February 8, 2016February 4, 2016

JW Marriott Mussoorie

After going through endless photographs that I clicked during our 4 day stay at the JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa, I have finally managed to shortlist the ones that capture the essence of my entire stay and fabulous experience. They are still way more than what I usually share in a blog post but the fantastic stay demanded them. The four of us – Naina, Bharat, Aman & me drove down from Delhi and it took us about 7.5 hours to reach the hotel. The drive was quite scenic since we bypassed Dehradun & Mussoorie town altogether but the road was a bit narrow.

The JW Marriott Mussoorie is somehow so much more than just a hotel – it truly is an experience in itself. Everybody showers you with impeccable hospitality and treats you like family – probably derived from the charm of the ‘Pahadi’ locals who are ever so welcoming. Once you are at the hotel there is SO much to do! We barely got any time to just chill and relax in our rooms throughout the 4 days. And even then, we couldn’t cover all the different experiences on offer.

What our room (430) looked like

Our cute balcony and the view from it:

To the other side you can also see one of the restaurants – Trout Bar & Grill which has both indoor and outdoor seating. They also have live music played on the weekends.

That is Trout Bar & Grill. Needless to say, you HAVE to try their Himalayan Trout for dinner and the cheesecake.

Breakfast is no doubt my favorite meal of the day and JW Marriott Mussoorie has so much to offer. It is served in the JW Cafe everyday and you must definitely try the local parantha and poori (both stuffed, fluffy and so tasty). You must also try the ‘Papa Roti’ which is sweet bread and quite unique.

Another experience that is highly recommended is lunch inside the greenhouse. The greenhouse is an absolute dreamy delight, perfect to soak in some beautiful flowers and also a great spot to take those vacation selfies. But lunch here just takes it to another level. We were originally supposed to do an outdoor lunch at the JW farms but it was a dull and drizzly day which is why our lunch was shifted to inside the greenhouse complete with a tiny bonfire. It was magical. And we all definitely over-ate.

As you enter the hotel, you are welcomed into a very good looking lobby and coffee shop called Perch which also opens up into a large terrace with a direct view of the Garhwal range. Perch is famous for its hot chocolate and you can also pick your own marshmallows to go with it but since I don’t drink milk anymore I focussed on their gourmet teas. I think I tried about 4-5 of them. Of which my favorite were the Chamomile and the rosehip-hibiscus ones. While I had asked for honey and lemon on the side, the teas were so serene and flavorful that I didn’t feel the need to sweeten them at all.
That’s me standing in the lobby area with Perch at the back.

Some chamomile tea

They also have a splendid indoor heated pool, a separate kiddy pool, a kiddy play area and a bowling alley too!

Must try at Teppan, the Asian cuisine restaurant are chicken teriyaki, salmon and prawn tempura.

Another favorite experience was ofcourse the massages we all had at the Cedar Spa by L’Occitane. 2 hours of total bliss followed by some whiskey (which is ofcourse optional). I had gotten in a good yoga session earlier in the day so I went in for the deep-tissue massage which opened up all my muscles.

The Wisteria Deck is another open restaurant that is open only for lunch and gets some very welcoming sunlight. Perfect place to have some really good pizza and their sangria was a total hit too! A word of caution – their serving of Tiramisu is MASSIVE – its good for about 8-10 people I reckon so order it accordingly.

Burger at JW Cafe

And now my mostest favoritestest experience during my stay at JW Marriott Mussoorie – the trek to the nearby pine forest. Believe me, when my alarm went off at 7 in the morning, I was mentally cursing myself for saying yes to this. Who gets up that early on a chill hotel vacay? Not me. That’s who doesn’t. But we some how managed to drag ourselves out of bed, get dressed and be ready for the trek. Balbir from JW who is also a local kindly carried some packed breakfast from the hotel and took us on a narrow trail and patiently waited in-between as the city dwellers huffed and puffed till their lungs got used to it. Almost like the sudden surge of oxygen had the lungs wondering what was wrong. But boy am I glad I did decide to do this. The 40 minute walk to an open area in the middle of nowhere surround by pine trees, the views of the mountains both ways was all just so priceless. We sat down, had a quick breakfast and then started back. On our way back, the sun finally decided to show and ofcourse I went a little nuts clicking photographs.
This on the way up