JW Marriott Orlando
- thefivestaredit
- Sep 23
- 9 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Orlando’s polished playground for grown-ups and kids alike
Article summary
In this article, you will get our unbiased, independent review and thoughts on JW Marriott Resort in Orlando
First impressions
The look
Rooms & suites
Editors notes
Spa & amenities
Food & drink
Service & vibe
Location
Price
Verdict
Pros & Cons
Itinerary ideas
Tours & activities
There’s a point on the drive down Central Florida Parkway when the scenery dials from neon to nature: pines shouldering the road, a shimmer of water between reeds, the skyline softening into golf-course green. Then a sweep of pale stone and glass appears, the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, standing on a 500-acre estate that feels less like a “park hotel” and more like a modern Florida grand dame. It's both a launchpad for Orlando’s headliners and a self-contained resort with enough appetite, water, and sky to make you forget you’re in the most visited metro in America.
The Marriott shares the estate with its sister, The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, and that pairing, two characters, one playground, is the secret sauce. It buys you a serious spa, a championship golf course, farm-to-table dining, and a waterpark that does what good waterparks do: elicit involuntary grins from adults pretending not to be excited. The past several years brought a top-to-toe refresh, including reinvented rooms and suites, a re-energised lobby bar, and the expanded Grande Lakes Waterpark: lazy river, three-slide tower, cabanas, lagoons, even a VIP fire-pit lounge called Oasis. If you last visited pre-2023, it’s time to update your mental picture; it's impressive.
first impressions:
The address, 4040 Central Florida Parkway, puts you roughly 15-20 minutes from both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, but emotionally, the distance is further: birdcall at breakfast, fireflies over the lakes at night. The resort unfolds like a small village: long verandas, palms casting disciplined shade, and a procession of families, golfers and conference escapees migrating between the pool, the lobby, and dinner. Check-in here is fast without being impersonal; if your room needs a minute, the staff point you toward EvrBar, the new-look lobby lounge inspired by the headwaters of the Everglades, where a well-built spritz and a view over the waterpark do the recalibration for you.
Rooms & suites at the JW Marriott Orlando
The Marriott's recent renovation did what the best refreshes do: it calmed the palette and elevated the feel without sanding off the hotel’s sense of place. There are about 1,010 rooms and suites (yes, a big hotel, this is Orlando), and every one of them was redone with pale woods, stone, and a plant-touched palette that mirrors the lakes and lawns outside.
The new Family Suites are a small masterstroke for multigenerational trips: two and three-bedroom configurations with proper living space and built-in bunks for children and teens behind pocket doors, privacy for bedtime, and a place for stuff to disappear in daylight. Upper-floor rooms face either the golf course and lakes or the waterpark; if sunrise coffee on a balcony is your ritual, say so at booking, and the team will steer you right.
Basics matter in a city that exhausts you: blackouts that behave, AC that whispers, water pressure that wakes you gently, and plug points sensibly scattered rather than hidden behind nightstands. The rooms are nice, exactly what you'd expect from a newly renovated luxury 5-star resort hotel. For more information, offers, and bookings, click here
The water: where Orlando finally relaxes
I love a hotel that understands how we really spend our hours, and Grande Lakes Waterpark is engineered around that reality. It’s not just a lazy river (though it meanders under palms like a Floridian daydream). The complex now spans six distinct zones: the river, a Headwaters Slide Tower with three waterslides, Aquaventure with climbing and slide features, tranquil lagoons for low-effort floating, an Oasis VIP fire-pit enclave for that golden hour, and a phalanx of cabanas that actually feel worth the splurge on busy weekends.
Knifeburger, by chef John Tesar of Knife & Spoon fame, sends out smash-patties, hand-spun shakes, and salty, sunshine-friendly things you’ll pretend to share. (There’s a telltale silence that falls over a lounger when a Knifeburger tray lands.) The whole scene reads like a family-friendly beach club with an Orlando accent.
You also have cross-estate privileges: wander to the Ritz side for its calmer pool rhythm, or book a treatment at the Ritz-Carlton Spa and claim a lounger by its adults-only lap pool, a completely different soundtrack for couples or anyone who needs to read three chapters uninterrupted.
Eating & drinking:
Orlando’s dining scene has grown up, and Grande Lakes has been part of that story for years.
Primo remains the culinary north star at the Marriott, with two-time James Beard Award winner Melissa Kelly at the helm. The room was redesigned with a new layout and a 50-seat terrace; the menu is still a hymn to seasonality, house-made pastas, pristine vegetables, and wood-kissed seafood, fueled by Whisper Creek Farm on the property. Primo is MICHELIN Guide recommended and, as of 2025, holds a Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star nod. Reserve the terrace if the forecast is kind.
Whisper Creek Farm: The Kitchen is the estate’s rustic-modern annexe, with flatbreads, small plates, salads and local beer in a space that feels like it could sprout herbs if you turned away. It’s democratic, delicious and open at useful hours, precisely when you need a “we didn’t plan lunch” solution.
EvrBar, the reinvented lobby bar, is the resort’s mood ring. Late afternoon it’s iced things and low voices; evenings it becomes a proper lounge, cocktails guided by citrus and botanicals, a short menu of bright, shareable plates, and views across the waterpark that look suspiciously like a screensaver.
Knifeburger at the waterpark is happily informal and better than it needs to be; if your
group includes teens, consider it inevitable and plan your pool day around it.
When you feel like borrowing your neighbour’s greatest hits, Highball & Harvest at the Ritz leans Southern and cocktail-forward, and if you want a splurge night, Knife & Spoon, also at the Ritz, holds a MICHELIN star for steak and seafood. The beauty of the estate is choice: dress up or down, walk or float there; the food options are endless.
Wellness & nature: the spa:
The Ritz-Carlton Spa is one of Orlando’s few truly destination-worthy wellness addresses: 40,000 square feet, 40 treatment rooms, salon, and that outdoor lap pool I mentioned earlier. Book a mid-afternoon slot, then drift to Vitale, Spa Café for something citrus-bright and green before heading back to the Marriott for sunset on the water.
Golfers have the Greg Norman–designed course (par 72) rolling around wetlands and lakes with the kind of routing that flatters mortals in the morning calm and sharpens your focus when the breeze picks up at noon. If you’ve neglected your swing, the practice complex and instruction team will tell you the truth kindly. (There’s a moment on 17, as the light goes honey-gold, that makes you briefly forget about rollercoasters.)
My favourite non-park morning here, however, is the Shingle Creek Eco Tour: a guided two-hour paddle through the actual headwaters of the Everglades. You ride out by outfitter cart, slide into the tannin amber water and let birdsong and guide banter erase all thoughts of turnstiles. Families come back with wildlife bingo cards half-filled; grown-ups come back converted. Grande Lakes runs mountain-bike loops, fishing school and falconry, too, but the creek is the best I recommend to everyone.
Doing the parks from here:
The Marriott isn’t branded as an on-park hotel, and that’s the point. You get the resort calm; you still get transport to the major parks, Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, via the resort’s scheduled shuttles; and you can time your day to human rhythm: rope-drop a headliner, retreat before the heat drills holes in your plan, drift the lazy river, then rally for fireworks. It’s a park strategy with a wellness backbone.
The vibe:
Mornings belong to golfers, stroller brigades in surprisingly chic trainers, and conference types with lanyards tucked away as they queue for espresso. By afternoon, Grande Lakes Waterpark hums, joyful, family-forward, not frantic, and the estate spreads the energy across so much square footage that you can always find quiet if you want it (the Ritz spa pool, the Marriott’s farther-flung lawns, a balcony). After dusk, Primo fills with date-night couples and EvrBar turns golden; somewhere a child negotiates one more lap of the lazy river and loses gracefully.
Service on my stays has been cheerfully precise: pool attendants who re-angle umbrellas before you ask; hosts who clock the “we have a kid asleep in a stroller” look and move your table to shade; a concierge who placed us on a Shingle Creek tour that left exactly when the morning clouds broke. It’s Marriott at its best: polished, not precious.
Practicalities & pricing:
Orlando pricing dances with school calendars, conventions and festivals. Prices average £323 to £550/night for standard rooms, with peak weeks (holidays, big conventions) climbing higher. There’s a daily resort fee (commonly $50, plus tax) and parking (self and valet) that add to the math; packages and offer windows appear often enough that it’s worth checking. The value unlock is simple: you will use the waterpark, you will probably eat on property, and you will want at least one non-park day.
A quick 3-day itinerary:
Day 1 - Float first, plan later. Arrive, stash bags, and pretend you live at the waterpark, river, slides, Knifeburger for the table, feet up at Oasis while someone else tends the firepit. Late afternoon, a shower and EvrBar spritz; dinner on Primo’s terrace if the forecast smiles; a walk under palms as the night air cools.
Day 2 - Rope-drop, reset, repeat. Early shuttle to Disney or Universal for a surgical strike on two headliners, back by 11:30 before tempers and temperatures rise. Book a Ritz-Carlton Spa treatment, lunch at Vitale, and a quiet hour by the spa pool. Evening options: Southern comfort at Highball & Harvest or a full send at Knife & Spoon (if you’ve bribed a babysitter or the grandparents).
Day 3 - Creek and coffee. Shingle Creek eco-tour at first light, ibis, egrets, reflections, then a last long float through the lazy river before check-out. If your flight’s late, you’ll find me at EvrBar with a cold brew and a strong desire to miss the airport traffic by an hour.
Verdict:
JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes nails a difficult brief: it lets you do the parks without becoming the parks. The new rooms and family suites are quietly excellent; the waterpark is a joy machine with just enough private nooks to feel adult; the dining is credible across moods (Primo for polish, Whisper Creek for ease, Knifeburger for sunshine); and the estate’s extras, the Ritz-Carlton Spa, golf, Shingle Creek, turn a theme-park trip into an honest-to-goodness holiday. Add the location, central to everything, yet emotionally offshore, and you get the rare Orlando stay that appeals equally to kids in goggles and parents who care about linens and wine lists. I send friends here when their brief is “Orlando, but make it restorative.”
Bottom line: If your Orlando brief is “maximum fun, minimum stress,” the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes is the answer: a credible culinary scene, a waterpark that earns its hype, access to one of Florida’s best resort spas, and just-right proximity to the parks, close enough for rope drop, far enough to sleep like you meant it.
Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Expanded Grande Lakes Waterpark with lazy river, three-slide tower, lagoons, cabanas, and Oasis fire-pit lounge; Knifeburger poolside.
Fully renovated rooms and suites (including family suites with bunk beds); bright, calm design.
Primo (MICHELIN Guide–recommended; Forbes Four-Star 2025) and EvrBar lobby lounge; Whisper Creek Farm: The Kitchen for casual farm-to-table.
Access to Ritz-Carlton Spa (40,000 sq. ft., adults-only lap pool) and Greg Norman golf.
Shuttles to Walt Disney World, Universal, and SeaWorld simplify park days.
Cons:
Resort fee and parking add up; peak calendars push rates up higher.
It’s a big property (1,010 rooms); the lobby and pool bustle at holiday peaks.
Spa is across the estate at the Ritz (a short, pleasant walk or shuttle, but not in-house).
Key facts at a glance:
Location: 4040 Central Florida Pkwy, on the 500-acre Grande Lakes estate; roughly 15-20 minutes to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando; park shuttles available.
Hotel rating: 4-star Luxury upscale resort under JW Marriott; flagship for the brand in Orlando. (Estate shares amenities with the adjacent Ritz-Carlton.) We don't normally review 4-star hotels; however, given its shared facilities with the neighbouring Ritz Carlton and its fantastic family vibe, this had to go on the list.
Hotel vibe: Polished, family-forward urban-resort energy; waterpark joy by day, lobby-bar glow and terrace dining by night.
Food & drink:
Primo - Chef Melissa Kelly; MICHELIN-recommended, Forbes 4-Star 2025; terrace seating.
Whisper Creek Farm: The Kitchen - farm-to-table small plates, craft beer; useful hours.
EvrBar - new lobby lounge with Everglades-inspired cocktails and bites.
Knifeburger - John Tesar’s poolside burger shack at the waterpark.
(Estate access) Highball & Harvest (Southern, cocktail-led) and Knife & Spoon (MICHELIN-starred steak & seafood) next door.
Hotel amenities: Grande Lakes Waterpark (lazy river, Headwaters Slide Tower, Aquaventure, lagoons, Oasis), resort and cabana pools, Ritz-Carlton Spa (40,000 sq. ft.), Greg Norman golf, Grande Lakes Sports (Shingle Creek eco-tours, fishing, MTB), kids’ activities.
How many rooms: 1,010 rooms & suites after renovation (including new multi-bedroom family suites with bunks).
Pricing: From £350/night for standard rooms across seasons; resort fee $50/night plus parking; shoulder months offer best value.
Location recommendations & attractions: Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando & SeaWorld (via shuttle); Shingle Creek paddle; rounds at Grande Lakes Golf; a spa day at the Ritz; dinners at Primo or Knife & Spoon for grown-up nights in. For more tours and activities in Orlando, see below or click here.
All hotels & resorts on The Five Star Edit are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive a small commission from advertisers when using our affiliate links.
JW Marriott Orlando (Florida) Review 2025
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