JW Marriott Zhengzhou

Read time:

3–4 minutes

iconic but not iconic enough

JW Marriott, Luxury, Marriott Bonvoy, Northeast Asia

A landmark of Zhengzhou, JW Marriott (or more precisely, the building JW Marriott occupies) has been considered an icon of the city’s newer quarter since its completion. Well, the building itself may be special but inside, the JW experience was not exactly special – not necessarily in a bad way.

The building is nicknamed “The Big Corn” among locals and it’s not hard to see why

The building itself deserved the “landmark” title, and was very easy to find, although I have no comments otherwise regarding how aesthetically pleasing it was – very much up to personal preferences. The hotel itself was very well designed though, complicated somewhat but with clear signage it was fairly “navigable”.

Service was also hit-and-miss with a “hit” for the most part. During my last few stays, my experience ranged from decent to great, with some great touches especially coming from the executive lounge team. Speaking of, the lounge consistently offered good food and an above-average bar selection as well, and dessert items rotated throughout the evening so it didn’t get old at all.

The rooms themselves were rather, well, “classic” – nothing special but still on point for a JW. The only issue was that some (and only some) rooms were definitely on the smaller side, and the bathroom, albeit very well equipped, took up a good chunk of the limited space. I was staying alone so no big deal but had I brought someone with me we would have been running out of space – in fact, my partner joined me during one of my stays and we did have to ask for a suite.

One of the larger rooms, smaller rooms were much “slimmer” than this one

The suite, however, was perfect. The one we had was very spacious, thoughtfully laid out, and fairly well maintained considering the age of the hotel. There was plenty of natural light, again thanks to the glass panels, and the curvature of the building made the windows feel more panoramic than flat. I particularly loved the extra air conditioner head in the bedroom – I would imagine with the amount of sunlight it could get pretty toasty without it.

I, as always, loved the high floor but wasn’t able to really enjoy the view because of the smog and the building’s weird “outer skeleton” blocking my window. The windows weren’t the cleanest either, which didn’t help. It’s not like Zhengzhou has the best city view out there on offer anyways though.

Zhengzhou may not be the exotic vacation hotspot for non-Chinese travelers, but I’ve had the opportunity to experience a few properties in the city. In the luxury department, the JW was the closest to an actual luxury hotel, but it was probably not quite there yet. It never really failed to deliver anything during my stays – in fact, apart from some minor inconsistencies, I was content with my experience, and that was the good side of being “not exactly special”. But, what made it a JW versus, say, a Marriott, left me scratching my head.

RealScore

Service: 8.0

Design and Room Size: 8.0

In-room Amenities: 8

Bathroom Size and Layout: 10

View from (my) Room: 8

Hotel Location: 7

Available Guest Facilities: 9

Food Quality: 8

Food and Beverage Service: 7

Executive Lounge Quality: 8

Final RealScore: 8.20