Something happened on the way to becoming a Marriott Hotel for the former Omni Hotel in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It wasn't a good thing. An Era Ended. An Error Began.
The Omni Hotels & Resorts brand is listed as an upper upscale hotel by Smith Travel Research. Their former location on 245 Water St. in downtown Jacksonville reopened as the Marriott Jacksonville Downtown in April 2022.
If you are accustomed to the Omni style of luxury and decide to stay at the Marriott Jacksonville Downtown, be prepared to unaccustom yourself.
Not that the Marriott doesn't do hotels well. They simply haven't done this hotel well for almost three years now.
Donna and I spent many a night at this location when it was owned by Omni Hotels & Resorts. It was a special place for us. I was eager to get back to it and had that opportunity in mid-June 2023.
Walking through the door, I felt exhilarated coming back to a place with such great memories. The exhilaration was quickly wiped away.
What couldn't be wiped away was the stain on the couch in my room nor the unkempt look of the hotel bar, J Bar.
Not only was J Bar wet from other people's drinks, making it hard to find a bar stool to settle into, but the service was slow. The same could be said on another overnight stay the next month in July 2023
Did I mention that the rug in J Bar was worn?
The lobby bathroom just outside of J Bar was barely cleaner than a gas station bathroom.
Since the restaurant, Juliette's Bistro, was closed, after all, it was 7:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, and no one wants restaurant food at that hour; I ate at the bar.
The strawberry salad fit nicely into the overall blah-ness of the entire Marriott Jacksonville Downtown. On my return visit 20 days later, in July, I ordered the strawberry salad again; it tasted much better. I wasn't thrilled with the stain on the seat next to me, though.
The Swiss chocolate vodka martini equaled the averageness of the strawberry salad. I ordered the martini again on my July visit, It still didn't blow me away, though it wasn't horrible.
I phoned the Marriot in early Feb. 2025 for a renovation update. I was informed that the common area renovations will begin in March.
What of the room, you ask? They are in the process of being renovated.
I had a corner room for my June 2023 visit. There were a lot of windows, an open feel to it, and the bathroom was clean.
Sounds nice. Indeed, that part was.
But:
- The outlets on the desk didn't work.
- The lamp light switch on the desk was just as dysfunctional as the outlets.
- There was no hand soap in the bathroom.
- The video streaming wasn't great.
One nicety is that the hallways leading to the room are beautiful.
Being an optimist, I looked forward to the next day.
The aforementioned stained couch was positioned perfectly to catch the sun as it rose above downtown Jacksonville.
Amazingly, Juliette's Bistro was open for breakfast. It was nice to have the choice of the buffet or a selection off the menu.
I chose the buffet and dined on a fruit salad, half a blueberry muffin and eggs.
The fruit was top-notch, as was the muffin. The eggs were good. I'd like to have the option of warming up the muffin as one can with the bread.
Also available at the buffet was an assortment of cheeses cut into cubes, bacon, Chobani yogurt, danishes, grits, oatmeal, sausage, and all sorts of toppings. One United States standard of the breakfast buffet was missing, an omelette station.
I typically shrug at nonorganic, mass-market teas. However, I was impressed by the Bigelow green tea. A generous amount of tea was served, the equivalent of three cups, by an eager waiter who perhaps asked me one too many times if I was okay.
Juliette's Bistro closed after breakfast and was supposed to reopen at 11 a.m. for lunch. It was not.
A bartender at J Bar said Juliette's Bistro would be open at 11:30 a.m. Thirty minutes isn't a lot of time to wait, but after all the things I didn't like, this was one more thing to add to the list of unlikes.
The hours were still listed incorrectly when I came back in July 2023. However, J Bar did offer a full menu, and the server was very pleasant.
When the renovations are complete, I will be back.
Between now and then, beware, it seems they are letting the hotel fall into disrepair.
Check the vid for renderings and the current look which is pretty in pictures if not in real life.
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See ya soon!
~30~