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JW Marriott Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States · JW Marriott · Core Luxury
The JW Marriott Grand Rapids opened in September 2007 as the first JW Marriott hotel in the Midwest, a 24-story elliptical tower designed by Goettsch Partners on a riverfront site where a former furniture factory once stood. Commissioned by Alticor, the parent company of Amway, the $120 million tower rose at roughly one floor per week and remains the sixth-tallest building in Grand Rapids.
- 340 rooms
- Opened 2007
- Neighborhood: Grand River downtown
- Rooms from 400 sq ft (37 m²)
- Architect: Goettsch Partners (formerly Lohan Caprile Goettsch)
About JW Marriott Grand Rapids
- Each floor's interior photography documents one of Grand Rapids's five sister cities: Omihachiman in Japan, Bielsko-Biala in Poland, Perugia in Italy, Ga District in Ghana, and Zapopan in Mexico, shot on commission by photographer Dan Watts.
- The tower includes a rooftop helipad for executive and celebrity arrivals and a 13,000-square-foot ballroom, among the largest in the region.
- It won Marriott's Opening of the Year award in 2007 and was named the brand's best hotel for customer service in North America in 2008, 2009, and 2014.
- Architects designed the 24-story tower in an elliptical form specifically to preserve river views and sightlines for the neighboring Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
History
Grand Rapids spent much of the twentieth century as a quietly prosperous furniture-manufacturing city whose cultural and culinary ambitions were outrunning its reputation. The downtown core, anchored by the DeVos Place Convention Center and the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel along the Grand River, had developed genuine momentum by the early 2000s, but the city lacked a luxury hotel that could stand fully on its own terms and announce, with architectural confidence, that Grand Rapids had arrived as a destination.
Alticor — the parent company of Amway, Grand Rapids's largest employer and a force behind the city's hospitality infrastructure — commissioned an answer. Construction began in 2005 with the demolition of a former Israels Designs for Living furniture building on a riverfront site near DeVos Place, and the new tower rose at an average of one floor per week during its construction peak, reaching its final height of 256 feet in January 2007. The architectural firm Goettsch Partners (then Lohan Caprile Goettsch) designed a 24-story tower with an elliptical form and crystalline glass facade that took full advantage of the riverfront orientation, maximizing light and Grand River views while preserving sightlines for the neighboring Amway Grand Plaza Hotel.
The JW Marriott Grand Rapids opened in September 2007, becoming the first JW Marriott hotel in the Midwest — a distinction that carried genuine competitive significance in a brand increasingly valued for its selectivity about placement. The $120 million project included 337 guest rooms, a 13,000-square-foot ballroom among the largest in the region, a rooftop helipad for executive and celebrity arrivals, and steel-and-glass pedestrian bridges linking the hotel to its parking structure and to a convention center skywalk. The hotel was owned by Amway Corporation and managed by AHC Hospitality, and it immediately won Marriott's Opening of the Year award for 2007.
Photographer Dan Watts was commissioned to travel to each of Grand Rapids's five sister cities — Omihachiman in Japan, Bielsko-Biala in Poland, Perugia in Italy, Ga District in Ghana, and Zapopan in Mexico — and document them specifically for the hotel's interior program; each floor features photography from one of those cities, giving the building an unusual and genuine connection to the wider world. The property was recognized as Marriott's best hotel for customer service in North America for 2008, 2009, and 2014. A renovation in 2019 refreshed the property's public spaces. The JW Grand Rapids remains the sixth-tallest building in the city and the most celebrated address on the downtown riverfront.
Restaurants and bars
- Margaux — Bar · Bar
- Jdek at Margaux — Restaurant · Modern French
Amenities
- Spa
- Indoor pool
- Fitness center
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
Open JW Marriott Grand Rapids in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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