Renaissance Hotel, Asheville, NC [Master Thread]
 

Dissapointed with my recent stay in the Asheville, N.C. renaissance.

I booked for a morning arrival (reserved a room Sunday night for a 6am Monday arrival). Called the front desk on Sunday to remind them of the late arrival.

Arrived and was told that I was a no-show. I reminded them that I had a morning arrival in the notes - they found that and then told me that they would see if they could accomodate me "anyway" in a tone that clearly indicated that it was my fault. Whatever, I got a room.

I showered, changed, and went to my meeting. At lunchtime I called down to the front desk and said that my flight out the next day was later in the day, and asked if I could check out late. The clerk (different from the check-in clerk) asked when I wanted to check out. I said, "Well, my flight is at about 4:00," and he immediately interrupted me and said "you can't stay until 4:00." I said I was thinking about 2:00 so I could have time to get to my flight. He told me that he would have to charge a half-day rate if I stayed until 2:00 and that the best he could do was 12:00, but I could leave my bag there so I could "walk around downtown." - I actually had work to do, including conference calls, so the next day I checked out at noon and parked myself in the lounge to work.

The lounge was fine, but the refrigerator was understocked and quickly ran out of product at both breakfast and during the day. In fact, the soda I pulled out at breakfast was warm, having just been restocked. They did serve sausage links for breakfast, which makes me happy, but the evening snack was dissappointing.

Room and desk were both a bit on the small side of standard. Lighting was poor - which I find annoying and standard these days.

Overall, I would have been just as happy, if not happier, at a courtyard. IMHO, not worth the price.

To each their own but if I knew I was going to arrive at a hotel at 6am I would not expect a reservation the day before to suffice for such an arrival. I would have just made a reservation for that day and begged for an early arrival.

As far as late checkout sorry it didn't work out for you. In all my time at Marriotts I have never been denied a 2 pm checkout and that spans all the brands in multiple cities across the US.

I would expect at least such minimal competence from a Renaissance that if I had called them the day before to explicitly remind them of my arrival plans, they would have the ability to accommodate them.

Self fulfilling prophecy! This gentleman worried about this exact scenario and took the proper steps which sounds like was completely ignored by the hotel...

Just sounds like the property needs an attitude adjustment all around!

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...day-check.html

You are lucky. In my 10 years as Platinum it is rare that I am granted 2pm check out. Usually the best they say they can do is 1pm. As far as the Renn itself. Sorry for your experience Have stayed there several times (do to being in downtown a convienence) and overall just an average hotel. But usually the front desk has been very helpful.

Fair enough and wasn't absolving the hotel.

Now that I saw his other post where he actually reserved for 2 nights he actually went beyond what I would have done. I should have clarified a little more on what I was meaning to convey.

I would have done for just one night and asked for an early check in. :D

I only do it about 5-6 times per year as an FYI.

I should note Las Vegas hotels are an exception and have only gotten a 1:00pm checkout.

Just last week the Fremont Marriott gave me a 3pm checkout. ^

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never been turned down for a 2:00 check out. I agree that the hotel is average, which was a bit of a dissappointment, as my impression was that the Renaissance was a better property.

The real issue was the front desk help.

And in response to another comment - usually I'd just ask for an early check in, but due to the nature of my travel and the first meeting, I really wanted to guarantee that nothing would interfere with the chance to shower and change.

Did they end up charging you for Sunday night? That would be really poor form if they charged you and denied you a late checkout. I think I was the one that suggested you just show up and ask for an early check-in or use the gym shower. I would have done that in my younger and stupider days..

I won't be staying here in the future.

OP, sorry this happened to you. Did you reach out to the manager? There is something very wrong if you called and made arrangements with the hotel and they didn't follow through. The manager needs to know so that appropriate steps can be taken; otherwise, this will happen to the next person.

This property has always been good to me. I'm sorry to hear there are now issues.

This property has always been good to me. I'm sorry to hear there are now issues.[/QUOTE]

I agree, although I am not a regular guest. We live within 50 miles of downtown AVL, and the Ren is our refuge whenever we experience a prolonged power failure at home due to ice, hurricane winds, etc. It is cheaper than buying a generator for the house, and nice to get away for a few days.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing exceptional about the property, but we have never had anything to complain about either.

This is the only thread I could find wherein this property is the topic, so I'm posting this here....

At check-in this afternoon, the desk clerk said the CL is open as usual in the evening, but it's unstaffed in the morning and does not serve breakfast. Instead, those eligible get a certificate for breakfast in the restaurant. While his point about it being better is likely true, it is not the quick grab and go some of us like.

The desk clerks were not sure if there would be coffee in the CL during the morning hours. The concern has been not knowing when it needs to be refilled.

Well that's certainly different! Thanks for heads u. I'll adjust the exec lounge sticky.

Cheers

I ran downstairs for breakfast this morning. What a disappointment. You have to wait in line to be seated, which is a colossal waste of time. You can choose only cold items, which were fruit and industrial muffins/breads. Hot items cost extra. Not only is this nickel and diming, but the explanation the woman in the restaurant gave me was that this brings the hotel to the Marriott standard. Please, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. I've been in many CLs for breakfast over the past year, and every other hotel must be violating the standard. She kept insisting it was Marriott that made them take away the hot item in the CL, although her wording was along the lines of, "I've only been here a couple weeks, but what they tell me is..."

The hotel also insisted this was better because GM/PM want to be able to have access to breakfast until 11:00 am. Isn't the purpose of the CL primarily to be a convenience for business travelers? Heck, If I'm still going to be in the hotel that late, I'll either just come in to town that morning or be doing work in the room all morning. There couldn't possibly be a swell of business travelers wanting late breakfast.

At a minimum, if this hotel is going to do something chintzy and unexpected, they should let us know ahead of time. Having this sprung on me as a surprise at check-in was uncool.

This trip downstairs took about thirty minutes. Who has that kind of time in the morning while on a work trip? If I want to wait in line and pay for breakfast, why not just stay in a Courtyard? Other than having a CL, there isn't much difference between this hotel and a CY. It's not as though it's one of the nicer Rens. It's in a good location, but the hotel itself is just ordinary.

I stopped staying in the BHM AL FS in part because of their downgrades to the CL. It was no longer worth paying a premium when a less expensive, nicer SHS is virtually across the street. The Asheville Ren may be added to that list.

Please let the GM know your thoughts on the matter; otherwise he'll think everyone prefers his way re: breakfast.

Cheers.