JW Marriott is one of the famous brand in hotel business. For me, there's a slight curiosity of what they're offering everytime there's this brand in town I've visited. There are only 2 Marriott hotels in Indonesia, Jakarta & Surabaya. And it's been around for quite some time. And both have maintained their reputation as one of leading hotels in Indonesia. They have well-maintained room you won't find any scratch in their furniture or stained bathroom. Things you'll find in other old 5-star hotels. The location is superb at the heart of Surabaya's shopping & business area. And don't forget, Surabaya's people are a lot nicer & warmer than other cities in Indonesia.

While certainly a "value for money", this hotel did not live up to my expectations of being a high end Marriott property. The building is old, and service was slip shod. The mattress in my room was ready to be replaced. On the other hand, the hotel is centrally located, and the outdoor pool is very pleasant.

Being a non-smoker assigned to a smoking room was not something we were very pleased with, we left the hotel with everything in our luggage reeking of cigarette smoke. Other than that, the rooms were mediocre but not lacking. Beds were very comfortable, as with all JW Marriotts. The sound-proofing in the hotel isn't quite up to scratch, we could hear very clearly the noise from the band at the wedding reception by day (practising) and till very late at night.

What I was truly impressed with was the breakfast spread which was huge. Given that the breakfast crowd is large, the hotel caters to the overflow in the Chinese restaurant, which had a slighly smaller variety than the main cafe, but was sufficient nonetheless.

Location wise, JW Marriott is about a 5 minute walk from Plasa Tunjungan, which is a massive shopping centre with all the major high street labels, where we sought respite from the heat in the afternoon. Slightly further away is Plaza Surabaya, another mega shopping mall in the otherwise sleepy town.

There seem to be a constant stream of taxis, getting a taxi from the hotel was never a problem. We were even given a slip of paper with the taxi's details should we run into any issues.

I stayed here for 2 nights attending a conference held at the hotel. I booked a Executive Deluxe room but was upgraded to an Executive Studio which is basically a corner room with a larger built up. The Executive room basically entitles you that free wired internet in the room and access to the executive lounge where you can enjoy a quiet breakfast. If you would like to have more choice for breakfast you can always go to the coffee house which offers more variety but those available at the lounge is sufficient. How much can you eat anyway. You can also enjoy free wifi access at the lounge which opens until midnight. I arrived quite late so it was a relieve that the room also came with free pressing for 2 garments which they did in a jiffy. Since I was traveling alone for business, the bed is more than ample and i can keep all 7 pillows to myself. How nice. The staffs are friendly and courteous. I don't really need to come to Surabaya if there is no particular reason but if i do need to, will definitely come to this hotel again.