My day-to-day job at The Points Guy doesn’t usually involve reviewing hotels. But when I saw that a new JW Marriott was opening this fall in my home city of Charlotte, I put my name forward for the chance to check it out.
The hotel is about 20 minutes from my house, so while it wasn’t exactly an exotic getaway, it was the perfect chance to enjoy a brief staycation and spend some time in a part of Charlotte (Uptown) where I don’t normally hang out. It also would make for a nice break from the monotony of working from home for nearly two years, and I could use the visit to decide whether I’d suggest the hotel to visiting family and friends in the future.
Here’s what my wife and I experienced during our first-ever stay at a JW Marriott.
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Booking
Since I’m not loyal to any one hotel brand, I was either going to use cash or redeem transferable points like Chase Ultimate Rewards to pay for the stay.
For the two nights I was targeting, room rates started at $327 per night (plus an additional $50 in taxes and fees) or 70,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. I decided cash was a better option, as it would also help us earn points for our upcoming trip to Argentina.
Without a Marriott credit card in my wallet, my best option was to book via the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal using my Chase Sapphire Reserve, since I would earn 10 points per dollar.
Location
The JW Marriott Charlotte is located right in the city center, a few blocks away from both Bank of America Stadium (home of the Carolina Panthers and the Charlotte Football Club, the city’s professional football and soccer teams) and Spectrum Center (where the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets play) in Uptown Charlotte.
In addition to offering easy access to these venues, the property sits across the street from the Charlotte Convention Center and is close to a number of corporate offices, making it ideal for a business trip.
If you’re not driving, the hotel is really accessible using Lynx, Charlotte’s light rail system. The closest stop, Stonewall Station, is a block southeast of the property. Or, you can take advantage of the hotel’s valet parking for $40 per day.
Check-in
From the moment the hotel’s 22-story edifice comes into view, you’ll know you’re in for an elevated, albeit business-oriented experience.
The sleek structure features sections with wall-to-wall glass. Its lobby is decorated in cool, dark tones, comfortable yet modern furnishings and marble and brass accents. Beyond an intimate seating area stand five small podiums for checking guests in.
There was no line, so we were immediately greeted by a staff member who proceeded to check us in. The process was a breeze, and the man helping us made sure to add my Bonvoy number to the reservation.
With my Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status, which I enrolled in thanks to carrying The Platinum Card® from American Express, I earned 500 bonus points as a welcome amenity and was given a late checkout time of 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The room
We were assigned a room on the north side of the 17th floor. Having chosen to pay about $20 more per night for a city-view room on a higher floor (versus a standard king room), we were a bit underwhelmed by what we saw from our window.
Rather than enjoying sweeping skyline panoramas like what we noticed from spaces on the south side of the building, we had an up-close view of a construction site just across the street, albeit with some skyscraper views beyond.
However, the room itself was spacious at 378 square feet. It featured a mostly white and gray color palette with a dark accent wall behind the bed and pale pink throw pillows and furniture stitching. The room offered ample space for storing luggage and plenty of room to stretch out during a two-night stay.
The king-size bed was flanked by bedside tables with standard three-prong outlets, plus USB and USB-C outlets. Fixed, pendant-style lights above the nightstands brightened up the space when needed, and an adjustable, mounted reading light was available on each side of the bed.
On the far side by the window were a side chair and side table, but we rarely used them other than to briefly set down the contents of our pockets or a cup of coffee.
I spent part of our stay working remotely, so I appreciated the large desk, which had its own set of outlets. The single-serve coffee maker, however, wasn’t sufficient for my typical caffeine fix during a workday. It seemed better suited for a roadside motel than a luxury hotel.
One of the best features of the room was the large marble bathroom, which came with automatic motion-sensing lights, a large, dual-nozzle shower, frosted glass doors for privacy and single-use Aromatherapy Associates bath products.
Adjacent to the bathroom were the closets, though they oddly contained only one robe and a single pair of slippers, which my wife and I left untouched.
The closet space was tight, but since we only had clothes for two nights, it was big enough for our needs.
Food and drink
While the simple coffeemaker in the room didn’t suit a caffeine fiend like me, the coffee bar adjacent to the lobby, The Counter at Dean’s, was excellent. Should you find yourself craving coffee from a more mainstream brand, there’s a newly opened Starbucks Pickup store — one of the first to appear in the South — around the corner from the property.
For a bite to eat, the hotel offers three dining options: two restaurants and a rooftop bar with lighter fare.
On the first night, we dined at Dean’s Italian Steakhouse. While certainly an upscale option, the restaurant was warmly decorated and unpretentious, with rustic details like rough stone walls, wooden tabletops and a barn door-inspired bar. There was a mixed crowd of couples and business travelers, and the attire ranged from polos and jeans to sport coats and cocktail dresses.
The food was outstanding, but it came at a price. Steaks started at $38 for a flat iron cut of Australian Wagyu and cost as much as $95 for a bone-in Wagyu filet.
And while the selection of domestic Cabernet Sauvignons — 45 options, to be exact — was impressive, the average price of a bottle was an eye-popping $176, with only five options costing less than $120. Even if you order your own entrée and share an appetizer and a dessert (like we did), the per person price is likely to exceed $100.
If seafood is what you’re after, make time for a meal at Caroline’s Oyster Bar. Although we didn’t originally plan on dining here on our second night — more on that later — we were pleasantly surprised by the entrees.
Named for the owner’s daughter, Caroline’s was decorated to create an ambiance that harkens back to the traditional seafood shacks on North Carolina’s coast but with a lot of fancy city elements thrown in, including a massive circular marble bar with a metal liquor shelving system that doubles as the dining room’s primary source of light.
Just inside the main entrance, another bar displays fresh oysters from locations up and down the East Coast. Beyond the indoor space lies a patio for alfresco dining that’s accessible via retractable doors.
During our meal, we slurped down a dozen oysters from my home waters of the Chesapeake Bay, as well as a few from North Carolina locales. My halibut fish and chips ($26) and my wife’s Wagyu burger ($19) were the perfect casual plates to enjoy after the formidable steaks from the night before.
As alluded to above, we hadn’t planned on eating dinner at Caroline’s on our second night; we had our eyes set on the bar at Aura Rooftop. Much to our surprise, though, reservations are required to dine there, so we were only able to take a look around.
While there’s a certain coolness to any rooftop bar, this one was a bit of a disappointment, as it’s only five stories up on top of the shorter wing of the hotel. Perhaps I’m just particular about rooftop bars, but its lack of distance from the street took away from its overall atmosphere.
Room service is also available, though we didn’t place an order during our stay.
Amenities and service
The hotel’s Uptown Charlotte location makes it a good option for weddings, business meetings and other large events. I counted 14 event rooms, the largest with a capacity of nearly 700 people.
To give housekeeping an unencumbered opportunity to reset our room, I decided to check out another business amenity: the Executive Lounge. Once the front desk clerk programmed my room key for access to the lounge, I headed there to work for a few hours.
Though the lounge has only a handful of private meeting rooms, there was plenty of space for me and a few others already there to spread out and take our respective calls. I loved that the lounge had a self-service coffee bar, a minifridge stocked with a variety of beverages and a mix of sweet and salty snacks. The cozy, double-sided fireplace was a nice touch, too.
Considering my top must-have when staying at a hotel is a gym, I opted to check out the property’s fitness center during my staycation. I had pretty low expectations, as I’ve been disappointed by hotel gyms a few too many times. The one at the JW Marriott Charlotte, however, was quite impressive, offering everything from a Peloton bike to battle ropes and more traditional equipment like treadmills and ellipticals.
There was plenty of room to spread out, so I never felt like I was bumping elbows with others.
While neither my wife nor I used the on-site spa, I was impressed with the extensive list of services it offers. (Think: couple’s massages, manicures and Ayurvedic treatments.)
What really stood out during our stay, though, were the friendly members of staff. From the warm receptionist to the attentive servers and incredibly accommodating barista at Dean’s, we felt the service here was top-notch.
Overall impression
As a Charlotte local, I’m thrilled that Marriott chose my city for the continued expansion of the JW brand. It’s an excellent home base for Charlotte visitors looking to earn and burn Bonvoy points.
I don’t expect to stay at the JW Marriott Charlotte again in the near future since, well, I live in town. But the next time I have a hankering for hometown oysters, I know exactly where to go.
Featured photo by Taylor Jenkins/The Points Guy.