Originally Posted by
Robert
I made a 2-night booking for July at this property many months ago. Today, I received an email from the Director of Guest Services informing me that the ownership of the hotel has recently changed, and the new owners have decided to close the hotel for renovations for the remainder of 2022 (no date given on a reopening in 2023).
I was advised that they could re-accommodate me at the Renaissance Wien Hotel. This is not an acceptable offer to me as the Renaissance Wien is further away from the City Center and the nightly rate is significantly lower than what I have booked at Imperial Riding School. I’m awaiting a response to see if they offer up a more favorable property within the Marriott portfolio, but wanted to share here with the FlyerTalk community in case others have future bookings at this property.
I feel your pain as someone who stayed many times at the Renaissance Riding School for 20 years and was sorry to see it did not reopen in 2021 as planned. Instead, I stayed twice at the Renaissance Wien Hotel in 2021 and will stay there again next week. While further from the city center, public transportation gets you into town within 20 minutes, plus the location near Schoenbrunn Palace is nice not only for visiting the palace and the Vienna Zoo located there, but also for peaceful evening walks around the palace grounds and also for the Schoenbrunnerbad swimming pool. As a Titanium, I get free breakfast and usually a nice room; there is no lounge unfortunately (the lounge at Riding School was outstanding and hopefully the new owners will maintain its standards). My SNA award worked last year for an upgrade to a very nice junior suite with a balcony, while next week’s request is still pending. Given how low the room rates are related to other Marriotts, it might make sense to rebook at Renaissance Wien rather than have your Riding School reservation transferred over. I have also found the staff at Renaissance Wien to be very nice and helpful.