Jan 6, 2016, 11:44 am
Last edit by: bennos
- Lobby & executive lounge are located on the 6th floor.
- Lounge is open on weekends for soft drinks only. Breakfast on weekends at the restaurant - voucher for continental breakfast and tip. (Not $30/$60 credit as of October 2016.)
- As of July 2021, the Lounge remains closed "due to COVID" probably at least until September
- Executive lounge has no espresso machine and coffee/tea are only available during breakfast and evening cocktail hours.
- No option to buy beer/wine/cocktails in executive lounge - need to order from lobby bar.
Renaissance New York City Midtown [Master Thread]
Jun 19, 2016, 3:55 pm
#76
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Sounds very much like the Hyatt Union Square, with a less interesting location but more rooms.
Jun 28, 2016, 10:26 am
#78
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Iowa City, IA
Posts: 337
Ok here are a few pics from my stay a few weeks ago in the skyline room.
The hallway which was very quiet I might add
Skyline View, with very dirty windows
Another skyline view from my room
Hotel is already starting to show signs of wear with a stain on the carpet in my room
The infamous shower
View from inside the shower looking into the room. I will also say that with the steam, it is even more opaque.
View from bathroom doorway
Facing into the room. Bathroom door is on the left, entry door on the right.
Mini hallway to my room on the left.
"Rooftop" bar on a Saturday afternoon. Rooftop is in quotes because it is actually on the 5th floor. I just enjoy drinking outdoors so didn't matter much to me. Seemed like a 25-40 year old age group in there.
A lot of people but the place is huge (I read the largest outdoor bar in nyc). so it didn't seem packed.
I met a guy in there that worked around the corner, he says on Thursday nights he can't even get a drink its so full. The good thing is that it is locals, not all hotels guests.
Night time view from bar patio
The hallway which was very quiet I might add
Skyline View, with very dirty windows
Another skyline view from my room
Hotel is already starting to show signs of wear with a stain on the carpet in my room
The infamous shower
View from inside the shower looking into the room. I will also say that with the steam, it is even more opaque.
View from bathroom doorway
Facing into the room. Bathroom door is on the left, entry door on the right.
Mini hallway to my room on the left.
"Rooftop" bar on a Saturday afternoon. Rooftop is in quotes because it is actually on the 5th floor. I just enjoy drinking outdoors so didn't matter much to me. Seemed like a 25-40 year old age group in there.
A lot of people but the place is huge (I read the largest outdoor bar in nyc). so it didn't seem packed.
I met a guy in there that worked around the corner, he says on Thursday nights he can't even get a drink its so full. The good thing is that it is locals, not all hotels guests.
Night time view from bar patio
Jul 17, 2016, 2:19 am
#80
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Renaissance Midtown: April 20–21, 2016 (Part 1)
Why Here?
Had meeting over on Park Avenue on Thursday, April 21st and wanted to be relatively nearby after emerging from my midtown disembarkation of Penn Station. As detailed in the Marriott-family hotels in Manhattan (NYC) thread (posts 2204 and 2213), I debated between a number of midtown MR properties before selecting this hotel - primarily because of how new it was and unfortunately how old the Carlton is right now. Per se, I would have liked to have added another day to the reservation but that wasn't an option because my wife met me in NYC on the 21st and she had no interest in the Ren (we stayed at the JW Marriott Essex House on points instead).
The Reservation:
Originally booked at the Grand Opening Promotion rate of $322.15 for a Midtown Standard (1 King) via the Marriott website in early February (which, with tax, would have been $373.17). Rechecked in early April and the Grand Opening Promotion rate (which then included 2 glasses of beer or soft drinks per stay in at Thread) was $240 per night (or $278.90 total) for a City View (1 King). Since this was on a 1 night midweek stay and most other properties in Manhattan were well above that, I went with the $240/night rate (and cancelled the $322.15/night room reservation).
Location:
If Penn Station is a key hub for you, this is a great place to stay. If you like to work out at Planet Fitness in midtown, this is a great place to stay. If you want to go shopping at a multi-story Designer Shoe Warehouse, again this is a great place to stay. Basically, if being almost at the corner of West 35th and Seventh Avenue and needing/wanting all of the accoutrements of this locale nearby, this is the place for you.
However, if you’re not a fan of where Marriott seems to be going with its full service properties (spare Europeanized small rooms, no or limited desks, shower only bathrooms, MLife lounges, etc.), this might not be a terribly temping place to stay amongst the Marriott family of properties on the Island of Manhattan.
The Property/Lobby/Check-In:
Single tower, 37 floors with the primary lobby/check in desks on the 6th floor. Primary entrance is on W. 35th though I'd note that there is a back entrance on W. 34th right adjacent to the DSW.
Here’s the front of the building:
Here’s the back entrance – and the DSW and Planet Fitness:
You can see the exercise equipment from Planet Fitness on the 3rd floor:
On the way up, each elevator has its own back wall graphic/image:
Here are two shots of the 6th floor lobby toward the front desk - the first is taken from the bar and shows the stairs that go down to the Rock and Reilly's restaurant (middle) and the lighted entrance to the MLife lounge.(right) with the front desk behind the pillar (left). The second shot shows the front desk (in the dark) to the left with the scene projections on the wall between the front desk and the entrance to MLife:
Layout:
As mentioned before, this hotel is a single tower. Given that the lobby is on the 6th floor and meeting rooms on the 7th, there are 29 floors of rooms. The hotel's website indicates there are 340 rooms total, 8 of them suites. Most of the floors have the 12 rooms/floor layout as shown below. You wand your room card to get access to the elevators and then can select the floor you want to go to also shown below:
Room 3004 (Part 1):
[Note: A number of features of the room were already covered in previous posts ([B]the all glass shower, different room features and the MLife Lounge, and “the ledge” desk)]
Room 3004 is a 1 king with a view facing due north toward Times Square. In Manhattan, unless you're close to Central Park or one of the rivers, the predominant view out of your window is the roof tops of multiple other buildings. As others have already mentioned, these rooms are small – likely between 300 to 400 square feet total - but that is also a function of being in Manhattan.
After you wand in to enter the room, there's a short hallway between the glass and marble bathroom and the closet. From the floor map above, I suspect that all of the rooms on the north side are 1 kings and a combination of 1 kings and 2 queen rooms on the south side of floor ('tho those 2 queen rooms have got to feel cramped).
See: 1 king bed
Can’t open the window more than 2 inches:
Other room features include the incredibly lit and warm closet:
Another reason the closet (could be called a wardrobe unit as well) is warm is this is where the small fridge located:
(see Part 2 for remainder of review)
David
Had meeting over on Park Avenue on Thursday, April 21st and wanted to be relatively nearby after emerging from my midtown disembarkation of Penn Station. As detailed in the Marriott-family hotels in Manhattan (NYC) thread (posts 2204 and 2213), I debated between a number of midtown MR properties before selecting this hotel - primarily because of how new it was and unfortunately how old the Carlton is right now. Per se, I would have liked to have added another day to the reservation but that wasn't an option because my wife met me in NYC on the 21st and she had no interest in the Ren (we stayed at the JW Marriott Essex House on points instead).
The Reservation:
Originally booked at the Grand Opening Promotion rate of $322.15 for a Midtown Standard (1 King) via the Marriott website in early February (which, with tax, would have been $373.17). Rechecked in early April and the Grand Opening Promotion rate (which then included 2 glasses of beer or soft drinks per stay in at Thread) was $240 per night (or $278.90 total) for a City View (1 King). Since this was on a 1 night midweek stay and most other properties in Manhattan were well above that, I went with the $240/night rate (and cancelled the $322.15/night room reservation).
Location:
If Penn Station is a key hub for you, this is a great place to stay. If you like to work out at Planet Fitness in midtown, this is a great place to stay. If you want to go shopping at a multi-story Designer Shoe Warehouse, again this is a great place to stay. Basically, if being almost at the corner of West 35th and Seventh Avenue and needing/wanting all of the accoutrements of this locale nearby, this is the place for you.
However, if you’re not a fan of where Marriott seems to be going with its full service properties (spare Europeanized small rooms, no or limited desks, shower only bathrooms, MLife lounges, etc.), this might not be a terribly temping place to stay amongst the Marriott family of properties on the Island of Manhattan.
The Property/Lobby/Check-In:
Single tower, 37 floors with the primary lobby/check in desks on the 6th floor. Primary entrance is on W. 35th though I'd note that there is a back entrance on W. 34th right adjacent to the DSW.
Here’s the front of the building:
Here’s the back entrance – and the DSW and Planet Fitness:
You can see the exercise equipment from Planet Fitness on the 3rd floor:
On the way up, each elevator has its own back wall graphic/image:
Here are two shots of the 6th floor lobby toward the front desk - the first is taken from the bar and shows the stairs that go down to the Rock and Reilly's restaurant (middle) and the lighted entrance to the MLife lounge.(right) with the front desk behind the pillar (left). The second shot shows the front desk (in the dark) to the left with the scene projections on the wall between the front desk and the entrance to MLife:
Layout:
As mentioned before, this hotel is a single tower. Given that the lobby is on the 6th floor and meeting rooms on the 7th, there are 29 floors of rooms. The hotel's website indicates there are 340 rooms total, 8 of them suites. Most of the floors have the 12 rooms/floor layout as shown below. You wand your room card to get access to the elevators and then can select the floor you want to go to also shown below:
Room 3004 (Part 1):
[Note: A number of features of the room were already covered in previous posts ([B]the all glass shower, different room features and the MLife Lounge, and “the ledge” desk)]
Room 3004 is a 1 king with a view facing due north toward Times Square. In Manhattan, unless you're close to Central Park or one of the rivers, the predominant view out of your window is the roof tops of multiple other buildings. As others have already mentioned, these rooms are small – likely between 300 to 400 square feet total - but that is also a function of being in Manhattan.
After you wand in to enter the room, there's a short hallway between the glass and marble bathroom and the closet. From the floor map above, I suspect that all of the rooms on the north side are 1 kings and a combination of 1 kings and 2 queen rooms on the south side of floor ('tho those 2 queen rooms have got to feel cramped).
See: 1 king bed
Can’t open the window more than 2 inches:
Other room features include the incredibly lit and warm closet:
Another reason the closet (could be called a wardrobe unit as well) is warm is this is where the small fridge located:
(see Part 2 for remainder of review)
David
Last edited by DELee; Jan 21, 2018 at 10:46 am Reason: stupid greedy photo storage website
Jul 17, 2016, 2:21 am
#81
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Renaissance Midtown: April 20–21, 2016 (Part 2)
Room 3004 (Part 2):
At night, the room is its own cozy nest:
and has a cool view at night:
The bathroom’s vanity mirror is lit from behnd/sides (day/night perspectives):
and dawn’s early light reveals all of those intrinsic Manhattan skyline features and rooftop clutter:
The Lobby Bar, Common Areas and Walkway/Balcony:
As noted previously, the room rate featured getting two drinks at what was referred to as "The Thread" - which is the lobby bar. While I received two vouchers for drinks, I was only able to use one during the night I was there:
(unfortunately, the other voucher stayed with me and I could not get back to the Ren to be able to redeem it the next day.)
The remainder of the 6th floor that is not the front desk area, MLife lounge or the bar is devoted to a series of common areas that, if you’re into hanging out in a lobby, could make it more of interest to sit, drink, interact or potentially even work:
Here’s a view back toward the bar from these common areas:
There is a walkway/balcony outside this common area that has a sightline to the south but, at being on the 6th floor, doesn’t afford much of a view:
but you can see back inside to the bar and common area:
and you can see down into Rock and Reilly’s:
The MLife Lounge:
The entrance to the lounge is to the right of the front desk (and is shown as “Club Lounge”):
And more detailed shots of the lounge are shown toward the end of post 76.
Room/Suite 3701 and Floors 2 thru 4:
After leaving the lobby area, I used my room key card to hail and elevator and punched the top floor: 37. Upon exiting the elevator, I walked over to 3701 and peeked in since the door was left open. At that time, the floor was still being worked on as the pictures show:
Stuff in the hallway:
The suite was small. Here’s the sitting area and its night time view:
At that time, the bed was still wrapped in plastic:
Headed back downstairs, you can also get the elevators to take you to floors 2 through 4 which appear to be offices but may also hold some internal rooms – at one of the floors, some guy was talking to another where he indicated that the formal opening was going to be spectacular and that he, as one of the owners, was planning to invest additional money in making the hotel the "go-to" place in Midtown (FWIW).
Summary:
So, in the handful of hours that I had at this hotel, I did as much wandering as I could. I think that the hotel is an interesting addition for Marriott in the Midtown area next to Madison Square Gardens/Penn Station and may become the go-to place for reasons that go beyond the desires of the owner that I overheard in my wanderings. I’m not the greatest fan of the "Millennial" design approach that is pervading the upper end Marriott properties and this hotel and its features represents most if not all of this design philosophy.
As a jumping off point for exploring near Penn Station while avoiding the excesses of Times Square, this is a place to hang your hat. If you’re bringing your family, you'll likely need multiple rooms. If you're on business by yourself, it will likely make more sense to stay here if you’re good with where Marriott has gone with designing hotel properties and furnishing rooms.
David
At night, the room is its own cozy nest:
and has a cool view at night:
The bathroom’s vanity mirror is lit from behnd/sides (day/night perspectives):
and dawn’s early light reveals all of those intrinsic Manhattan skyline features and rooftop clutter:
The Lobby Bar, Common Areas and Walkway/Balcony:
As noted previously, the room rate featured getting two drinks at what was referred to as "The Thread" - which is the lobby bar. While I received two vouchers for drinks, I was only able to use one during the night I was there:
(unfortunately, the other voucher stayed with me and I could not get back to the Ren to be able to redeem it the next day.)
The remainder of the 6th floor that is not the front desk area, MLife lounge or the bar is devoted to a series of common areas that, if you’re into hanging out in a lobby, could make it more of interest to sit, drink, interact or potentially even work:
Here’s a view back toward the bar from these common areas:
There is a walkway/balcony outside this common area that has a sightline to the south but, at being on the 6th floor, doesn’t afford much of a view:
but you can see back inside to the bar and common area:
and you can see down into Rock and Reilly’s:
The MLife Lounge:
The entrance to the lounge is to the right of the front desk (and is shown as “Club Lounge”):
And more detailed shots of the lounge are shown toward the end of post 76.
Room/Suite 3701 and Floors 2 thru 4:
After leaving the lobby area, I used my room key card to hail and elevator and punched the top floor: 37. Upon exiting the elevator, I walked over to 3701 and peeked in since the door was left open. At that time, the floor was still being worked on as the pictures show:
Stuff in the hallway:
The suite was small. Here’s the sitting area and its night time view:
At that time, the bed was still wrapped in plastic:
Headed back downstairs, you can also get the elevators to take you to floors 2 through 4 which appear to be offices but may also hold some internal rooms – at one of the floors, some guy was talking to another where he indicated that the formal opening was going to be spectacular and that he, as one of the owners, was planning to invest additional money in making the hotel the "go-to" place in Midtown (FWIW).
Summary:
So, in the handful of hours that I had at this hotel, I did as much wandering as I could. I think that the hotel is an interesting addition for Marriott in the Midtown area next to Madison Square Gardens/Penn Station and may become the go-to place for reasons that go beyond the desires of the owner that I overheard in my wanderings. I’m not the greatest fan of the "Millennial" design approach that is pervading the upper end Marriott properties and this hotel and its features represents most if not all of this design philosophy.
As a jumping off point for exploring near Penn Station while avoiding the excesses of Times Square, this is a place to hang your hat. If you’re bringing your family, you'll likely need multiple rooms. If you're on business by yourself, it will likely make more sense to stay here if you’re good with where Marriott has gone with designing hotel properties and furnishing rooms.
David
Last edited by DELee; Jan 21, 2018 at 11:02 am Reason: stupid greedy photo storage website
Jul 19, 2016, 11:34 am
#83
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: MR Platinum, Aer Lingus GC, BA Bronze, Turkish Classic Plus
Posts: 388
Finished up a stay here yesterday. Given all that's already been shared will keep this one short.
The good
Two small not so good things: the elevators were slow (took maybe 20 minutes to get up and down from 33 at peak times) and breakfast service in bar wasn't great (bar is independent so I guess not really a reflection on the hotel and it's a fun place at night).
Overall it's a nice addition to the NY Marriott offering and pricing was very good versus comparable Marriott hotels in the city.
The good
- great room with a nice upgrade to a 2 double city view corner room on 33rd floor
- decent breakfast in the club lounge and 60$ breakfast voucher on the weekend
- great bathroom and the towels were fab!
Two small not so good things: the elevators were slow (took maybe 20 minutes to get up and down from 33 at peak times) and breakfast service in bar wasn't great (bar is independent so I guess not really a reflection on the hotel and it's a fun place at night).
Overall it's a nice addition to the NY Marriott offering and pricing was very good versus comparable Marriott hotels in the city.
Oct 10, 2016, 8:46 am
#86
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
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They have a busy concierge lounge. I haven't been there at dinner time but the breakfast service is average. A couple of things a little nicer than average and some other things missing. I've been at 20 Marriotts since then so I can't remember exactly what was missing. Seems like they had salmon and cheese out at breakfast with more of a European setting.
I'd guess all the rooms are open. Upgrades are OK, although as a Plat Premier and return guest, I'm a little disappointed about the keep a suite empty rather than give it to a loyal return guest policy. Generally, I've received an upgrade to a better view. It's pretty clear, however, that the rooms manager isn't particularly engaged as with three reservations, I've never had anyone preclear me into a higher floor room.
I like the design in the rooms, like the rooftop bar, and their rates are often better than the other Manhattan properties which is likely a reflection that it's not quite as convenient to Midtown as other hotels. I don't like the fact that they don't really seem to care whether you're a Plat Premier or a family checking out Broadway with their first stay in a Marriott.
Oct 10, 2016, 9:11 am
#87
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 1,083
Oct 10, 2016, 12:03 pm
#88
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
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Posts: 5,234
When I wear my former NYer hat, I'm looking for things that are in the 40's and 50's so the Marriott Eastside, Renn 57, Essex House, Lexington are all more convenient for getting to the offices I need to go to. But I like the rooftop bar 
The Renn is more convenient for Times Square and Broadway, although its still Midtown -- well lower Midtown. Not really a big deal since its not really that far but its not a major business location and the area around Penn Station is a little grimy. That probably accounts for why they charge lower rates than the other hotels. I presume they have a bigger leisure crowd than the other Midtown properties.
The Renn is more convenient for Times Square and Broadway, although its still Midtown -- well lower Midtown. Not really a big deal since its not really that far but its not a major business location and the area around Penn Station is a little grimy. That probably accounts for why they charge lower rates than the other hotels. I presume they have a bigger leisure crowd than the other Midtown properties.
Oct 10, 2016, 3:07 pm
#89
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Mostly living in the basement
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Posts: 5,106