It’s the sheer dimensions of the formidable JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel that capture one’s imagination – a vast double-tiered open lobby and first floor embraced by broad sweeping polished marble staircases that seem straight out of a romantic movie with two huge cupolas above cascading natural light everywhere.
The 5-star hotel’s conference facilities are also unmatched in Romania’s hospitality sector with a multitude of rooms of various sizes, ballroom and smaller, many named after Romanian cities such as Brasov, Braila, Ploiesti and Oradea. A series of colorful wedding cakes behind glass cabinets attests to the popularity of the hotel for personal celebrations.
Our room, 348, also known as the Senator’s Suite, one of 402 rooms and 23 suites in the hotel, was located on the corner of a long corridor overlooking the curved entrance driveway. Furnishings included a carved wood working desk, two armchairs and sofa plus coffee-table, two large TVs, one in the bedroom, one in the sitting-room and plenty of closet space.
Overhead, standing and wall lamps provided ample light. Heavy curtains and wood and glass doors separate bedroom and sitting-room, with both shower and tub in the bathroom. The suite also featured glazed pottery from the town of Horezu, the center of such traditional craft in Romania. A large potted plant added a hint of Nature to the overall design.
The hotel, on a hill close to what is known as Nicoleau’s Ceausescu’s Palace built by the former Communist dictator, also has an open-air summer garden restaurant, Olea, where my companion and I dined one evening.
It is designed with bare wood pillars and white border panels, a brick-floor and potted plants and resembles a series of pagodas surrounded by potted olive trees, hydrangeas and Japanese maple. Wooden tables and chairs create a laid back, casual ambience for sipping leisurely on cocktails.
I counted 11 cocktails plus three special JW Garden ones on the drinks menu including a refreshing Thyme Collins comprising Tanqueray gin, grapefruit juice, homemade honey, JW Garden thyme syrup and soda water. Non-alcoholic cocktails are quaintly called ‘Driver’s Friend.’ Reflecting the strength and diversity of local wines, of the 24 on the menu, 17 were from various vineyards throughout Romania, the other seven being from Italy, France and the Republic of Moldova.
The food menu, Middle Eastern-Mediterranean style, also presents an impressive range – with seven cold, four hot and five ‘greens and grains’ as appetisers, or meze. My companion chose a Turkish pistachio and feta cheese dip accompanied by toasted triangles of sourdough bread. My starter was a warm one, Anatolian fried calamari with a small dipping bowl of spicy tomato and yoghurt with avocado. Other choices included roasted cauliflower, baba ganoush, avocado hummus and tzatziki with Turkish bread, cucumbers and zucchini. Some of the aromatic herbs used for both food and drinks such as thyme, peppermint, basil, rosemary and lavender come from the hotel’s own garden.
For our mains, we both chose meat. My companion, an Australian wagyu ribeye, which came as a tasty slim wedge of tender beef, with portobello mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and chimichurri sauce. Mine was the hotel’s signature black Angus beef and New Zealand lamb adana kebab with bulgar, pickled onions, grilled chilli pepper. Other options include corn-fed chicken breast and mititei, a traditional Romanian grilled pork and beef dish. Seafood choices included fillet of sea bream, bluefin tuna, octopus and calamari.
The hotel offers a diversity of other restaurant choices including Cucina, reminiscent of a Tuscan farmhouse kitchen which focuses on Italian cuisine, the JW Steakhouse featuring a range of cuts from porterhouse to Kansas City strip and Champions Sports and Bar.
Breakfast is also a treat to help start one’s day off well. Highlights include white of the egg omelette with tuna, asparagus and mushrooms, pancakes with crispy bacon and maple syrup, fresh shots of ginger in ornate bottles, and orange, marinated and smoked fish, as well as vanilla halva.
My companion and I were also impressed by the young multinational staff, all extremely friendly, including staff from Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. Among them, Migala, our friendly breakfast waiter, Marius Cola, a Romanian orphan and long-time loyal staff member, in the Olea restaurant and Anca from the town of Slobozia Oltenia manning the attractive Vienna Lounge desserts station on the upper floor lobby made all the more tempting by an intricately-designed chocolate violin and miniature designs of the hotel itself, as well as the delectable JW Cheesecake.
Don’t worry, if you eat too much chocolate or cheesecake, you can always pay a visit to the hotel’s World Class health center. There’s also the hotel’s shopping gallery and its Grand Casino for added entertainment.
