mrnick

Has anyone been there recently and have an opinion on which better, looking at a weekend in the middle of September. Location or better views, area of town? Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

BeantownFlyer

Marriott is old and inferior location, Renaissance is brand new and superior location.

jalves

While the Marriott is nice enough, the location and newness of the Renaissance gives it the edge.

seawolf

Current at Marriott. Yes it is overdue for refurbishment. Lobby and rooms looks soft renovated within past 7-10 years but the hallways are downright old. Room doors looks like haven't been touched since the 80s. Only staying because they offer a $79 Entertainment Book rate and I have lounge access.

AAExpDFW

Agree. Stay away from Marriott until they get a full refurb. Tons of nicer options.

seawolf

Also picked the Marriott instead of Ren because they have a pool but came to regret it as the water in the pool is murky probably from sunblock. Coffee machine in lounge out of service. Housekeeping staff in hallway not friendly. No acknowledgement when I greet them. This property has no place being a Marriott.

MSPeconomist

Renaissance looks nice and is in a good location.

Unfortunately the Westin is now an OMNI.

BTW, IIRC there's also a Starwood at the airport.

joshua362

Yes, its adequate and overlooks runways. Plus an old school Village style Residence Inn closeby too, had a great stay there.

bhrubin

The Renaissance is wonderful...maybe even better than the aforementioned Westin (now a disappointingly managed Omni, unfortunately). Please see my recent review:

http://www.flyertalk.com/hotel-revie...rovidence-1958

pinniped

Night and day: Renaissance is the superior choice of these two. Excellent property all around.

This week, I'm at the Marriott because the Ren is sold out and I'm going to hit 750 Marriott nights right on the wire. (Tonight is #748 . Weekend of July 21-22 will be nights #749 and #750 .) I had to stick with a legacy Marriott brand. Unfortunately I was locked out of my room for an hour because the lock was broken and engineering couldn't figure it out.

Then, when I said "I'll just go to the lounge and wait", the guy was like "you have to be Gold or Platinum to go in there." No only am I Gold, but the room in question is already on the club level, and the guy saying this had already been to the room with me! Finally, after an hour, they at least offered me compensation: a small packet of pre-packaged cheese and crackers. At 9:45PM. (I left it in the lounge in case someone was hungry, as the food in the lounge was depleted and gone at 9PM.)

Won't be back. Post-Aug-1, I'll look Renaissance first, maybe the Courtyard second, and Starwoods or Hiltons after that.

The room itself does not look like it's been renovated in the past 7-10 years - more like 15-20. The A/C unit is crazy loud, meaning you have to blast it to get the room ice cold and then shut it down entirely when it's time to go to sleep.

They really should reflag this as a Four Points or a low-end Sheraton.

BeantownFlyer

NDDomer86

Slightly off topic, but that is why despite being next door to the Renaissance Indianapolis North tonight, I am staying at the Residence Inn instead, because the rooms at the Renaissance have not been renovated since it was built (in 2008).

pinniped

The design of the hotel is kind of funky-1970s. It's a downtown hotel, but once you're inside they've tried to give it a more sprawling resort-y feel, with a surprisingly big indoor/outdoor-connected pool area and lots of outdoor sitting areas. With a full reno it could be an adequate mainline Marriott hotel. It's better than the typical boring tower block with a tiny indoor pool on the 4th floor or whatever.

It'll still never be the Renaissance, which is in a gorgeous building and a better location.