Hotel Review: JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity

We stayed at the JW Marriott Delhi on our final night in India. We didn’t do any sightseeing from here, as we’d already spent three days exploring Delhi at the start of our trip (during which time we stayed at The Oberoi, New Delhi which had a more central location). The main purpose for this stay was simply to be close to the airport for our early departure the next day.

In this post, we’ll share our experience staying at this airport hotel in Delhi. We’ll start with why we picked it and how we booked it, then we’ll go into the details of our room and other amenities on property. Keep reading to hear all about our stay at the JW Marriott Delhi.

About This Post and Related Posts

This post reviews the JW Marriott New Delhi Aerocity, the last of five hotels we stayed at over the course of two weeks in India. Other hotel reviews can be found here:

• Review of The Oberoi, New Delhi
• Review of The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur
• Review of Jai Mahal Palace, Jaipur
• Review of The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra

NOTE: None of these hotels were comped, and we paid for all of these stays in full. This post is not sponsored and we do not receive affiliate income from any of these hotels.

Why We Chose the JW Marriott Delhi

Our main motivation for booking this particular hotel was location. We had an early flight out the following day and we wanted to be as close to the airport as possible. That narrowed us in on the Aerocity area, which has a handful of hotels clustered together a short distance from the airport.

Out of these hotels, we chose the JW Marriott mostly just because we’re brand loyalists. The JW Marriott was one of the first nice hotels we stayed at together on our first trip to Dubai in 2017. Ever since then, we’ve had a soft spot for the chain and will prioritize them whenever it makes sense to do so. (Random, but we also stayed at a JW Marriott in Lima, Peru after hiking the Inca Trail, and it was the best shower of my entire life.)

In addition to smelling incredible, the JW Marriott is just a reliable, quality hotel that you can count on to be relatively consistent globally. They have nice rooms and great service. I’d say that they generally tend to appeal to the business type, and their locations usually reflect that.

Honestly, we just wanted to wrap up our trip with a comfy stay and this felt right for us. We also had a free night credit to use, which leads us to …

Booking the JW Marriott Delhi

We booked our stay at the JW Marriott Delhi with an Amex Bonvoy certificate which was good for up to 35,000 points. Marriott allows you to add up to 15,000 points on top of that, so we added 5,000 for a total cost of 40,000 points. We did not pay any resort fees or taxes on top of those points.

We booked a standard 1 King Guest Room, which is one of the two lowest tier room types. (The other being the 2 Twin Guest Room.) The rack rate for this room category is usually around 30,000 INR (about $350 USD) during the high season and 13,000 INR (about $150 USD) during the off season, aka monsoon season.

JW Marriott Delhi has a complimentary airport shuttle. (This amenity is listed a free service when you book the JW Marriott Delhi through Booking.com, for example.) They also have a private taxi service available for an extra cost, which you can schedule for a specific time in advance. We were charged 2,016 INR (about $25 USD) for this service, plus we tipped our driver in cash.

The only other charges we incurred during this stay was for meals, including dinner via room service and breakfast at the main hotel restaurant, which was not included with our booking.

In looking back at our bill now, I just noticed that we were also erroneously charged for a minibar bottle of vodka which we most certainly didn’t drink. I think the statute of limitations has passed on contesting that charge (now 4 months later), but it’s worth noting. Be sure to check those room charges, people!

Getting to the JW Marriott Delhi Aerocity

We were going to the hotel from the New Delhi Railway station, as we’d just taken the train in from Agra. This is pretty convenient as the Delhi Metro’s Airport Express Line goes from the train station right to Aerocity. (If you’re also heading to the hotel from the train station, our post about the train from Agra to Delhi has detailed walking instructions from the rail station to the Metro entrance.)

The JW Marriott is about a 10 minute walk from the Aerocity Metro stop — about 0.3 miles or 550 meters. It’s walkable enough and has a sidewalk the whole way as soon as you get out of the station parking lot.

The entrance to the JW Marriott is a bit wonky if you’re walking. You first will walk past the vehicle entrance and then enter on the north side of the building. We messed this up and ended up walking through the car drop-off lanes awkwardly until a bellhop swooped in to take our bags and show us the way to the main entrance.

If you were coming from anywhere else that wasn’t off the Airport Express Line, it’s probably best to take an Uber (or tuk tuk if you’re feeling adventurous.).

Check-In at the JW Marriott Delhi

Once we arrived at the main entrance (on the north side of the building), we first had to pass through a brief security check. The bellhop took all of our bags which were scanned and then sent up to our room for us. We just had to walk through a quick metal detector.

From here, we were directed to the front desk. The lobby was pretty and very open, with plenty of seating. Kenny went to check in at the desk while I entertained Zoe, a two-year-old who didn’t nap today.

I was immediately approached by a friendly staff member who was drawn to my child’s very blonde hair (just like most people in India). She offered us juice and chatted with us for a bit. She told us about the restaurants we might like, the breakfast hours, and then listened to Zoe talk about their favorite things in India. A few minutes later, another staff member came by with a stuffed Minion toy for Zoe, which was so nice.

It was 3:30 PM when we arrived and our room was ready for us.

Room Tour – 1 King Guest Room

We booked a 1 King Guest Room. It was a basic room, but it was very roomy with a large bathroom and plenty of seating.

Upon walking into the room, the bathroom was on the left and the closet on the right. The bathroom was large with a standing shower, separate bathtub, toilet with partial divider and sink with counter space and a well-lit mirror. All of the walls and dividers were clear glass, so even though it was large, it could really only serve one person at a time.

The reach-in closet was small with a few drawers and a safe on one side and hangers, robes and iron set-up on the other. Between the two closets was a chest that was a great place to lay out our luggage.

Beside the closet was the fridge and mini bar, which had a variety of sodas, waters, beer and wine, and a few snack options, all for purchase. Complimentary bottled water was provided.

There was no coffee maker, but instead an electric kettle and a small selection of instant coffee and teas. This was definitely the worst part about the room.

Inside the room was a King bed, which faced a nice sized TV, with nightstands and outlets (Type D plugs) on both sides. Past the bed was a couch, small coffee table, desk and office chair.

There was no black-out curtains, but the drapes were very thick and easily blocked out the natural light if needed.

We requested a crib, which they delivered to our room shortly after we got settled.

Like I said, overall it was a nice, new, comfortable room. It’s exactly what you’d expect and need from an airport hotel.

Dining at the JW Marriott Delhi

The JW Marriott New Delhi has four restaurants on property, all of which officially have a “smart-casual” dress code. We are not big on dress codes, but I can confirm it was not enforced at breakfast at 6:30 AM.

• K3: This is the high-end dining establishment with indoor and outdoor seating. Breakfast is served here in a more casual capacity. Reservations are generally recommended for lunch and dinner.
• ADRIFT Kaya: This is another fancy-ish restaurant that offers Japanese specialties. It’s only open for dinner most days, but they do serve lunch on Sundays.
• Delhi Baking company: This is a cute patisserie and coffee shop off the lobby. Unfortunately, it doesn’t open until 10 AM.
• JW Lobby Lounge: The main lobby doubles as a lounge and you can enjoy drinks and hors d’oeuvres.

We opted for room service for our one dinner at the hotel. For a variety of reasons — including a toddler who didn’t nap and parents who hadn’t showered recently — we weren’t fit for the nicer dining options. The food came quick and was good. (My 2-year-old would like you to know that the mac and cheese was “not like home.” So there’s that.)

Breakfast was served in the K3 dining room and started at 6:30 AM. Signs posted in the lobby indicated that breakfast got really busy later in the day. We had no crowds when we arrived right at open.

There was a huge breakfast buffet including a variety of Western, Indian and Asian dishes, including a fresh juice bar and a made-to-order egg station. The food was good, but it was overall a tad overwhelming for a hotel breakfast. Breakfast was not included with our stay and since it was buffet pricing, it was very expensive for what we actually had time to eat.

Other Amenities at the JW Marriott Delhi

We were only staying at the hotel for one night, so we didn’t experience much. Other than our room and the hotel breakfast, the only other thing we saw was the fitness center.

It was a pretty standard hotel gym equipped with several treadmills, bikes and weight machines, among other gym essentials. The locker rooms have steam rooms and saunas.

The JW Marriott Delhi also has a heated outdoor pool and children’s pool, plus a spa that offers massages, facials, manis/pedis, and a few other services. We didn’t visit either of these facilities.

JW Marriott Delhi Location

The JW Marriott Delhi is located in the Aerocity area near the airport. This is a great location if you have an early morning flight or if you land in Delhi in the evening. It’s also popular with business travelers and for weddings.

The JW Marriott’s location in Delhi is not ideal for tourism. It’s pretty far west from most of the city’s main attractions. You would need a car service or taxi to get to most attractions. Even with a car, it would take an hour or more to reach popular sites like the Red Fort or Qutub Minar, especially with traffic.

If you’re spending time exploring Delhi, I would recommend staying somewhere more central for that portion of your stay. Then switch to the JW Marriott for a night or two around your flights as necessary. During our 3 days in Delhi at the start of our trip, we stayed at The Oberoi New Delhi. Then we stayed at the JW Marriott the night before our flight out. That setup was pretty darn perfect.

Getting to the Delhi Airport from the JW Marriott

Despite being physically close to the airport, none of the hotels in Aerocity actually have direct access to the airport. You can either take the Metro one stop from Aerocity to the airport, or you can take a car or shuttle service.

The JW Marriott Delhi offers taxi service to the airport. In some room rates, this taxi service is complimentary. It was not included in ours so we paid about $25 USD + tip for the short trip.

We scheduled our taxi service with the front desk when we checked in. Our flight to Doha was at 10:15 AM. Indira Gandhi International Airport is not known for its speed or efficiency, so we wanted to be there plenty early. We scheduled our pick-up for 7 AM.

After a quick breakfast, we checked in with the valet right at 7 AM. We were almost immediately escorted out to a car. It’s a short drive and we were at the airport by 7:15 AM.

If the car service isn’t included in your stay and you want to save the $25 USD on the ride, you could also take the Metro. It’s a 10 minute walk back to the Aerocity Metro stop then one stop to the airport.

Closing Thoughts & Overall Review

I’m generally a JW Marriott stan, but this particular experience didn’t wow me. That could certainly be because we treated the hotel as an airport hotel. We didn’t have time to swim in the pool and we didn’t dine at their best restaurants. It could also definitely be related to the fact that we were coming off of stays at some of the best hotels in the world, including most recently from The Oberoi Amarvilas where we had a balcony with Taj Mahal views.

Other than the instant coffee, there was nothing wrong with our stay. The room was clean and spacious. The service was efficient and kind. The lobby was beautiful and our breakfast was tasty. There just wasn’t anything that stood our or left me wanting to stay longer or come back.

Due to its location, I wouldn’t recommend the JW Marriott for a longer Delhi stay, but it was a perfectly fine airport hotel. However, if you’re just looking for an airport hotel, there are several other nice options in the area. There’s an Aloft, Hyatt, Holiday Inn and ibis all on the same block. If you’re just staying for one night, I’d honestly just pick whichever of those is cheapest. In this case, there just wasn’t enough value to paying more for the JW Marriott.