Just wondering if the room and club amenities are worth the extra money (approx. $25 USD/nt.)?? Do you get a better view from the Jr. Suite than a Deluxe River View?

The advantage of the junior suites are primarily (i) size and (ii) larger bathrooms with a separate shower. For a few days' stay with 2 people it is nice to have the extra room, the sofa, etc. The balconies are a little bigger. The separate shower (i.e. it's not in the bathtub) is also nice. (Some deluxe rooms may have a separate shower.) The view will be a function of what wing you are in and what floor you are on. Generally in my experience, the river view junior suites do have better views. I will caveat this by saying I have only stayed in a deluxe room maybe 2 times, but have stayed in junior suites more than a dozen times so can't say that all deluxe rooms don't have better views than junior suites as I obviously haven't seen all the deluxe rooms.

Now the club floor kinda drives me crazy. Unless they have changed it since I last stayed there in 2002, it is in the main building, so if you have a room there, IMO you are not going to have the best river view, you will get a nice pool view with the river behind it in the distance; but IMO the better river views are from the two buildings which are perpendicular to the river. Also, I find those rooms a bit noisy because they start serving breakfast on the club floor early and the club area is a big open area in an atrium so the noise carries. However, if you are in another wing, then you have to walk over to get breakfast in the morning and drinks in the evening, kind of a pain and a little inconvenient, esp for drinks. Finally, as breakfast is normally included in the regular rate for everyone no matter what room they are in, and is a huge buffet in the Market Restaurant, I don't see any reason to pay extra for the club floor rooms or club privileges. I do see a reason to pay more for a junior suite, and always do. Can you work out a package for a junior suite with no club but with breakfast in the Market Restaurant? That was always my deal. (I am a big breakfast eater, if you aren't then maybe the club is fine, its juice, rolls, some fruits, cold cereals and usually eggs but nothing like the buffet they have at the Market Restaurant where they have hot and cold buffets, cook to order stations for eggs, pancakes, waffles, all kinds of fruits, etc)

i stay there often and had never done the upgrade until the last time and it was $40 per nite....the room was nicer, but our view was not good---vines over a rooftop---no pool and no river---and we are known there i might add...

the room itself was set up differently and was quite nice with an upholstered sofa in one section and a sort of fence divider between the bed and sitting area...the room was odd shapped...the bath had a toilet room and seperate shower room, plus two sinks, all of which was very nice...

we decided we would not pay the money another time however....

nice experience but not worth the extra money for us....but you might enjoy it...

overall you are going to love the marriott experience at this hotel

Okay, thanks for the replies. We might skip the upgrade this time, since it doesn't sound spectacular really.

you choose a good word...its not "spectacular"...buy more jewelry with your savings...

exactly

The suites however, are quite something and are on the corners in the front of the two wings and do have great river views. You might see the price difference for those. . .

huge...