I have stayed at this resort several times, and when I go I am extremely high revenue guest. Love the grounds, love the resort, and customer service in general has been great, but one in remorseful incident has just suck in my craw. I stayed there last Spring Break March 11th to 15th 2012 with my family for four nights and a bill of over $6,000. Still loving it, but a couple weeks later on a meeting for my company, I made the mistake of asking Cara (pronounced kah-ruh [pronounce it correctly or she will correct you swiftly]) for access to the hotel's wi-fi (for which I was willing to pay up to $50 for two hours). I explained that I had 4g and 3g through a major telecom carrier, but neither was getting a good signal at the hotel's remote location. She told me that she would have to contact my company and if they agreed she would charge my company $100 for my request. I explained I had an immediate business need and didn't have time for that nor a desire to request my company pay for my pressing need. I explained that I was a good high revenue guest and had just spent several thousand dollars a couple weeks prior and I was asking for this kindness to be extended to me as a good Marriott guest (pretty much my exact words). Cara informed me that if my company wanted me to have Internet access then they would have provided it. I told her that I really expected more from JW Marriott and asked if I could speak to a manager, to which she said NO. I told Cara fine I will pay the $100, to which she said NO and corrected me again on the pronunciation of her name. I asked if she had ever heard something about the customer always being right, to which she said "Well you are not right and the customer was my company. I am a financial advisor, and my needs for online access were time and market sensitive, and I would have to insist at this point on speaking to a manager. She told me it didn't matter the manager would only confirm what she had told me. I said still, I insist. She put me on hold at which point the concierge desk attendant, profusely apologized, and told me she would have never connected me to Cara had she known that I would have gone through that. When Cara returned, she simply said that someone from the AV department would meet me with an access code back at my meeting room. No manager, no apology, no explanation, nothing, but at that point I was so happy to get access (I was preparing to get in my car with my laptop and drive down the road to 4g coverage). Again the Concierge profusely apologized, and explained that Cara was pregnant?? I asked are you really surprised at Cara's behavior, to which the Concierge deflected the question and apologized again. The person at my company then told me that Cara called the company to complain about me. I take very good care of my employees and they love me, so the person who arranged the meeting told me that Cara was "high maintenance", and Cara's attempt to tattle on me to my company were laughable. I mentioned this at dinner to two close friends who I do considerable business with (who are also Marriott Platinum members who stay in Marriotts probably 10-15 days in any given month) and they were speechless and horrified. One wanted to call his special line at dinner and make me relay my story. I point this part out because I want to make it clear that anyone familiar with JW Marriotts in particular would tell you that this is definitely not the Marriott way in their top line hotels. I guess I relay this mainly because I loved all other aspects of the hotel, but this incident by one of their employees was humiliating and made me feel insignificant, and I guess I was shocked that a person that held good customers in such low regard could actually be put in a customer facing position. To be fair in my review, I will say that had this incident never occurred, I would probably be giving a five star review. I have gone to JW Marriott Desert Ridge and the JW Marriott New Orleans since then and they are great service, but not as nice a place as JW Marriott. My wife and kids might make me go back, but it is still raw 10 months later. Here are the pros, even though I am angry:
The actual hotel is gorgeous
The grounds are immaculate
The rooms are tasteful
The sheets are GREAT (big deal for me)
Hope if you go, that you can avoid Cara.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.