This hotel managed to provide everything needed for a great holiday for four adults and three young children. The lake view rooms were not huge but definitely comfortable, well appointed and stylish. The children loved the extensive pool and lazy river, which together with the surrounding gardens, created a pleasant and relaxing place to 'chill out' after a day of theme parks. The JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton together form a really extensive resort just on the edge of Orlando and surrounded by a lovely golf course and landscaped gardens - we loved the feeling of being able to escape to a haven of tranqulity only a short and very easy drive from the Orlando attractions. The restaurants are great and gave a good choice of both family and adult dining. The staff were friendly and extremely helpful and managed to achieve that difficult balance of accommodating the needs of the children without causing irritation to child-free guests. Both hotels have conference facilities and both were very busy with conference guests at the time of our stay so this was very important. My only slight irritation was that it was difficult on some evenings for non-conference guests to secure reservations in some of the restaurants. Overall, a great experience.

Pros: Lazy River, lots of lounge chairs, fair to good poolside service, access to the Ritz next door, excellent gourmet dining, very clean, pretty views of Disney fireworks in the distance. Feels like a Disney resort without the Disney strictness. Very deluxe all around. Marriott Platinum members get upgrades here - we loved our HUGE 1 bedroom corner suite.

Cons: A bit pricey for Orlando, far from all the parks, shuttle to Universal but not Disney, you have to pay to park, you have to bring your own floats for the lazy river or pay double what they cost at Walgreens down the road, useless balconies that are too small, dangerous and therefore have no chairs.

Definitely recommend for family trips.

We spent ten days with our kids in this very nice hotel , we visited nearly all the parks did a lot of shopping and spent also quite some time at the pool.
First of all at arrival for a modest fee we got upgraded to a very nice suite with a normal room for the kids communicating with it which was fabulous. The concierge arranged us a very good restaurant every night and transport was by nice town cars located at the entrance with very courteous drivers since we didn't bother to rent a car. The bar was a great place with great sushi to unwind after a busy day
We really loved the hotel and our kids still talk of of it as the best holiday ever.

Had a wonderful time staying at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes. This property is also attached via walkway to the Ritz Carlton. When staying at one you get the use of both propoerties pools, which are both perfection. The staff at both hotels are trained to make your experience seamless and perfect and it certainly was. Will stay at no other property while in Orlando.