Review - LHR Renaissance - December 10, 2005

100   Recommended
December 12, 2005 by

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Renaissance Heathrow Airport
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I've stayed at the REN LHR a # of times when coming to London on weekends, as I can normally get a cheap rate which is bookable on the Marriott website & thus elegible for points/perks, and it's close to the airport for early flights back. Thought I'd do a quickreviewfor folk.

To get to the LHR Renaissance go to the LHR Central Bus Station (follow the signs upon exiting immigration/baggage claim). You'll walk past the Heathrow Express turn-off in the walkway & continue on to the Picadilly line/bus station. When you get to PL/Bus Sation (PL entrance to the left; BS to the right), take the elevator or escalator up & go to Stand 19.

You're looking for one of the free red public busses (105, 140, N9, a couple of others). There's no charge since the drop is so close to the airport. It's the 2nd stop after exiting Heathrow, and then you cross Bath Road at the light to the hotel. The busses run pretty frequently. If you're unsure of which bus stops near Ren, just ask the bus driver when the bus pulls up.

You can sit in the front row & keep an eye out (the Ren sign is pretty visible on the front of the hotel as you get close), although the view might be better on the bus from the right side as you don't have the driver/stairs blocking your view. Sometimes the bus will stop if people have already mentioned the stop or the Ren to the driver, or if he sees people at the stop, but you can always press the 'stop' button (ie, stop at next stop) when the Ren comes into view & it will stop at the correct place. The bus has a luggage rack near the front on the ground level.

Again, the free bus is pretty easy.

You can also catch the Hoppa shuttle from LHR to the hotel (which stops in the driveway); Hoppa is 3GPB each way. I don't see the point in paying 3GPB each way when you can catch the bus for free, but that's just me.

BTW - if you take the free bus instead of Hoppa, the $$ you save on the Hoppa just paid for a 1-day RT on the Pic Line into Central London. If you do take the Hoppa back to LHR from the hotel, I 'think' you can put the Hoppa charge on your bill; arrange it at concierge. I think I did that years ago the first time I stayed at the hotel & before knowing about the free busses.

It's a rather large business/airport hotel that is busy on the weekends I've been. It's a bit old & tired, so don't expect luxury. Quite often in the evenings a wedding reception is held there, at least on the weekends I've stayed.

The lobby is quite large & spacious. There is also an open bar (ie, not enclosed room) on the right side of the lobby just to the right of check-in. To the left of that is the restaurant. In the bar against the wall is a very large thin-screen tv that on weekends during the day normally has on whatever football team is playing.

The elevators are on the far left side of the lobby, and just beyond those are a gift shop (and I think a hair salon). There's also a photo printer in the lobby next to the elevators.

There is on-site hotel parking; can't remember the charge as I don't normally use a car in London.

I've been in the health club before (lower level) & as I recall, it's decent. Haven't been lately as sleep won out. In the elevator they mention some classes (yoga, etc), although I'm not sure if there's a charge if you're a guest.

Check-out has always been quick & efficient. Also, if I've ever needed something & call down to the front desk etc, they're quite polite & get me what I need.

I haven't stayed during the week, so don't know if you get a newspaper. If you ask for one on the weekend, they'll send it up from the gift shop & the charge for it will appear on your bill.

To return to the airport (whether to go to LHR or to catch the Picadilly tube into Central London), exit the hotel & turn right/walk about 50 feet to the bus stop. There's a list/map of which busses stop there & go to Heathrow (most of them). Outside the Ren is the last stop before LHR, so it's pretty easy.

Once you get to LHR, take the elevator or escalator downstairs & it will put you right in front of the entrance to the Picadilly line, or just head to your terminal for flight. You can purchase tickets for tube there (they take cc as well as cash).

The executive lounge is quite long/big & overlooks one of the runways, so you get to watch the planes taking off. On the weekends it doesn't have bkfst/snacks, but it is open 24/7 & you can get tea, coffee, soft drinks, bottled water & shortbreak cookies (entry w/ room key). They also have the local paper in the lounge.

Because I've only ever been on the weekends, I can't speak for what the breakfast or h'ors douerves are like in the lounge. Think the lounge opens at 5:00pm on Sunday eve & then shuts down after bkfst on Fri morning.

The AAA rate at this hotel for '05 is 55GPB (ex tax) on the weekends.

On the Marriott website, if you plug in PKG in the promo code it will bring up such things as Park'NFly, etc. There is a CRP Weekend Rate of 55GPB (inc bkfst; ex tax), which is a good rate I think given it also includes bkfst. Last year the CRP rate was 47GPB, but did not include brekkie.

I called the Marriott Platinum line & they confirmed it didn't say which corporation; you just needed a business card. When you get the email confirmation it says local promotion rate, so it's something the hotel must be doing. Anyway, I've used the rate many times. I've never been asked for a biz card, but of course I had one if they had asked.

BTW - the halls are long in this hotel & it's in the shape of a rectangle, so depending on your room you could get a bit of exercise in. They do have maps that they show you on check-in, but I always get lost anyway

The Marriott, btw, is literally a 5-minute walk & across the street from the Ren. Some folk prefer staying there because it's much newer, but on such quick stays I go for points/least amount of rate, so the Ren works for me. I've never been able to get the Marriott for the same rate as the Ren.

So - in summary. While the hotel is a bit old & tired, I'd certainly stay here again for the convenience & rate.

Hope this helps. Cheers.eers.

Check In

Check-in (depending on how many are in line) is usually quick & efficient. I've stayed at this hotel both as a Silver & Platinum. There is a separate Marriott Rewards check-in desk, but it's just as easy to stand in the main line.

Also while the non-stop gets me in after noon, the connections (or originations) from east coast get you in at 7am. It might have been luck or just cuz it's a weekend, but I've managed to check in early into the hotel each time I arrived at oh-dawn-hundred - and that's true whether I was Silver or Platinum. No guarantees though.

There is a concierge, but I've never needed one so can't report on that.

Dining

To the right of the Ren & across the street (inbtwn the Ren & Marriott) is a McDonald's. I noticed in the bus headed back to Heathrow yest that to the left of the Ren by a few blocks is the 3 Magpies Pub, which might be worth checking out. Haven't been to either, but fyi for those who want to go outside of the hotel for food. Any other restaurants in the area I'd ask the concierge.

I've not eaten at the restaurant either, so can't report on that. I have ordered from room service before, & they're pretty prompt. The r.s. order includes a 12.5% service charge, so you're not asked to tip additionally upon that; just sign the bill. Room service is 24/7, although they're on a 'night' menu from 11pm-6am. Wine prices are in 175ml (small glass?), 250ml (big glass or carafe?) & bottle prices.

When I was waiting to check out, I 'thought' I heard the front desk clerk say to a couple that breakfast buffet was available in the restaurant for 17GPB. To me that's pretty steep (esp given exchange rate), and I'm not sure I heard correctly, but thought I'd mention it.

Location

It's about 45minutes into the city from LHR. Think the Pic line stops just before midnight so if you're in town for the evening you'll need to grab the last one, or catch the N9 bus which goes from Central London back to LHR; the Ren is the last stop before LHR. N9 can be caught at Picadilly Circus, Green Park, etc. One time I did cab it back (not knowing about the bus), and I think the mini-cab charged me 60GPB at 3am.

Room

They're very good about offering the Marriott Platinum gift option at check-in. This past weekend I took the cheese & biscuits & the 1/2 bottle of red wine. Because I was tired from flying over from LA & wanted to take a nap, I asked if they could deliver it later. They gave me the card & said to call room service when I wanted the gift, & to give r.s. the card when they delivered. I told r.s. up front when I ordered that it was the Platinum gift, so the bill was zero although I still had to sign it.

The cheese & biscuits tray was quite nice - quite a bit of cheese, biscuit (crackers for us Yanks), grapes, celery & butter. That, plus the 1/2 bottle of wine, could be a nice little meal if one isn't too hungry.

The rooms are small, but they have everything you need. There are no king beds, so it's queen or double. There's a desk w/ hi-speed (15GPB for 24-hours, 24 starting on when you sign in). The plugs are at desk level, so no crawling underneath anything. There's also a chair & small table, as well as nightstand & wardrobe (w/ tv in it).

The bathrooms are small, but come w/ the usual stuff. On the executive level (3rd floor), the rooms will have a bathrobe & slippers. There are only 3 floors for rooms.

The TV gets several channels, including those in German, French & Arabic. You can also check on flight arrival/departure times on 2 of the channels. There is pay tv, but at the exchange rate not something I signed up for - plus, I've seen most of the movies anyway.

One of the things I really like is that there are individual switches for lights, but also a 'master' switch so you can turn lights on & off w/o getting out of bed or just some of the lights. There's also a switch for make-up room & do not disturb next to the bed (along w/ the sign to go on the door handle).

I think almost every side of the hotel faces some part of the airport & runways. The views are pretty cool. Most of the time even when facing the runway I've not heard the planes, but this past weekend they originally put me in room 3192 & you could - the jets were in mid-roar/1-2way down the runway, so I asked them to switch me. They did to room 3169, which faces the inner courtyard & is much quieter. I've also been in room 3172 a few times, which faces a runway & is next to the service elevator but for some reason doesn't get noise. I asked for it upon switch, but it was occupied. Room 3169 was fine & like all the other rooms.

There are suites at the hotel (noticed names of them when walking down the hallways), but I've never been upgraded to one. I think the hotel considers getting on the exec level floor to be an upgrade. Since I usually only stay here on a weekend & am not in the room for a long period of time, it doesn't matter to me.

When I've been in rooms facing runways I've gotten decent cell phone coverage, but when facing the inner courtyard barely a blip.

The beds seem more comfy than in the past, so maybe they're upgrading them. When I checked in they noted I liked extra fellow pillows & called housekeeping to have them delivered, but I think they got sent to the room I switched from & I was too tired to call down to ask for them to come to the new room.

There is a teapot w/ bags of tea, milk & shortbread cookies in one of the cabinets. Can't remember if coffee - I'm a tea drinker. There is also a mini-bar - this is the type that the second you pull something out you're charged, so beware on that. Mine this past weekend was out of order.

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