Just completed a two-night stay here. A few reactions:

Location:
The Renaissance sits at the intersection of State & Eagle Streets, more or less at the epicenter of New York state government and Albany's historic commercial & financial main street (State), which slopes down the hill toward the Hudson river. (Note: in the early 1990s, the Renaissance occupied an entirely different, and far more modern, building one block down State St. that now serves as the Hilton.)

The building, constructed in 1927, was formerly the DeWitt Clinton Hotel, one of the swankier hotels in downtown Albany through the mid-20th century. The building underwent extensive renovation in 2015 to restore this former hotel use. Apart from the entrance on Eagle Street, which has some architectural detailing, the exterior is a fairly staid Georgian(?) brick facade. However, ...

Check-in/lobby:
The ground-floor public areas are an interesting mix of the historic original style (timbered lobby ceilings; murals of NY state history; patterned terrazzo floor in the arcade leading to State St.) and the more modern styling of the furniture/furnishings/art in the lobby & attached bar. (The latter is reminiscent of the upscale/boutiquey feel of a W or Andaz.) IMO the two harmonize well, although--as indicated by some of the comments upthread--opinions will differ.

Check-in was quick & polite, with recognition of my lowly silver status in the form of an upgrade to a Deluxe room. A minor demerit for no apparent action on the special notes I put in the reservation (see below), but this is a quibble.

Room:
We had a 6th-floor corner room. The Deluxe rooms are larger (500-600sf) than Signature.

You entered a large, and fairly empty, anteroom with the cabinet & console for the coffee machine, safe, ice bucket, etc. and the first of two full-size closets. Two wall switches at the entry let you select a blue, lavender, or light green illumination; neutral wall coverings picked up the color (esp. the electric blue). A bench for sitting & removing shoes would improve this space.

The main room had a king bed; a long counter near the foot that served as the desk & TV stand (for a very large, well-situated flat-screen); and a sitting area with couch & a couple of metal-cube cocktail tables. There was also a rather imposing floor lamp with a large cylindrical metal mesh top. Next to the couch & lamp was a second full-size closet, as well as full-length mirror.

Bathroom was spacious, with a large console/counter & a glass shower enclosure with an industrial-style sliding door hanging on a chrome rail. Apart from a few cosmetic issues & the lack of magnifying mirror, we thought the bathroom worked well. (One nit: the door separating it from the room was--as noted above--a frosted glass door hanging on a rail & not a lockable door that closes flush against a doorjamb. The result is that the bathroom is neither sound- nor odor-tight.)

Blackout shades on all four windows worked perfectly.

Overall, the room continued the very modern style seen in the lobby, but in a slightly more understated way. We thought it worked well, although (as noted above) there were some empty areas that could use a bench or additional chair to take maximum advantage of the space.

One peeve: really dirty windows, so appreciating the views of nearby streetscapes was difficult.

Also, there was no in-room directory of services/info I could find. One result is that I didn't realize until the day before departure--when I looked at the hanger on the inside of the entry door--that the hotel lets you skip housekeeping & earn 500 MR points up until the day before you check out.

Services:
There's a fitness center (but no pool) which we did not use. Weren't on club level, so can't attest to the quality of the lounge.

There's a large above-ground self-parking garage behind the hotel (accessible from Eagle St.). At $22/day, this is probably a necessity on weekdays. You can freely badge in/out with your room key during your stay.

Nearby points of interest:
Downtown Albany is full of interesting 18th-early 20th c. buildings, including the State Capitol, the Albany City Hall (designed by Henry Hobson Richardson), and numerous historic churches, banks, hotels, and other buildings within a five-minute walk.

Behind the hotel and one block down the hill is the excellent City Beer Hall in a beautiful 1903 office building. Highly recommended for brunch, dinner, or one of their many craft beers, especially if the weather permits sitting on the deck in the back.

Miscellaneous:
I put some special requests (e.g., extra pillows & a note about our wedding anniversary) in the notes section when making the reservation, but that seemed to go unnoticed.


In sum, I'd give this property a solid A-. A few omissions here & there, but nothing that would deter me from happily returning.