JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa Review

Loved the breakfast buffet here! ill be back for sure

This is my 3rd JW Mariott we visited and first I'm not happy. Cleaning service was poor quality. Water in pools cold. Besides Mikado restaurant rest was not qualified for JW standards ( we not was in Fisherman's Grill I can't say nothing about them ). Rooms need updates. This is only my opinion but if you pay for higher standards you should receive it. I hope this opinion can help improve service in future.

Attended for conference. Great service, remarkable scenery and ambiance. Two resident parrots reside outside front entrance.

Friendliest staff in the valley. Always an amazing and fun experience...

This Marriott is gigantic and crazy nice for a hotel so far out in the middle of no where. Flamingos, ferry rides across their lake, shops, you name it and they have it. This resort is basically its own desert city with great rooms and amazing amenities.

Dessert Springs Resort and Spa is a beautiful property. The staff is attentive and helpful. The pools are well maintained and fun. There is something here for everyone. This is a great place for a romantic getaway, a friend getaway, or some family fun time. For such a beautiful place, the prices are great!

Always love staying aft a Marriott!!!!! They always are top notch.

Beautiful location, we went the week before their typical spring break season begins, and although there were quite a few people there, we never felt crowded.

This resort is big, well-maintained and has many options to keep you busy while on site: a boat tour of the property (will even take you to your dinner reservation at one of the three hotel restaurants), 5 pools (including one salt water), a golf course, mini golf and more! All of the staff were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the area and the view from our room was amazing. If we ever come back to Palm Desert, there will be no question about where we will be staying!

If you enjoy terrible service (room and poolside) and unannounced pool parties with crazy loud music and pools filled with drunk 20 to 30-somethings, then this is the place for you. If not, read on and then plan to stay elsewhere.
We are staying at the hotel right now and couldn't be having a worse experience. We're here for Father's Day weekend with our 2 kids and some more family and came expecting to have a relaxing/calm weekend (as much as possible with kids!). What we have gotten is terrible room service, even worse poolside service, and a total party atmosphere that no one warned us about. We arrived Friday afternoon and had to take a room with 2 double beds for my husband and I and our 2 kids (7 and 4) because they apparently don't have rooms with 2 queens. I'm 6 months pregnant and let's just say my husband and I are not sleeping comfortably in a double bed. Yesterday afternoon we came in from swimming and there was a random rollaway bed in our room that we didn't ask for, so we had to have that taken away. When we got home from dinner we called around 9:30 to ask if we could have a few spoons sent up to our room. There's no direct way to reach room service so we had to call the front desk and ask. A half hour later, no one arrived so my husband made the long walk to the lobby bar to get some spoons there (our room is close to the pool but far from the lobby). We eventually went to sleep and at 10:30pm, room service comes knocking on our door with the spoons! Like, knocking on our door shouting room service without even considering that we may be asleep after having waited an hour for you to show up. Saturday morning (today) we came to the main pool early and grabbed seats poolside. The shallow end of the pool was great for our kids and we enjoyed being out here for a while... that is, until the DJ set up along with "tacos and tequilas" and our day just went downhill from there. When we booked, we had no idea a party would be happening at the pool. After speaking with the manager he confirmed that they do not have this information available on their website, so unless you just happen to have heard that they have these parties every Friday and Saturday all summer long, you would have no way of knowing. The music is incredibly loud (I like music, but this is just ridiculous, plus we're so close to it) and all the adults (the ones there to party) flocked to the pool with their drinks and took over basically the entire pool. We eventually had to remove our kids because even being with them in the pool it wasn't safe with all the adults standing around--we literally couldn't keep a close enough eye on them. It took forever to get someone's attention to order food, which then took forever to come out and then still had something wrong on the order. Everyone drinking by the pool left beer cans, drink cups, trash, etc. along the edge, of course where our seats were, so we kept having to step around and over all the trash because no one from the hotel was cleaning it up. The food containers that held our old food also sat out for hours. Eventually, someone came to clean up the disgusting mess. Apparently the security guards are just there to stand around and randomly blow whistles and not notify any hotel workers that there is trash literally everywhere. We finally had our kids calm sitting mostly in shade that they needed after so much sun, when some hotel worker came up and starting closing our umbrellas (first before saying anything to us) and when I turned around she told us m she had to close them because of the wind. There was hardly a breeze! And nothing more than had been there yesterday and most of today. That was the last straw for me. We immediately packed up our stuff and left the miserable "pool party" and headed up to our room where you can still very clearly hear the music blasting. I can't believe we still have another night here--I wish we had somewhere else to go. Worst hotel experience I've ever had! Ww spoke with a manager who made a couple of accommodations for us, but we will NEVER be back here.

Great place for a family getaway in Palm Desert. Lots to do!!

While having drinks at lobby bar there was a loud group being very obnoxious and loud. Security showed up with a gentleman who appeared to be in charge. He handled the group beautifully. Very professional and calm. I overheard him say that guest safety and comfort was top priority and that they had to leave in order to continue everyone's pleasant experience. Bravo to this man and JW for making the guests and patrons first!

This is a beautiful resort located in the valley. It is up to the standards one would expect for a JW Marriott.

I liked the location. Close to the freeway and local supermarkets, restaurants and stores

We were there for an convention and it was such a great experience. The staff were very helpful and friendly.

It's a beautiful escape from the city for tranquillity and relaxation!

Everyone that works there treats you like you are the owner

Great place for drinks and appetizers followed by a nice boat ride around the hotel. Pretty neat!

Here for a conference, good rooms, nice service at the pool, beautiful hotel.

Great resort with lots things to do and places to eat.

I am proud to work at the jw to help make your stay a memorable experience

Flamingos and exotic birds make this place special.

Very high end. Not socially compatable for every one. Nice land scaling good food and polihgt services

Been to the hotel many times for business meetings and conventions never actually stayed here, until now and I can already tell this was a big mistake. Should be noted that check in time is not until 4 p.m. and check out time as early the next morning, so you're 6 to $800 room is not even for 24 hours. They also have the pool closed off for a private party the entire weekend which is the only reason we came out for a getaway is to sit by the pool relax read a book and kick it. Since we don't have a room we asked if we could use the pool at the spa but it's $75 per person. Should have done a little more research before blindly booking a reservation that's more concerned about money than it is about customer service.

Excellent hotel. Good breakfast buffet included. Quiet location.

Most beautiful hotel in the Desert! Mikado Steakhouse is amazing!!

This place is fantastic. Excellent service, employees always greeting you. Whatever you need, they're more than happy to assist you. There are three large pools. Mini golf is included in the resort fee. I went into one of the shops and a elderly women came in from golfing and said she wasn't feeling well and the employees quickly ran and got her some water and a cold wet towel. Awesome service! Will definitely come back!!

Beautiful hotel super friendly staff and definitely ride the gondalas!

Beautiful hotel, good location not far from freeway or activities. I recommend the boat ride.

Fantastic service in the continental restaurant. Everyone made me feel truly special. Though the food quality and presentation was not too notch.

Not very kid friendly. We finally found on our last day when the birds are in the cages, and there's a bird talk at 10. be I'm surprised the concierge didn't mention that. She did direct us to the children's museum, that was a hit. She said she would confirm our Valentine's day dinner reservations when the wharf opened, but she didn't and we didn't have a dinner reservation on Valentine's day. outdoor pool too cold for mid February, no indoor pool, wading pool or splash pad for kids.
Breakfast buffet is $30 per person, and worth about $15, as all the breads seem old and hard, nothing spectacular, though a beautiful setup. Omelette bar and fresh fruit were good. Service during breakfast at Rock grill restaurant was poor, they didn't come refill our water, check on us, or offer extra napkins for our toddler, so when we needed them I had to flag down some other server (since ours was nowhere to be found).
We brought our toddler, so no tennis or golf for us, so we remarked we could have stayed at am embassy suites and had more room, breakfast, and been just as satisfied. I thought for sure a "spa resort" would have slippers in the room, so I didn't bring mine from home. Nope, no slippers.
We enjoyed the quality and value of the off-property restaurants better than the ones on property.
I came here thinking it would be a nice baby-moon vacation for us, relaxing and could stay on property and enjoy good food and things to do with our toddler. I considered Mexico, but due to zika, that's out so we came here. However, the experience is definitely geared toward retired folks who like to golf. I wish I could get a do over, and just stay local in Orange county, go to the montage or Newport Beach, maybe San Diego instead of driving out here for this experience.

Go to eat in lobby bar. Such a pleasant environment with a great view of the mountains and man-made lake. Love watching the boats come and go. Nice bar menu though Caesar salad is nothing to write home about, nor is the hummus. However my friend loved her sushi each time she's been and we both think the chocolate mousse cake pops are to die for!!

Staff is supper nice, place is clean and welcoming staff is always amaking sure you have everything you need.

Lovely view, courteous staff. Coffee available in the room as well as a fridge. Several on-site restaurants, but no in-room microwave.

Stopped by for Sunday brunch. The food was great and they were able to accommodate our large group. Definitely try the Nutella crepes.

***update* -2 Star *** they told me wifi is free, just accept the terms, np, next morning as I checked out: 13$ please! So I said: moment, your college told me it's free, I have an LTE hotspot and there was no really need for me using wifi. blabla okay you don't need to pay - bye. 3 days layer I checked my CC and... 13$ debit for the wifi. I don't care for 13$ but I feel fooled. Pay for wifi in these day's... ridiculous *** Extraordinary in almost everything. I am just impressed. Boat in the lobby? A Starbucks inside? Swan's poolside? Wifi is free! Not as posted in other recommendation.

I can t believe that a hotel of this stature only serves O Douls non alcoholic beer. There is a full awray of wonderful, full bodied non alcoholic beers out there and Marriott chooses to serve something as mondain as O Douls. That s my first gripe. My second gripe is we booked massages at the spa and looked forward to a nice day at the spa, relaxing by the pool, and enjoying the sun and a nice lunch. We were only informed upon our check-in the day of our massage that the pool was being resurfaced. We weren t even told we could go to the pool at the main hotel; we had to ask! This kind of service and lack of information is totally unacceptable and not what we expect when we go to a Marriott resort. We are extremely disappointed with this Marriott

great place awesome people!!Chris,Jaime, front desk...

We got happy hour lunch. Burger and fries are legit. Highly recommend.

The only reasons its not 5 star rated by me are for 2 reasons. First the hotel charges your card an extra $145 or so dollars on top of the room fee. They never mention it at check in . They just rock your card and then tell you all hotels do it. B.S.! I have stayed at the jw in Tucson many times and they don't do that. At least mention it at check in. Second, if you're golfing as we were the bag handlers are rude, grumpy and flat out greedy. Both myself and my cart mate tipped the bag boy, (and I use the term lightly cause their all in their 40's) $4 each just to walk 10 ft and put our bags on the cart and then gave us a dirty look after as if we stiffed him. Then another $4 each at the end of our round to reverse the process. That's $16 To walk 20 feet. I would have not complained a bit because that's how these guys make their money but at least act like you want to be there and be a bit more positive and not give the customer the stink eye. It's not our fault you're loading golf bags in your 40's. I heard one thank you out of 2 days of golfing from them for tippi g them twice per round. That being said the starter was a pleasant individual and he didn't require a tip. Courses are in good shape and carts are speedy. Hotel is clean and comfortable.

Love this resort always top notch. I called the front desk tonight and challenged Angelina to assist with loaning us cards and poker chips, of course she came through for us.

Not happy with our check-in as we have been members for 20 years and this was a year where they screwed up a villa and was not willing to admit their mistakes.

Wonderful hotel and grounds. Service was impeccable.

I can't believe how incredible the food is, how gorgeous the grounds and view are, and how helpful and friendly the staff is. Definitely a top notch establishment.

Rooms were tired, but lobby and property are lovely.

Got massages with my wife. Service was incredible and the property was amazing!

BUGS!!!

I stayed here for about 5-days & was extremely disappointed in the customer service with a few unfortunate events.

When we arrived, we were lucky to have a room available and were very thankful for that. But, when we got to our room, there were bugs EVERYWHERE!!! I have videos & pictures. It was awful! We immediately called the front desk where they put us on hold for about 10-minutes. After they came back to the phone, they just said we are moving you. There wasn't an apology or acknowledgement of the situation. We asked them to bring us the new keys, because the walk to the front desk was very, very long. We had been traveling all day already.

We waited 30-minutes and still no key. We were starving at this point and decided to eat the restaurant. We stopped by the front desk to tell someone else the situation & that we were waiting on the new room keys. Again, there wasn't an apology or acknowledgement of the situation. She gave us our new room keys & took back the old room keys. She reassured us that they would move our luggage for us, while we were at lunch.

Review of the restaurant onsite... Way overpriced for what it is! WAY OVERPRICED.

After lunch, we decided to double check with the front desk. Glad we did, because our luggage wasn't moved. The guy at the front desk said, "per our policy we can't move your luggage without present." We explained the other lady told us it would be moved. He kept repeating that sentence to us. It came off extremely rude and disrespectful. We asked if someone could move our luggage with us, he said, "no, it's not that far of a walk for you." WOW. JUST WOW. Plot twist, we are in the hospitality industry and have a different microscope on this situation. He didn't offer a bellman or anyone to help us. We decided to walk away & handle the situation ourselves.

We went back, got our luggage, and went to our new room. The views were completely different and not as beautiful. Before, we were overlooking mountains and palm trees and other beautiful landscapes. The new room was facing the small pool on the side. I will say that the cleaning and other staff are way more friendly and respectful than the front desk attendants.

The new room? It was hot every day and every night. We had the thermostat very low & the room never cooled off. Ever.

I am highly disappointed in this JW Marriott location. I have stayed at many and never had this kind of poor service. I would not recommend staying here in Palm Desert. It's sad, because it has beautiful views and a vast property.

It's a very nice place and had fun with my husband. Great place to stay.

Lovely hotel with gondola and beautiful bird exhibit.

Great staff and service. Went in the offseason and had a great room rate and an empty resort.

We didn't stay here. We were there for a couple of evenings for en event in one of the ballrooms. The hotel is in the midst of a refurbishment that includes the guest rooms as well the lobby. That's exciting for future visits as the property in these areas is a little dated.

The grounds are beautiful and the service was very good.

The three stars comes from the price of food and drinks. I understand that it is a resort and you pay resort prices. My issue is that for $15 - $17 for a "crafted drink" it should be great but it wasn't. For $28 - $42 per plate for dinner the restaurant should have a great atmosphere and the food should be great but it wasn't.

Pay the resort fees, enjoy the service, grounds, and beauty of the hotel but bring your own drinks and Uber to one of the many incredible restaurants nearby.