Not all the things is ideal, however the location is: The Petra Marriott Hotel

Whether you are a lover of UNESCO World Heritage websites, trying to go to all Seven Wonders of the World or just a fan of “Indiana Jones,” you could be dreaming of a go to to the traditional metropolis of Petra, positioned close to Wadi Musa in southern Jordan.

Despite being a preferred vacationer vacation spot, although, choices for redeeming your factors for a resort keep on this space should not ample. Hyatt and Hilton have properties in Jordan’s capital, Amman, however nothing within the area of the traditional Nabatean capital that is greater than 2,000 years previous.

During a latest journey to the Middle East, my spouse satisfied me so as to add Petra to our itinerary, since my earlier go to to this historic marvel occurred on a solo journey earlier than our marriage. We booked two nights on the Petra Marriott Hotel and I used to be glad the keep would assist me hit the ultimate nights I wanted to requalify for Marriott’s Titanium Elite standing and use factors to attenuate our out-of-pocket prices.

While the visitor rooms would profit from a refurbishment, the prime quality of the service and the superb meals we loved on the resort remodeled what would possibly in any other case have been a humdrum keep at a vacationer attraction into a really memorable journey.

Quick take

This just isn’t the most recent resort on the planet — and even in Jordan — and its rooms have not been refurbished in 10 years. While particulars like in-room sockets and furnishings could possibly be up to date, the resort stunned us in different ways in which compensated for mediocre visitor rooms. These embody the workers and the meals we loved on the resort’s restaurant twice a day.

The resort was totally booked throughout our keep, so there was no risk of a room improve on arrival (which is a perk out there to these with Marriott Bonvoy standing). To compensate for not receiving a room improve, workers members offered extras in different areas, reminiscent of greeting us by title all through our keep and offering free meals, plus complimentary entry to the sauna.

This is a good resort for these visiting Petra and looking out to make use of factors or free night time awards, in addition to those that are loyal to Marriott. It’s additionally a wonderful choice for many who wish to unwind after an extended day on their ft, as a result of you may swim, dine and pamper on the property without having to depart the resort.

While we did encounter two small issues with workers communication, a shock cost for drinks and makes an attempt to persuade us to pay for a journey instead of the free shuttle paled compared to our total optimistic interactions with workers and pleasure of the property.

It was clear that the Petra Marriott Hotel would not obtain an abundance of company with excessive ranges of Marriott Bonvoy standing, and workers members made an additional effort to supply service they thought befitting my elite standing tier. A number of small changes to alleviate the communication hiccups would additional enhance upon this.

Getting there

It is feasible to succeed in the resort by prearranged shuttle from Amman or from Queen Alia International Airport (AMM), and quite a few company throughout our keep arrived on buses teeming with vacationers on bundle holidays. However, it is easy to search out rental vehicles for as little as $30 per day on the Amman airport. We used this feature to present ourselves flexibility throughout our journey and allow us to take the scenic route (alongside the Dead Sea, lasting 4 hours ) to the resort whereas taking the extra direct path by the desert when departing for house (which took almost three hours).

The Petra Marriott Hotel sits on a hillside overlooking Wadi Musa, the fashionable city closest to Petra. Amid glorious views over the valley from the deck behind the property, it is even doable to see the doorway to Petra and the trail into the Siq — the entryway to Petra made well-known in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” However, the situation additionally means strolling to the Petra entrance — as you are able to do from different accommodations within the space — is out of the query for most individuals, because it’s almost 3 miles of steep uphill and downhill journey. Luckily, the resort supplies a complimentary thrice-daily drop-off on the ticket workplace every morning and three pickups at mounted instances within the afternoon.

Related: The greatest strategy to get to Jordan utilizing factors and miles

Booking

November is the excessive season for guests to Petra, so the resort was utterly full, and commonplace rooms had been priced at $500 per night time. In the summer season months of July and August, charges are as little as $187 per night time.

If redeeming factors, nights require as few as 24,000 factors apiece in July or August, however had been 30,000 factors throughout our keep, which allowed us to make use of free night time awards from my Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card and Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card (price as much as 35,000 factors every) that had been set to run out in February of 2023.

I booked this room solely 10 days previous to arrival; thus, the one rooms out there had two double beds. There was no choice for a room with one king-size mattress on the time of reserving, however these rooms can be found should you reserve upfront and can price the identical variety of factors because the rooms with two double beds.

Standout options

• The nightly dinner buffet on the Dushara restaurant had an astonishing number of scrumptious dishes that modified every night, together with native dishes like fatoush, hummus and a meat carving station in addition to Western dishes like pasta primavera and cheesecake.
• Since they could not improve our room at check-in as a result of resort being at full capability throughout our keep, the workers offered a number of value-added facilities, together with visiting the steam room for an hour every day and complimentary dinner every night.
• Amenities outdoors the visitor rooms greater than compensated for ho-hum habitations, together with nice sundown views from the resort’s deck, scrumptious dinners, pleasant service and experiences of native tradition that included artisans working close to the present store and a hands-on introduction to espresso preparation within the Bedouin type.
• The means to order a field lunch to take to Petra every day is considerate, provided that eating places contained in the grounds aren’t ample and cost exorbitant costs from a captive viewers.

Drawbacks

• Guest rooms may gain advantage from updates, reminiscent of further (and common) shops or USB shops, newer telephones and streamlined switches and room controls. Modernizing the rooms may take a second step to supply accessibility options like induction loops and Braille to create a extra inclusive area.
• Staff members tried to persuade us to rearrange a non-public taxi (which has a price) to and from Petra, regardless of the resort providing a free shuttle that’s clearly marketed within the foyer.
• The resort is faraway from the city of Wadi Musa. If you’d wish to discover different eating places, see extra of the city or buy groceries, different accommodations are higher located.

The vibe

As quickly as we entered the entrance door, we skilled two components that got here to symbolize our expertise on the Petra Marriott Hotel: heat hospitality and vivid, ethereal areas.

Staff members had been persistently pleasant in a really real method. They exhibited genuine smiles and deep, gut-busting laughs in our interactions all through our keep. This included shows of a real humorousness, reminiscent of joking with us at meals, and taking further time to point out us components of their tradition each time the chance arose.

The different facet of the resort’s vibe is a sense of open area. We felt this as quickly as we walked into the two-floor foyer on arrival. The foyer felt bigger than its precise sq. footage, resulting from the usage of open archways on the second ground, vivid colours and pure gentle pouring in by the various home windows. A mixture of Arab and Western design components could possibly be discovered all through the resort, beginning with this primary impression.

Beyond the foyer, there’s a massive space that resembles a lounge. The hallways resulting in visitor rooms have open archways overlooking a small inside courtyard.

The open-air areas and workers personalities cater properly to overseas vacationers filling out the resort each night. The resort feels heat and welcoming for folks of every type. The Petra Marriott Hotel is greatest fitted to vacationers in search of a high quality keep however not keen to spend the additional cash for the most costly accommodations overlooking the doorway to Petra.

The room

While they could possibly be improved, there’s nothing inherently fallacious with the visitor rooms. Our room was billed as a “deluxe visitor room” however felt very commonplace. Standard is not essentially a foul factor, because the room offered all the things we would have liked for a two-night keep.

Beyond the 2 beds, the big home windows missed the rear deck and the valley past the resort.

The beds had been snug and offered night time’s relaxation, although the pillows had been the kind the place you lay your head on them and immediately sink to the underside. The sheets had been easy and light-weight, relatively than stiff or starched.

Opposite the beds, there’s a six-drawer picket dresser with a TV on high. Next to this, a glass-topped picket desk — extra like a desk than a desk — and an ergonomic chair with out armrests present a workspace for anybody who might have it throughout their keep. I sat within the chair purely to test it out for this assessment, and it offered good assist.

Sockets above the desk settle for a number of sorts of plugs, which was handy however restricted because the different plugs within the room should not common. The single outlet between the beds accepts just one plug sort (which is not the U.S. type), plus it’s located between a complicated mixture of switches. Some of those did not have any discernible use, which made controlling the room lights difficult.

In the room’s entryway, there’s a closet on one wall and a panel of switches subsequent to the lavatory entrance on the opposite. The closet contains a number of cabinets, a small protected, hangers, an iron and an ironing board. A laundry bag and worth listing indicated the provision of visitor laundry and dry cleansing companies. Pricing is per merchandise, and washing a T-shirt prices roughly $3, for reference.

Next to the closet, there’s a minibar space with a small fridge inside the cupboard plus espresso and tea provides on the counter. These embody a scorching water kettle plus tea baggage, sugar and immediate espresso. The choice of mugs or takeaway cups was a pleasant contact. We additionally discovered ingesting glasses and bottled water right here, and housekeeping offered new every day bottles to maintain us hydrated.

The toilet is small however incorporates all the things obligatory in a format that is sensible. My spouse and I did not journey over one another when utilizing the lavatory, and that may be a robust praise for a loo of this measurement.

A small quantity of counter area subsequent to the sink was complimented by a shelf above the bathroom, the place there’s a hair dryer and adequate area to retailer our toiletries. A bidet sits between the bathroom and the sink, and a glass bathe field occupies the nook subsequent to the door. It is less complicated to get out and in of the bathe with the lavatory door closed; with the door open, the glass door from the bathe will hit the picket toilet door, and we fearful about shattering the glass door. Aside from factoring this in, the lavatory options felt very intuitive.

Pump bottles on the wall comprise This Works citrus-nutmeg shampoo and conditioner and eucalyptus-scented bathe gel that tingles in your pores and skin when scrubbing your physique.

Under the sink, we had two pairs of bathtub slippers. Using these whereas transferring concerning the room after a full day of strolling at Petra made our ft very grateful for one thing apart from climbing boots.

On the panel of switches subsequent to the lavatory, there are switches to manage “Please clear up” and “Do not disturb” lights on the wall outdoors the room. One enchancment to the room could be a lightweight within the entryway. We used the lights from the lavatory for the entry and closet, since there is no such thing as a overhead gentle behind the door. At night time when coming back from many hours strolling at Petra, we took off our boots within the entryway. This space was fairly darkish and could be improved by including an overhead gentle.

Food and drink

To the left of the foyer’s lounge space are Aretas, serving beer, wine and blended drinks in addition to gentle drinks and a full espresso bar, and Hala Hala, with a menu of Arabic meals, together with barbecue and conventional Jordanian dishes.

Two flooring down, positioned on the identical stage because the out of doors deck, the Dushara restaurant serves a breakfast buffet every morning and a big dinner buffet every night. At check-in, the resort knowledgeable us that we may dine free of charge on the Dushara restaurant every night because of my elite standing.

Usually, I do not discover resort dinner buffets thrilling. However, we had been impressed by the vary of choices at each breakfast and dinner, and the very fact choices weren’t the identical each day stored the meals fascinating.

Dushara’s breakfast buffet rivals buffets at extra luxurious accommodations. Along with commonplace fare like scrambled eggs and croissants, you may additionally discover an worker making pancakes whereas one other whips up made-to-order omelets on the finish of the buffet.

On the other facet of the eating room, we discovered a variety of bakery gadgets and fruits. These included Western and Arab choices, reminiscent of muffins, danishes and my spouse’s favourite, zaatar — a bread dish that may be massive or small and is roofed in seasonings and spices. Staff members joked that they would wish to order extra provides for zaatar if my spouse stayed on the resort longer, and that is the kind of interplay we loved with workers all through our keep, feeling genuine and personable, relatively than merely asking if we loved our meals after which clearing our dishes.

At dinner, dishes targeted closely on Middle Eastern fare, together with pilaf, foul (a standard bean dish, pronounced like “idiot”), a meat carving station, potatoes, pastas and quite a few salads on the chilly bar.

The dessert bar included Middle Eastern and Western choices with varied muffins, sweets, puddings, bakery gadgets and extra.

If eating on the Dushara restaurant for a number of days, you may discover that many dishes will change. Fresh alternatives of hummus and olives — and my favourite Middle Eastern dish, fatoush — remained whereas different salads and gadgets on the recent bar modified from the primary night time to the second.

At dinner the primary night, we had a small communication drawback with the workers. The waiter knowledgeable us that our meal was complimentary, because of my Titanium Elite standing. We understood “your dinner is complimentary” to incorporate the drinks. They meant it to incorporate solely the meals, so we obtained a shock invoice for my Pepsi and my spouse’s lemonade. It was a cheap misunderstanding, however clearly indicating what’s and is not included would enhance interactions with company.

Room service is out there, as is the choice for a boxed lunch from Dushara. Menu costs on the restricted variety of eating places inside Petra are closely inflated, and ordering a lunch to take with you is a good choice for saving cash. Depending in your starvation, every field could possibly be sufficient for one or two folks. The most cost-effective field prices roughly $7 and contains fruits, chips, water, juice and a cheese sandwich. The costliest choice prices roughly $11 and contains fruits, a turkey and a beef sandwich, a bit of cake, water and juice.

There is one other eating choice out there from May to October, which is the Al Matal Bedouin Tent. The resort’s web site describes it as having music, conventional meals and drinks inside a Bedouin tent. Unfortunately, this was closed throughout our go to.

Amenities and repair

Along with the pool, the resort’s rear deck contains quite a few seating areas and a path to a small strolling path. The deck is positioned on the second ground (the identical because the Dushara buffet restaurant and two flooring down from the foyer). We loved the views of the valley and the sunsets from there, particularly.

Internet labored properly all through the resort and didn’t require rejoining the community each time your telephone’s display turned off.

The resort additionally has two outlets adjoining to the foyer. One sells snacks whereas the opposite affords items and handicrafts, together with ornamental sand artwork made by native artisans.

There’s an ATM out there close to the outlets, which we used to acquire money. While growing numbers of distributors inside Petra are accepting playing cards now, there are nonetheless instances when money is important, and we had been glad we did not have to hunt for an ATM.

The resort additionally has a gathering room/occasion area, a health club and a spa.

As a advantage of my standing, the resort allowed my spouse and I to make use of the spa’s steam room for an hour every day for free of charge, which was an effective way to calm down after lengthy days on our ft, strolling by the sand and climbing the paths at Petra. The spa affords a full vary of companies, from massages to mud wraps.

My elite standing additionally afforded us room snacks and a welcome present upon arrival. Options included 500 bonus factors, a drink from the bar or a collection of sodas and fruits delivered to our room. We took the final choice and stored the fruits and drinks within the room’s minifridge to snack on after coming back from Petra the next day.

While ready for the van to Petra on our closing morning, we inquired concerning the espresso gadgets on show. Rather than merely telling us concerning the conventional methodology of getting ready espresso infused with cardamom, a number of workers members walked us by the method, inviting my spouse to mash the espresso beans as we ready espresso over scorching coals. Out of nowhere, an worker arrived with to-go cups, because the van had arrived to take us to Petra for the day.

The real heat on show right here offered a transparent instance of the friendliness we skilled from workers at every alternative. They may have mentioned a number of phrases concerning the gadgets and brushed it apart, assuming there was little time till the van departed. Instead, they eagerly shared part of their tradition with us within the transient period of time out there.

Out and about

There are museums plus an abundance of eating places and cafes across the city of Wadi Musa, which is the gateway to Petra. However, your keep within the space might be tied to visiting the traditional web site itself. The resort affords a complimentary shuttle to the Petra entrance with three morning drop-offs and three afternoon pickups. Using it allows you to keep away from overpriced taxis or having to drive your self and navigate parking and different logistics.

Beyond Petra, you may discover the encircling desert independently or by guided excursions. It’s additionally doable to sleep out within the desert, with choices starting from rustic Bedouin camps to luxurious encampments with plush beds and round the clock service.

Related: 5 causes to go to the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan

Farther afield, the King’s Highway and Desert Highway can take you north to Amman — Jordan’s bustling capital combining a vibrant tradition with historic Roman ruins — or south to Aqaba on the Red Sea, the place extra cruise itineraries are visiting. If you entry Petra by the Jordan Pass, relatively than shopping for tickets solely to Petra, dozens of museums, UNESCO websites and historic curiosities all through the nation are included for no further cost. The Jordan Pass additionally contains the value of your guests visa, which is required for U.S. passport holders.

Accessibility

The resort has quite a few flooring owing to its measurement and being constructed on a hillside. Each ground is accessible through elevator, although they’re typically small.

The reality there are elevators is nice information, nevertheless, since there are various steps required to maneuver between flooring. Stairwells have handrails on either side, and there are not any stairs required to entry the pool and out of doors patio behind the resort. While it’s doable to entry the pool space, getting out and in of the pool could be troublesome for these in a wheelchair as no raise is out there, neither is there a ramp entrance.

Additionally, there are not any Braille indicators or induction loops on the resort, which will be problematic for many who depend on these options. The resort is due for some updates, and these are components it ought to think about together with within the subsequent refresh.

Checking out

We thought this keep would conclude with us pondering the resort was nothing particular however feeling relieved to have saved cash by a factors redemption close to a significant vacationer web site. Instead, we actually loved our keep. The workers members labored laborious to reinforce our keep by complimentary meals and spa visits along with apologizing for his or her incapacity to improve our room at check-in. We additionally appreciated their hospitality got here by as genuine relatively than pressured. Although I haven’t got plans to return to Petra for now, I might not hesitate to ebook right here once more if the chance arises.