JW Marriott Mussoorie: Review

I was drawn to JW Marriott Mussoorie for the sheer beauty of the Himalayas all around the resort. The resort offers a perfect mix of relaxation and entertainment. The biggest advantage of this property was that every place was easily accessible by an elevator or a short walk. This is one of the few properties we’ve visited which requires no wastage of holiday time waiting for those buggies (golf car) for a transfer within the property.

Booking

I bought SPG points with a discount of 35%, transferred them to Marriott and booked the rooms on Marriott Rewards points which in turn resulted in a massive saving. Check out my detailed explanation here.

Check-In

After 12 hours of sightseeing in Rishikesh, Dehradun and Mussoorie, we arrived at the resort at 9 pm. We were completely exhausted but it took only a few minutes for the check-in formalities and they ushered us to our rooms. They gave us inter-connecting rooms with a valley view as requested.

Rooms at JW Marriott Mussoorie

At check-in, I found out that they upgraded one of our rooms to a Junior Suite room, inter-connecting with a Standard Valley View room. Both rooms were similar. The difference being that the Junior suite had a huge bathroom and a seating space. Since it had a huge bathroom, the room might be similar or even slightly smaller in size as compared to the Valley View room. Both the rooms had a bathtub but the Junior Suite had a bathtub overlooking the valley.

The room had all the modern amenities as you’d expect in a 5-star hotel. It had a big balcony with a sofa. The valley view from the room was nice but slightly obstructed by the building in front.

The highlight of the Junior Suite room was undoubtedly its bathroom.  It was so massive that 10 people could sleep in it. The best experience of my stay was its bathtub with a valley view. I’m quite sure that they had some mechanism to keep the water warm in the bathtub as even after 20 minutes, the water temperature did not drop.

Here is a glimpse of our day spent at JW Marriott Mussoorie:

Breakfast at JW cafe

We got free breakfast, thanks to our Gold membership which I’d got from a status match through SPG. Breakfast spread, as expected had everything – standard continental fare, Waffles and pancakes which I love, live dosa counter, kachori, chole poori, paratha counter and so on. They also had local dishes like local dal paratha, hot badam milk and even Maggi. Every single dish was yummy and it was served in a small quantity, so we could try a lot of different dishes. I must say service was exceptional too – clearing plates in no time, getting the right order quickly and the staff members were very polite.

Afternoon High-tea

Just two hours after breakfast, the resort had a local event more like an afternoon high-tea with some snacks and music. In winters, they arrange this in the afternoon instead of evenings as evenings can be quite chilly. There were different counters of masala tea, winter cart with nibbles and candies, bhelpuri and even hot jalebis. We just tasted each item as we were still full from breakfast.

It was a fun family activity. They even organized Housie (Bingo) and had all the drawing essential for kids.

Garden

Right next to where the afternoon high-tea was organized, there was a small garden. It was good enough for a quick look.

Next up, we checked out The Den.

The Den – Entertainment Center

Unlike most entertainment centres in a hotel where half of the things don’t work, this had all the games as stated on the hotel’s website. We had super fun playing a game of bowling, nearly after 10 years. A game of bowling for Rs. 500 is quite reasonable for a 5-star hotel. Carom, table tennis and some other games were available for free whereas billiards, pool, video games and kiddie rides were reasonably priced.

The Perch

After The Den, we went to their open terrace lounge called The Perch. We chilled out there for a while on super comfy loungers with an unobstructed view of the valley. What more could we’ve asked for on a weekend getaway in India?

We relaxed in our room for a while and then went for a dip in the swimming pool.

Swimming Pool

 JW Marriott Mussoorie has an indoor heated pool. We were looking forward to this but unfortunately, the water was quite cold and we could not swim for more than 30 minutes. On request for a drink, the pool attendant called for a staff member at the pool bar. We had an Oreo Shake which was just about decent. They did have free Steam and Sauna but Jacuzzi was available only in the spa for a whopping cost of Rs. 2000.

Though we could not enjoy the pool much but the bathtub in our room’s bathroom with an amazing valley view was nothing short of heaven.

Late Lunch at Wisteria Deck

Timings – It is usually open till 6 pm but at times, they are open for dinner as well.

Around 5 pm, after trying to make an appetite by swimming, Wisteria Deck was next on my list for their wood-fired pizzas. The ambience was perfect – sofa loungers, valley view and even a heater to keep us warm. Our plan was to try a pizza and save some stomach space for dinner. But their menu looked too appetizing and we landed up ordering two kinds of pasta and two pizzas. Pizzas were perfectly crisp and thin. Everything was absolutely delicious! Again, service was very good.

Executive Lounge

Being a Gold member, we could use the lounge from 5 pm to 7 pm. At the time of check-in, he informed me about the benefits and said they would arrange the same in their Indian restaurant – Trout. Our plan was to enjoy some non-alcoholic drinks (we don’t drink) after pizzas with a valley view but from a different restaurant. But the Executive Lounge was shifted to their Asian restaurant – Teppan.

We ordered drinks for each one of us and tried some snacks from the buffet. There was a salad bar, cheese balls, grilled fruit platter and cake for dessert. We tried a little of everything, it was decent but not as good as our other meals.

As we were at Teppan, I checked out its dinner menu. It was an extensive menu and I really wished I could eat here.

Teppan at JW Marriott Mussoorie

They have two different menus – one is A la carte featuring Asian, Japanese and Thai dishes and the other is the special menu for Teppanyaki cuisine. Even for Teppanyaki cuisine, it was an A la carte menu, unlike most places which have a set menu. Prices were around Rs. 650 plus tax per dish. For vegetarians, there were three types of veg starters and one type of rice and noodles. I was searching for a restaurant to experience Teppanyaki cuisine for a while now, either it would be too costly or lacked veg options. In spite of being full after nearly eating all day, we still booked it for 7 pm. They only have 2 timings –  7 pm and 9 pm.

Back at 7 pm, the server showed us our tables around the grill. The Chef welcomed us warmly. We told him we are full and we want to see the live cooking show rather than eat. Hence, we only ordered a fried rice to share between us. The chef started with some knife demonstrations and then stated the preparation for our rice. It was quite a show. We tasted the fried rice, it was the perfect blend of spice and flavours. I so wished I hadn’t eaten pizzas or snacks at the lounge, so I could try many other dishes here.

I asked him, what was the most popular item on the menu. He said rice with veggies. We had no tomorrow and I ordered a plate of stir fry veggies as well. We enjoyed every minute of the show and food. To our surprise, a plate of veggies was the most delicious stir fry we ever had in our lives! He didn’t even charge us for the veggie stir fry as he just made a sample portion for us.

In all for Rs. 800 we got a spectacular show and mouth-watering delicious food. We all loved it so much that since then we’re searching for a Teppanyaki restaurant.

Even if you’re not staying at JW Marriott Mussoorie, it would be worthwhile to have at least one dinner here but make sure to book a table for Teppanyaki in advance. (It’s open to outsiders)

This was our best experience during our stay in JW Marriott Mussoorie.

A day well spent! Unfortunately, the next day it was time to leave this amazing property and head back home.

We didn’t get a chance to try their other restaurant called Trout. It is an Indian restaurant which specializes in seafood. It was lower on our wish list as we are vegetarians.
We also didn’t try the Spa where prices were in the range of Rs. 5000 for a 60-minute massage.

I had only one full day here and it was a perfect mix of relaxation, fun activities and awesome food. This is definitely the best hotel we’ve stayed at on a hill station in India and would highly recommend it.

Planning a trip to Uttarakhand?

Check out all the other posts in Uttarakhand series:
Uttarakhand: Trip Planning
Our Detailed Itinerary and Trip Report
How I managed to buy points and book at a massive discount

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored or free trip – We have paid for all our Holiday expenses but I spend a lot of time researching for the best deals and at times do get a discount as I run a travel business as well. However, this post contains some (not all) affiliate links. Any purchase made through the links will help support this blog at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support!