We stayed at the Renaissance Resort last week. This is an amazing hotel for the money. The second floor artificial beach was phenomenal and there were always beach chairs in the shade available. It's a quick two minute walk to the shops and restaurants in the RIF fort, most of which were tourist oriented, but you can walk across the pontoon bridge to the town in only ten minutes for more and better choices.

The hotel also has easy free parking, which allowed us to drive to an area on the other side of "downtown," where a bunch of new, nicer restaurants are popping up. We also drove to the west coast of the island a couple of days to check on some amazing local beaches.

The staff, and especially the Navigators, were very courteous and helpful at all times, with one glitch. I had originally booked this stay on points, but was worried about getting the dreaded no-view room. I found and booked a AAA rate for only $135 - $144 per night for an island view room, hoping for an upgrade as a Gold Marriott Rewards member. I checked in after midnight, and the night desk clerk put me in an island view room. When I asked him for an upgrade he said I already had one, but I could talk to the manager in the morning. When I did that next morning, they said I had booked a resort view and they upgraded me to an island view. I had to show them my confirmation, which confirmed I booked an island view and which apparently was not in their computer system. After searching they upgrade me to ocean view for the rest of my six night stay. So they made things right relatively quickly.

Bottom line: Where else can you get an ocean view room at a Marriott Renaissance Resort at that price?