Renaissance Hotels in New York

First, as someone who has been to NYC many times for both business and pleasure, there's very little reason to stay in Times Square. It is crowded, loud, dirty, and the novelty wears off very quickly. You'll enjoy your trip more if you stay in Chelsea, SoHo, Gramercy, etc., even if you are, say, spending a lot of time near the Broadway theaters. That said, we stayed in Times Square just to ”say we did it,” and the Renaissance was decent. Pros: - Room was relatively large by NYC standards - Housekeeping was great; daily service, plenty of towels - Good location from a public transit perspective--i.e., close to almost all major subway lines - Room had a modern feel and seemed remodeled recently-ish - Good value (by NYC standards) - The $30 a day resort fee does effectively get credited back to you through meal credits, tickets to attractions, etc. - Close to a lot of cheesy Times Square attractions, which your kids might enjoy Cons: - No bathtub in our unit (showers only) - Annoyingly have to take two elevators to get to street level. Street level lobby is very small. - If you are on lower floors (i.e., 14 and below), you will hear the din from Times Square - Restaurant is mediocre, and the staff pretty indifferent to your presence. - Agree with other reviewers that the pillows are terrible - The first floor and second floor lobbies seem a little tired - Traffic (pedestrian and vehicular) is terrible in this area

I love its location. It is convenient to go to Times Square, Hudson Yard, Central Park, Penn Station and many subway stations. Though it is convenient, it is not as lousy as those in Times Square. Like most of the hotels in NYC downtown, the room is not spacious, but it works well for me. At least it has a sofa. The rooms are pretty modern with multiple USB plugs. The bed is super comfortable. The room is sound proof so it is great for light sleepers. Maybe the hotel is in the fashion district, the interior design reflects it by adding a seeing machine toy to the night stand. The staffs are super nice. The bellman on the first floor is amazing. They not only store luggages, provide directions but also remind hotel guests the temperature outside might be cool that it is better to put on a jacket before stepping out. The hotel is popular. The check-in time is 4 pm even you are an elite members.

I moved from a Times Square hotel where my room was old and the size of a closet to the Renaissance Chelsea. I used points for the stay and the manager Jessica greeted me by name and told me that she had been working on my reservation and was happy to upgrade me to a suite. They offered the standard points and also offered points in lieu of breakfast, along with a late checkout. This was wonderful and much appreciated. What I appreciated even more was the beautiful, spacious, clean suite with a fabulous view of the Empire State Building and New York City. Beautiful art throughout and nice clean furniture. Even though the room as ADA, it was still nice and I felt so relaxed in this space vs coming from a space that was brown, small, noisy and hot/humid. Oh, they also gave me a brand new (still in the package) compact umbrella for the threatening evening rain. - I will definitely stay here on my next trip to NYC!

During my business trip to the United States, one of my stops was New York. I stayed in Flushing, Queens. The most convenient location was the Renaissance Hotel. It is relatively close to LaGuardia Airport and a little further from JFK Airport. There are a lot of Chinese dining options outside the door. The hotel reception is on the 12th floor and the restaurant is on the 11th floor. There are several elevators reaching different floors, so you need to pay attention. The room is not big, but it is fully functional and makes your stay more worry-free. One day there was a sudden fire alarm. I asked at the front desk and they said it was a test. This was a bit ridiculous. Overall, it is a relatively convenient and affordable hotel.

Me and Harlem go way back. Aloft Harlem used to be my go to hotel before I started staying more on the lower east side. In fact, a Marriott employee who used to work at Aloft directed me to this brand new, just opened hotel. I was excited to return to uptown and stay in this spot! I wanted to love this hotel. I don’t like giving lackluster reviews and feeling like a Karen. But over two nights, the transgressions just piled up. I’m a Marriott ambassador who stays in hotels about 240 nights a year. I never bring up my status. This might be the first time I actually uttered in frustration, “it’s September and I’ve already spent 27,000 dollars at these hotels, why is this so hard?” Upon checkin, it took almost an hour. This is even more frustrating because my first night was business and my company always sends a spending authorization. Two days in a row I checked with the hotel to see if they had received the authorization. They lost the first one. They mismanaged the second one. I always call or chat ahead to ensure a smooth checkin. It was still a mess when I arrived. The room was a “Central Park view.” I should have known better; I don’t know why I believed this title. I know New York geography better than that. I was looking into a building. Central Park facing or in the direction of Central Park shouldn’t be called central park view. I had changed from the city view to the Central Park view before arrival and I guess I’m glad I did because while they were trying to figure out my reservation they mentioned they had oversold the city view rooms. I will say the black out shades do a great job. The bed was fine. Sheets were a little co****. This hotel costs close to what a Moxy costs, so their sheets should be comparably smooth and comfortable. The bathroom was an absolute joke. Maybe not all the rooms are like mine, but mine may as well not have had a door. As you can see in my photos, the door is for “art.” There is a huge gap where you can see everything! Like probably 12 inches or greater of a gap! Who designed this and thought it was a great idea?! Glad I was alone. The air unit is SUPER loud. Doesn’t bother me as much since we usually have a fan on at home, but it was so loud that when it came on, I had to turn the TV up. It will likely bother some people. And you can hear everything through the walls. Oh, and the toilet clogged twice. And one of the days, the hot water was off all day for repairs, though that’s out of anyone’s control. It’s just giving context to a very un-relaxing stay. Back to the front desk mess—I later noted a destination fee on my bill (I had two separate bills because one night was business and one was personal). I don’t mind destination fees—I’ve had them at many Marriott properties. But I was never informed of this one. I even asked at the restaurant, and they had no idea. I finally went to the desk and asked and they explained I should have been given vouchers for each ni