Quan D.
Yelp
First time staying at the Renaissance and it was better than expected. We asked for early check-in and arrived at around 10am and they had a clean room for us. It definitely helps to be a loyal Marriott member to get early check-in. We didn't get an upgrade in room even though we have ambassador level but that was ok. It was raining and we just wanted to get out of the rain after walking from Penn station.
We booked a king room on higher floor a few days before and the rate was reasonable for NY. Was around $360 with taxes. The room itself was small. There was a safe, enough storage for a short trip. I liked that they had Aveda rosemary mint shampoo, conditioner and body wash. The shower pressure was good as well.
You have to take the elevator up to the lobby level after you check-in on the ground floor. Then, you take another elevator up to the room.
They have a great breakfast buffet and the person that checked us in was so kind and gave us breakfast for 2 days even though we were just staying overnight. The breakfast is at R lounge and hours at 7am to 11:30am. The breakfast was pretty good and the view was awesome, overlooking Times Square. There was a variety of items: different pastries, oatmeal, variety of fruits, eggs, sausage, bacon, first time we went they had quiche, 2nd time there was white egg omelettes precooked, potatoes, scrambled eggs.
Overall, we would stay here again but the Marriott Marquis just a block over or so is a much nicer hotel but it's also about $200 more/night for standard room.