First, let me say up front that ALL of the front desk staff, bar staff, Concierge staff and housekeeping staff were extremely helpful, caring, polite, and, attentive to their guests. As for the hotel itself, it was nice, but we have stayed in nicer JW Marriott’s and even regular Marriott’s. We actually have preferred our stays at the Marriott Union Square on Sutter St. a little more than at the JW because we always had better views there. The hotel was close to Union Square, handy to restaurants, and within a convenient, brisk walk to the Moscone Convention Center.

We stayed at the JW 5 nights January 22-27 during a business trip. As Platinum Elite members, we were upgraded to a Jr. Suite, Room 922. We were so happy with this beautiful, very large room (sitting area part of the room – not separated), until we saw that the view was of the monstrous air-conditioning plant and nothing else. There was no view of the city whatsoever. We spent one night in this room & the next day asked for a room with a better view. They moved us to 1607, on the opposite corner of the hotel, and while an office building directly across Mason Street obstructed the view, we could at least see down to the street & had an ever so small view of the city by craning our neck & squinting our eyes. Still, it was better than the enormous air-conditioning plant view of Room 922. (Since it was a business trip, I didn’t have my camera with me & regretted that I couldn’t take photos). Because the hotel sits rather low, getting a room with a view is difficult here unless you stay on the very top floors.

Aside from the lack of any city view, both rooms were spacious, though with a different layout. We liked the 922 Jr. suite better than the 1607 Jr. suite. Room 922 seemed much larger than 1607, newer, cleaner, and had a much nicer bathroom than 1607. Room 1607 seemed a bit worn to us. Both rooms are decorated in warm shades of gold, green & red with sofa, chair & ottoman, granite-topped & glass-topped furniture, leather-topped desk (w/uncomfortable mesh ergonomic chair). The rooms had good lighting, but in room 922, the lighting was confined to the desk, bed & armchair area on one side of the room. There was no lighting at all by the sofa on the other side of the large room, making it difficult to sit there to read. The marble bathrooms had both a tub and a separate shower stall. While the marble was pristine & shiny in Room 922, it was rather dull and not as clean in Room 1607. (Example: the shower in 1607 had hardened bubbly soap residue – perhaps left from a previous guest because the shower walls were not wiped cleaned between guests?). The toilet in room 1607 did not flush well, and although we called maintenance to fix it, it still was behaving badly. We figured it was beyond fixing & just gave up. (No such problem with the toilet in Room 922). The other downside to Room 1607 is that the floor grout was horribly dirty. Though I can’t say for sure, it almost seemed to us that there had been some water damage from an overflowed toilet.

There was some street work underway on Mason Street (under our window in 1607), and at 7:30 am we were subjected to the cacaphony of jack hammers and back-hoe banging. (We had our windows open because the room was rather hot & stuffy). Thank God we were already awake!

My advice is to avoid both of these rooms (922 and 1607) if you insist on a great view. The standard room 1514, assigned to our colleague (who is not a Platinum Elite member – just lucky I guess) is the one you want to ask for. Room 1514 was a corner standard room with windows on two walls and a spectacular view. However, probably the higher rooms, say, above the 15th floor, in the hallway from X15 to X22 will have a lovely view, judging from the superb view from the Concierge Lounge on the 21st floor, which was on the same side of the hotel as our Room 922. The Concierge Lounge had a lovely panoramic view that included the Golden Gate Bridge, the Twin Peaks, and the ocean (or bay). It had lots of soft lounge chairs with low tables and standard Concierge Lounge food & service.

Although we never had a full meal in the hotel, we did enjoy a light meal one evening in the lovely bar area on the 3rd floor. The food was excellent, and if you are not going to eat there, at least, order those wonderful “Spicy Nuts” to go with your cocktail. The flatbread pizza was so good, we had it twice. Also tried the Sliders and the fish tacos, which were both good.