JW Marriott Houston Downtown

I am a Black woman, a longtime Marriott customer, and a former associate. What was intended to be a joyful and memorable celebration for my partner’s birthday a night I carefully planned as a surprise, including decorating our hotel room devolved into one of the most humiliating, emotionally traumatic, and dehumanizing encounters I have ever experienced. I checked into the hotel at on October 4th using a legitimate friends and family rate a benefit I have used without issue since 2018. I emailed the required discount form to the hotel, and the front desk printed it and placed it in their file. There were no issues at check-in. I paid for the one-night stay and incidentals. Upon arriving at my assigned room, I immediately noticed it was not the room I had booked. I contacted the front desk and was asked to return downstairs. The afternoon staff was professional and promptly reassigned me to the correct room, informing me that my reservation included breakfast I chose this location due to the proximity of where my partners birthday dinner was being held We returned to the hotel at approximately 1:00 AM and accessed our room without issue. Around 2:00 AM, we went out to a nearby restaurant, Frank’s, to get food.We returned to the hotel at 3:00 AM, only to discover that our room key no longer worked.My partner insisted I wait by the room due to the pain I was in he no longer wanted me to put anymore stress on my leg, while he went to the front desk to resolve the issue. He called me shortly after to inform me that the front desk supervisor stated the key system was down due to “turnover” and offered no alternative solution. As a former Marriott associate, I am fully aware that staff could have verified my identification and used a master key to grant access to our room. Instead, we were told to wait. My partner, confused and frustrated, said to me, “You should call corporate this is a inconvenience him or myself couldn’t believe they were not offering any other solution especially at 3:20 in the morning. At no point did my partner raise his voice, act disrespectfully, or behave inappropriately. He simply expressed concern and suggested I exercise my right to contact corporate. The supervisor responded aggressively, stating that “you all are on a discounted rate” not that I understood why that mattered or why it was publicly being announced in the hotel lobby. When I arrived at the front desk I began recording the interaction anticipating escalation. I respectfully asked for clarification. The supervisor reiterated that the system was down still never offered another solution just stated we had to wait I expressed to the supervisor what I overheard on the phone and didn’t understand why us being on a discounted rate was relevant to this situation with us being locked out our room due to a key malfunctioning. It was evident that the reservation system was active and functioning, as you accessed our booking to verify our rate. However following this, we experienced a noticeable decline in service quality, which felt discriminatory and unjustified.He expressed frustration that my partner had suggested contacting corporate as if that were not a right afforded to every guest. What followed was deeply troubling he attempted to intimidate me by stating that if I contacted corporate, the employee associated with our discount would be punished. He further claimed that the discount form explicitly prohibits guests from filing complaints to corporate.I want to be clear at no point were we informed of such a restriction, nor was it stated anywhere on the form we received.After expressing concerns about the service we received, the on-site supervisor accessed our discount form and publicly announced the name of the individual associated with it violating basic privacy standards. He then stated he was emailing her hotel all while the issue we were waiting to resolve a key system outage remained unaddressed well past the promised ten-minute window. My whole review will not fit follow my tik tok Porschea_P &facebook Porschea Holmes

Excellent stay and almost perfect. From check-in with Michelle, who was clearly a UH hospitality student or graduate based on her precise delivery of welcome and check-in, to the two gentlemen offering help with my limited luggage, to the restaurant staff, every single person on the premises contributed to the brand perception in a positive way. I was using a loyalty reward, so I can’t speak to the value of the price. It was a great value to me. My room was upgraded with request as well. Another kudos to the team. The photos do not do the large room justice it was expansive and hard to depart. Parking is a challenge unless you pay a hefty valet… or are local. Locals know how to park for free on the street. Still, property crime in the city may give one pause choosing this option. Also, views are not skyline or otherwise glamorous. Still, I think this is my new lodging of choice when staying downtown. Besides the phenomenal club, front desk, and cleaning teams, the rooms are exceptionally clean and comfortable.

When I tell you this hotel has the best hospitality I've ever seen, I mean they have the BEST hospitality I've ever seen, and this is coming from someone who lives in Las Vegas and has stayed in some of the premium suites at those resorts. Everyone from the front desk staff, to the room service waiters, to the in-house chauffeur were incredible. Always customer-focused, always friendly and helpful. This morning when I ordered room service for breakfast, I put a note on the order asking to sub the side of potatoes for french fries if possible, figuring it's no problem if they can't do it. When they delivered, they apologized profusely that they had no fries available, and instead the chef insisted on making me an entire order of french toast (in addition to the actual meal I ordered) as an apology. Talk about above and beyond! The breakfast sandwich and the french toast were both amazing as well, and reasonably priced as far as room service in a high end hotel goes. Extra special shoutout to Zoe and Yesenia at the front desk who provided some fantastic suggestions of where to go when we had a few hours to kill, and quickly arranged a complimentary car to take us. We were also upgraded to an Executive suite which was fabulous. Spacious living room, large dining room table, the bed was very comfy, and the bathroom had a massive bathtub that was perfect for relaxing after a long day of walking. Everything was clean and exactly as it should be. This hotel has basically ruined all other hotels for me, and I'll ensure I check availability here any time I'm in Houston in the future before I even start to look anywhere else. This hotel embodies everything that all Marriott properties should strive for, and the management should be proud of their staff for not just meeting but exceeding expectations at literally every single opportunity. I hope this review finds its way to them. We'll be seeing you again for sure!

The room was nice as was the lounge. The front desk was friendly. There is construction activity which has been going on for months. The valet across the street is confusing and difficult if there's traffic and you're unfamiliar with the area. Only one functioning elevator during our stay so long waits and crowded elevator for every trip up and down. A few weeks out and still no record of stay, credit in nights and points in the Bonvoy app. There are many options downtown even within Marriott - I would recommend staying elsewhere until they get their act together here.

I feel like the hotel should have let me know about the construction prior to booking. It was literally right outside my window. In addition only 2 of the 4 elevators were functional. I waited over 10 minutes multiple times during my stay. Very disappointing.