This is exciting…Today we’re sharing a review of the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort – a luxury hotel within walking distance of Disneyland. Spoiler alert. This is our favorite Disneyland-area hotel.
We paid for this room out of pocket and the post contains our personal,
unbiased impressions of the JW Marriott – the good, the bad and the ugly.
This post contains affiliate links which provide a small commission
on your purchase, at no added cost to you.
JW Marriott Quick Review
WHAT WE LOVED
- Brand new!
- Super quiet
- Comfortable bed
- Spa-like bathroom with stand alone tub
- Oversized shower with no nasty curtain
- Generous storage
- Mini fridge
- Car stored safely in valet
- Rooftop bar with views
- Access to outside restaurants
- Friendly staff, quick to fix issues
WHAT WE DIDN’T
- Hotel is pricey without a discounted rate
- Parking without a discount $40 a night
- Charge for internet service
- High charge for pool cabana reservation
- Bathroom barn door, as opposed to more private option.
- Edge of our magic triangle and what we consider “walkable”
- Not an option for families with many kids
(great for us, but a challenge for some)
How to save money on a luxury hotel near Disneyland
As out-of-state Disneyland annual passholders, we’ve stayed in more than our fair share of Anaheim-area hotels. There are just a few that we return to on a regular basis and JW Marriott Anaheim Resort tops the list.
We get asked all of the time how we can possibly afford to hold an annual pass, travel from Utah every six weeks and stay in five star hotels. Well, it’s not exactly a secret. We plan ahead, look for deals and book hotel stays through our travel partner Get Away Today.
Use our partner link with Get Away Today to gain access to a fourth night “on the house” at the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort and free valet parking. That’s a savings of over $400!
Where is the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort located?
This luxury hotel is within walking distance of Disneyland, right inside what we like to call the magic triangle. It is the nicest hotel in the area (followed by the Element, by Marriott), but is situated on the edge of what we consider “walking distance,” southeast of the Parks. It is located in the Anaheim GardenWalk, an outdoor dining, shopping and entertainment district.
The JW Marriott is an easy 12-15 minute walk to Disneyland’s main gate. The best travel path is north through the Anaheim GardenWalk and then west on Disneyland Drive to Harbor Boulevard. The GardenWalk is quiet and empty in the mornings on the way into the park, but is pretty busy in the evening.
If you’re looking for other great options in the area, be sure to check our our post on the best hotels within walking distance of Disneyland.
What are the rooms like at this luxury Disneyland-area hotel?
The JW Marriott opened in August 2020. It has 466 rooms and 16 suites. The rooms are on par with what you’d find at a Ritz Carlton or St. Regis property. It’s definitely the best luxury Disneyland-area hotel on the market right now, unless you can afford a bill two-to-three times higher. If that’s the case, stay at the Grand Californian!
We’ve visited the JW Marriott twice in the last year, visiting a King Guest Room (includes trundle, sleeps three) and a Queen Guest Room (two beds, sleeps four). Both guest room styles are slightly more spacious than a regular room and either works well for our small family of three.
You can book a room with a park or firework view. We were lucky enough to be upgraded to a park view room on our last stay. I can’t say that it’s something I would pay extra for, largely because the hotel has so many great public spaces with an even better view, but it was a fun surprise.
Each room is equipped with a seating area, desk and mini fridge (we use this feature a ton!). It also has a large closet for storage and plenty of drawers.
We’re lucky enough to sleep on an INTELLIbed at home, so we’re a bit spoiled when it comes to night time comfort, but we find the beds in this hotel to super comfy.
Honestly, the highlight of these rooms has got to be the stunning spa-like bathroom, complete with a deep stand alone bathtub and a lighted makeup mirror.
There is a lot of counter and shelf space to hold your toiletries.
Our favorite feature was the extra-large, marble shower. Here’s a quirk. We prefer a shower with a glass door, as opposed to one with a shower curtain. There’s just something about that fabric surface that just isn’t as…
One other cool feature we liked was the location of the shower handle. It’s next to the door so that you can turn on and adjust the shower without getting all wet. Genius!
Like many Marriott hotels, the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort’s bathroom door is a barn door slider. These doors are beautiful space savers, but definitely result in a lack of bathroom privacy (IYKYK).
Our room was very quiet, though the hotel was hosting a wedding and the room was located directly over the GardenWalk. There was a definite lack of the shrieks and screams (delight and anger) from small children that we usually experience in a Disney-area hotel.
What amenities are offered at this luxury hotel close to Disneyland?
While we don’t typically spend a lot of time outside of Disneyland Resort while in Anaheim, the JW Marriott offers a wide variety of amenities if you have a little time to spare.
Just off the main lobby are the hotel gardens, which includes a butterfly, succulent, floral and vegetable garden which is incorporated into property’s food and beverage programming.
Seating is tucked in and about the area, but the highlight is definitely the butterfly garden – an art installation of 600 titanium butterflies that illuminate in different shades of green and blue depending on how the light shines through during both the day and night and an interactive augmented reality experience.
The butterfly garden was awarded the 2020 Art in Public Spaces Award in Anaheim, California and is a great way to spend some quiet down time when you check into the hotel.
The best way to access the Anaheim GardenWalk and scoot over to the parks is through the gardens. It’s this little shortcut that makes this a great luxury hotel within walking distance to Disneyland.
Of course, no luxury hotel would be complete without a beautiful pool. The JW Marriott pool is lovely and sits in the shade for a fair amount of the day. I am honestly glad that I don’t enjoy sitting by the pool, as the cabanas can only be reserved for a pretty significant fee ($250 when we published this post).
We didn’t visit the wellness area but the hotel has a yoga and zen room available, as well as what was described as an expansive fitness center.
Seriously. Who’s working out BEFORE walking 20,000+ steps in Disneyland? Whoever you are…we grabbed a photo for ya!
The in-house restaurant is Tocca Ferro Italian Chophouse. Though it features an award winning chef we didn’t visit the restaurant, as there are so many options in the Anaheim GardenWalk (Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang’s, California Pizza Kitchen and House of Blues).
We have checked out the amazing rooftop bar – Parkistry.
They are happy to mix up a fun mocktail if you don’t drink alcohol. This drink had a spiced cider flavor. It was delicious!
The bar has amazing Disneyland views an is the perfect place to view the park’s fireworks. Be sure to make a reservation for Parkistry, as it’s a popular spot!
Staffing at this luxury hotel within walking distance of Disneyland
We always enjoy interacting with the hotel staff. They often have insider secrets, tips and tricks that we would have otherwise missed out on. We also like to throw them a challenge and see how they react.
The staff at the JW Marriott was not only competent, but friendly and kind. We had two issues that they resolved beautifully.
We “left” our toothbrush at home. The hotel staff quickly provided a dental kit that included a brush and an itty bitty toothpaste for use during our stay.
Second we “lost” our valet ticket. The staff quickly located our vehicle using my driver’s license without much wait at all.
Travel to from this luxury Disneyland-Area Resort to the Parks
Though this is a luxury hotel within walking distance to Disneyland, you might wonder what transportation options are available if you don’t want to move your feet.
If you drive to California you will have access to your own car, but I don’t recommend driving to the resort. By the time you park your car and head for the tram, you’ll experience a very similar walk.
Remember if you’re planning to drive, be sure to book through our travel partner link to access free valet parking. Otherwise, you’re paying a daily fee of $40.
That leaves you with two options – Uber and ART Shuttle.
Hopefully I don’t have to explain Uber at this point, but you may not be familiar with the Anaheim Resort Transportation Shuttle (ART Shuttle). Depending on how many people there are in your party, this may be the least expensive option available.
The ART Shuttle has two stops near the JW Marriott, to transport guests to and from Disneyland resort. The stops are located in the GardenWalk Transportation Center (downstairs in the bus area) and in front of the Cheesecake Factory. Be sure to check with the concierge regarding ART Shuttle before riding, as coverage has been less consistent due to COVID.
The JW Marriott Anaheim Resort is brand new. It opened during the COVID pandemic, in late 2020. You can still be one of the first to experience this luxury hotel within walking distance of Disneyland.
Tauni Everett
Creative Director at Tauni Everett
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