est-gratuite

Anyone stayed here in the last 12 months and can report ?
Can you open the windows at this hotel ?


Official website:
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...h-tower-hotel/


Address:
Turbinenstrasse 20
Zurich 8005
Switzerland

EuropeanPete

Exdon

Had at least 10+ stays in the last 12 months and like this place. Easy upgrades, once to presidential suite.
Indeed lounge can get occupied "with an almost entirely American crowd drinking the free wine" but as long as I can find an empty chair I don't care.
No, you cannot open windows.

samwise6222

I was there in October.

Basic room - you can't open windows.

PeanutYYZ

Just checked in for one night here. Lounge is closed for renovations so they've shifted things around:

* breakfast is 06:30-14:00(?) in Upperdeck on the 15th floor
* evening snacks are 18:00-22:30, also in Upperdeck
* Salon Lounge on 2nd floor (conference floor) has been repurposed as a lounge with water, tea, pretzels, open 10:00-22:00
* Presidential Suite (room 1501) has been repurposed as a bar, 14:00-00:00

Not sure how long the renovations will last. They must have just started, because I was here a week ago and the lounge wasn't being renovated.

Happy to see it's being renovated -- it was small and dark and "blah" before!

christianj

I was there back in June and overall not impressed! Titanium upgrade seemed to be one room category to a high floor even thought the hotel did not seem busy. I didn't make a big deal out of the lack of an upgrade since I was in town visiting friends and I knew I wouldn't be spending much time in the room. I was not impressed by the lounge next to the restaurant and actually enjoyed my breakfast on the second day much more when the lounge was closed and the breakfast was done in the restaurant. Also worth noting, I felt the elevators took forever at times. I also noticed several large Asian tour groups seem to use the hotel and they all showed up at the same time and clogged up the lobby, elevators, etc.

est-gratuite

Have the rennovations been finished at the louge now ?
Also, is the lounge serving evening food on weekends ?

OhioExile

Currently staying here. The lounge is still (maybe permanently?) on the first floor. Stayed here a couple of years ago, and it's a significant downgrade from the old lounge; might be both smaller and lacking any views.

Will report back on food on weekends.

est-gratuite

Finally got a chance to stay here and was able to clarify the lounge situation.


Main points:

1.
If your room includes lounge access, you can choose to have breakfast in the main restaurant for free ON ALL DAYS OF THE WEEK. The lounge does not serve breakfast on saturdays or sundays anyway, but I specifically asked the staff at the reception desk if this rule applied on all days of the week, and they said yes. This means if you are platinum (or above) you do not have to chose anymore between the 1000 welcome points or breakfast in the main restaurant. You get both.


2.
The lounge is open everyday, however, NO food is served at all ON SUNDAYS at any time.
On Saturdays, evening food and alcohol is served as normal.

Evening food time Monday to Saturday is between 6pm to 8pm.
Alcohol time Monday to Saturday from 5pm to 10pm


3.
Lounge is on the ground floor behind the breakfast area. Has about 10 to 15 tables. Not huge by any means. Evening food selection was limited, but acceptable.



Conclusion:

I found the quality of lounge food to be better at the Sheraton Zurich which is very close by. Also, the Sheraton's lounge serves warm evening food on all days, including Sundays.

If you are undecided between the 2 hotels and they are similiar in price, I would go for the Sheraton. The Sheraton's rooms are bigger, have very large bathrooms and have walk-in showers in all rooms. (My upgraded room at the Renaissance had a small bathroom and the just a bathtub.) Also you can open the window for fresh air at the Sheraton whereas at the Renaissance windows can NOT be opened at all. The tram stop is also closer to the front entrance at the Sheraton.

The Renaissance Zurich is not a bad hotel by any means, but in my opinion the Sheraton Zurich is just better in many different aspects.

OhioExile

We stayed here 2 weeks ago; we had stayed once a couple of years ago as well. Previously, this hotel was a favorite, especially the lounge; now not so much. A couple of points:

1. The lounge previously was a great space with great views of the city (on the top floor). Now it is a depressing small room next to the restaurant where they were piping in the same techno music with a couple of tables. The old lounge is now a conference room where they were booking events.
2. The entire time we were there, there was a Viking Cruises desk set up, and they were either bringing in new people or sending out old ones. There was so much stuff that they had to shove the lobby furniture to one side.

It really felt like the hotel is prioritizing direct cash (one-timers) flow than driving future business or other leisure traffic to the hotel. Before this stay I would have suggested the Renaissance over the Sheraton, it was nicer and more convenient to both Tram and S-Bahn at Hardbrücke. Now I need to verify the Sheraton is still what is was the last time I stayed, but the Renaissance is definitely a stay-away unless the price difference is significant.

To build on est-gratuite's post:


We stayed here 2 weeks ago; they did not offer us breakfast in the restaurant, instead just in the lounge.

They served breakfast in the lounge on Sunday when we were there.



This s true. The room probably sits 30 at best, and uncomfortably. There may be one set of comfortable chairs along the windows. It is a pretty grim lounge.

Have to verify on our next visit, but my current thinking is Sheraton all the way.

est-gratuite

So strange you had the opposite experience as me.
My stay was in mid December 2019 and I'm a platinum member.

Reception even gave me a black colored official hotel business card with the lounge times, and it specifically said on it "sunday - no service". I ate breakfast in the restaurant, (I gave my room number to staff at breakfast) and was not charged.

Either they have different staff following different rules, or they changed the lounge & breakfast rules again.
Or maybe it's based on that level you are with the Marriott program. Gold/Platinum/Titanium, etc.

OhioExile

The traveling partner is a platinum, so it should be the same. I can’t comment as to just eating breakfast as we always ended up at the small sad breakfast in the lounge. They told you specifically at check-in that you would get both?

loyaltypointschaser

I stayed at end of Nov/Dec. As Titanium member I was not told that I can have breakfast in the restaurant.
I was also give a lounge opening hours card at check in and it stated - no breakfast service on Sunday! After reviewing the card details I went back to the front desk and enquire about the services on Sunday, I was then told to have the breakfast in the restaurant. However, I was not told that I can have breakfast in the restaurant the day after.

The breakfast in the lounge was very limited and items were not replenished frequently. When I went into the lounge on a Monday morning (through the restaurant), there was a waitress in the lounge about to take 5 people out to try to find a table together in the restaurant. She asked if my room number was taken, when I say no, she took my room number.

Apart form donuts and bread, there were hardly much left in the lounge. There were also no juice, not even those bottles that usually in the fridge. I came out after 10 minutes and asked the same waitress if I could take the juice from the restaurant. She told me I could have anything from the restaurant and if I prefer I could eat in the restaurant. She was surprised that I was not told, she thought I want to eat in the quiet lounge. ..

Sounds like the front desk fail to mention the breakfast offer in more than one occasion.

est-gratuite

Yes, they did.

jpdx

Spent three nights here. It's not a hotel I'd necessarily rush back to, but at CHF100/nt on a weekend it's not a bad option in an expensive city.

Got an upgrade to a junior suite on a high floor -- pleasant, modern corner room with nice views. Toiletries were cobbled together -- some Bvlgari, some Tokyo Milk.

Lounge is still on the ground floor, but contrary to some posts above, I don't think the space is undesirable. The hotel has a partnership with some college art department, so it's not a cookie-cutter Renaissance. Due to Covid, lounge occupancy is currently restricted to 14 people. Never saw more than 2-3 people in there, but might be a problem during the week if business picks up. Offerings are pretty poor at the moment: two hot junk food items (pizza, fried spring rolls), some muffins/fruits (guessing leftovers from breakfast), wine, beer, softdrinks. Lounge was open every day, 3pm to 10pm, including Sat/Sun. Full buffet breakfast was available in the restaurant daily. A middling affair, mostly cold cuts/cheese. Egg items pre-made and sitting on the counter in huge piles, rather messy way to present fried eggs. Omelets were made from some weird eggo product.

I didn't mind the location. If you're interested in the touristy parts of Zurich, it's very easy to get into town via SBahn, or trams 4 or 8. The neighborhood has some hipster stuff, event spaces, cute outdoor restaurants, food carts -- especially the Viadukt/Markthalle and Frau Gerolds Garten are worth a visit.