks. The breakfast buffet is $30 but kids under 5 eat it free. A toothbrush was $55 pesos - so, you get it. It's expensive like everyone else says in their reviews. There is a 7-11, across the street, also a Papa Johns and a McDonalds too. You can taxi to La Isla mall for $10 each way.

We went to Aqua World for a Jungle Tour, you can walk to the building and it might be less expensive to book there and avoid hotel commission charges.

JW is right next to the Marriott CasaMagna and you can eat at their restaurants and charge back to your room. All in all it is a great hotel, super pricey and not completely set up for kids but we all had a great trip.

My husband and I stayed at the JW Marriott during the first week of December 2012. It was low season and the hotel was not crowded at all. Just the way we like it. This was our third time staying at this hotel and we have always stayed when there off peak. We love the pool area and how clean and tidy the pool attendants keep it. The thing we like the most about the pool is that they do not play any music. I want to be able to hear the ocean or just relax in quiet, and not hear loud, thumping music. Just walk next door to the pool at the Hard Rock and you will hear music that you can not escape from.
We ate lunch several times at the Beachwalk. Their cerviche is really delicious, and they have great salads too. The waiters there are friendly and attentive. Had dinner at Gustino's more than once and enjoyed the food and great service. We had a delicious fish soup and always enjoyed the little amuse bouche that the chef would send out. We were never disappointed with our dinners at Gustino's. We have been to Cancun half a dozen times now and there is one comment I would like to make. The beaches are the main draw for visiting Cancun. But over the years the beaches are becoming dirtier, littered with plastic and other trash. People want to walk on clean beaches, not walk among the trash in the sand. The beachfront hotels need to address this. We look forward to our next trip to Cancun and the JW Marriott.

There are lots of reviews on this hotel both positive and negative so let me sum up my experiences and give some suggestions in a concise manner.

The good:

Lovely location and property.Fantastic indoor pool for serious swimming,nice infinity pool outdoors for lazing around.The beach is somewhat uneven(given the hurricane recently,and attempts to rebuilt the shore using trucked in sand)so there are ups and downs in the sea level,but it is a fun beach to swim in with nice breakers to ride and surf.The gym is average for a more serious gym goer like me,but is perfectly adequate for most and the equipment looks new and well maintained.

Nice rooms:The rooms are spacious and have nice views of the ocean,the higher the floor the better the view, as it is for most hotels.The beds are comfortable,the bathroom nice,though they may have a few older looking fittings.Nice balconies to sit and relax on.

Manuel Lopez: A shout out to our wonderful bellman Manuel Lopez who had fantastic suggestions on what to see,where to eat,how to travel and more or less anything else about the Riviera Maya.Search for him and ask him for suggestions.

Wonderful staff: Even though they do not deliver the kind of efficient service we in the USA like to see(one needs to be a little more relaxed in a resort property and realize this is Mexico) the staff is genuinely warm and friendly. Chill out and don't be in a hurry,you will get ample time to do that back here.

Restaurants: Did not eat much at the JW,but the breakfast buffet at the Sedona is nice.What was nicest about the buffet is that they had some ten different types of fresh fruit juice, something I have not seen anywhere else.

The not so good:

I am a super-duper Platinum member,with more than a million Marriott points in my lifetime.However,I did not get anything except two coffees a day from the gift shop.No free breakfast buffet and definitely no lounge access like the Club 91.

The restaurants are better at the Casa Magna,even though it is expensive everywhere.

The check-in is slow and there is no seperate Elite line here.They made a hash of entering my room number in the system correctly which caused a lot of issues with internet access and signing with my room number initially.This needs to improve.However,the checkout was a breeze.

The New Year parties are boring and staid here.If you want action,head out somewhere else,like maybe Senor Frogs.

Suggestions:

The restaurants are expensive,eat outside at the MCDs or OXXO cheaply and get all you water and alcohol from there.There are other cheaper taco places,on the other side of the convenience store across from the hotel.There is also an Italian hotel,which has tasty wood fired thin crust pizzas,including a daily special for 99 pesos.These are very nice and not your standard Papa John grease wheel which is also across the street.Alternately take the bus to some of the malls or downtown Cancun to eat there.These buses are almost 24 hours and arrive every few minutes.If eating at the hotel,you will get discount coupons both in booklets and also from the hotel if you ask for them.

Do not take any tours,rent your own car and drive around.Parking is free at the hotel.It will also give you freedom, where to eat.You can always get good deals on rentals online,decline the CDW if your credit card covers for it,but take liability insurance since most credit cards do not allow for it.Gas is also cheap in Mexico.Pay visits to Playa Del Carmen,Cozumel,Tulum and Chichen Itza.If you enjoy the theme parks then try out the Xel-Has,XCarets and Xplors of the world.In all these cases your own car will be cheaper and more flexible than taking expensive tours as well as open up eating options for you.If you need a guide for say,Chichen Itza,take one at the entrance or better still pay less and join an existing group with a guide.An excellent money saving tip to go to Chichen Itza by car is to take highway 180(non toll) on the way out and 180D(300 pesos toll) on the way back in.The former is slower and passes through more towns but is probably more fun and saves you money.If you are going to return after it gets dark,please pay up and return on 180D.Otherwise you can even come back on 180.Remember to have your gas tank full before you get onto 180D,there are almost no gas stations on the way.

If you want to swim,remember the indoor pool which is really nice and the hot tub indoors. Otherwise the beach is fun to swim on.If going to Tulum,swim in the beach inside the ruins.The location is very spectacular.