churning

I stayed here once in the past 6 months. I showed up to the hotel at probably 7:30 am off a redeye. They let me check-in to a room that was open. Titanium, not ambassador.

DCFlyer0306

Post-COVID, does this property's Club Lounge offer any food in the evenings during the week? I know it is closed aside from non-alcoholic beverages from Friday afternoon - Sunday afternoon.

I stayed in 2019 and the weekday evening Lounge offerings were pretty decent, but haven't been back since Covid.

b_hudson

Yes, they have a light spread in the evenings. I think they had hummus, salsa, chips, and a cheese plate one night last week. Some sort of fried samosa or something with dip and chips another night. There might be simple fruit too.

redhead_pt

Marriott took my request and agreed with my interpretation of the loyalty rules. The hotel should have acknowledged my status and provided a choice of welcome amenity. The manager had replied that they didn’t have to offer the F&B option because the restaurant is operated by a third party. I rebutted that there is nothing that permits them to NOT offer a choice of welcome amenities, regardless of restaurant ownership, especially when they offer in room dining, rates that include breakfast, and the ability to charge a meal in the restaurant to your room. They didn’t reply for 7 days so Marriott took over the case and provided 15,000 points as compensation that they will charge back to the hotel.

Mr. BoH

Does anyone know if room service is back up and running at this property? Specifically breakfast?

EdV

Quick question, in checking this against the Executive Lounge Worldwide thread this is the latest listed for this hotel:

"* NY City / Renaissance Midtown / CLOSED; Continental Breakfast Buffet Voucher for Elite +1 (but includes hot items); key accessible for soft drinks; technically on the 1,000 points/closed exemption list, but reports of breakfast; 06/19 update"

Is this still true and if so where is the buffet good for?

YYCfasha

Was just there last week/end. Lounge is open, breakfast and evening food offerings are pretty limited - light continental and appetizers. Still received 1,000 pts due to no food on weekends.

jaro

I have just wrapped up my 4 day stay here, impressions:
Positives:

• Rooms are modern and nice
• Huge gym downstairs with plenty of equipment
• Well-situated next to Penn station (you pay for the location)
• No noise from other rooms / hallway despite being next to the elevator

Negatives:

• Spurious charge appeared on my bill but front desk took care of this quickly
• Front desk was not the nicest, it always seemed like I'm disturbing them, no matter what the request was
• When checking in, the front desk told me they will email me in 10 minutes with the room number. An hour later sitting in the lobby I came to ask about the room and was told "oh, it's been ready for past 1 hour"
• Noise from streets is audible in the rooms, I was on 30th floor and still required earplugs to sleep

Kacee

Many would consider the location a negative, as it's not a particularly pleasant area. There are plenty of hotels with proximity to Penn Station; what you're mostly paying for here is the Marriott branding.

EdV

Right, all in eye of beholder. I consider it a positive as it's so close it's an easy walk from Penn Station to the hotel. If you're talking about another neighborhood further out, then you lose the convenience of being so close to the station and just have to weight what's important to you.

jaro

I'm about the Marriott branding and there isn't a nicer Marriott around in the close proximity. I stayed at Edition for 2 nights though now and that was much better (but with a slightly longer walk)

Kacee

Yes, this property is convenient to Penn Station but that doesn't allow it to charge a higher rate. There's tons of competition in that area among many mediocre (at best) hotels. To the extent the Ren Midtown is able to charge a premium compared to other nearby hotels, it's due to the brand, not the location.

jaro

Agreed. I don’t think the hotel is worth 450/night, especially when EDITION was priced the same; had it been a personal trip I would never pay that. The hotels around that area run high, especially even for doubletree or fairfield you pay that much with crummier rooms

mikeFT

Any quick DPs on what's to be expected these days? We're heading here later in the month for 5 nights on points (5th night free). We're Titanium but this will be only our second trip taken with that status - earned mostly because of a long hotel stay when moving homes last summer, so I don't have a lot of experience at this level.

Lounge I gather has morning and evening food options, but not on the weekends. Do we need to ask to be compensated the 1000 points for no weekend lounge? As for welcome gift, any recent DPs on what might be offered? I know not to come in posturing for benefits- that's not my style.

We applied 5 SNUs/NUAs to this stay but I remember reading they're rarely granted here, and the only upgrades that were available to request were for standard rooms on a higher floor with skyline view (which would be nice, but burning a suite upgrade on it feels off) But I'm aware this is an issue brand-wide.

Any other tips appreciated! I've read through most of this thread back when we booked it, but it's been a while since then.

Kacee

An interesting choice. None of the nicer properties, such as Essex House, within reach? This is really a business hotel, in a central but otherwise unappealing location, with among the weakest elite benes of any Marriott in the US.