This is my review for the Renaissance Charleston Historic District, 68 Wentworth Street, Charleston, SC:
Overall Experience: Met Expectations, 3 STARS
Value: The Historic District in Charleston is prime real estate. Due to its location, the Renaissance Charleston Hotel can charge rates that seem pretty unreasonable. Rates over $300/night for an average room had kept us on the sidelines for a long time. Luckily, we found a deal through a physician survey site that Daniel uses, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
Location: Love this location! It is walking distance to everything you need to see and do in Charleston. Situated between King and Meeting Streets, you can walk to the waterfront/battery in about 15 minutes. Also, the hotel is steps away from the theater, shopping, and restaurant districts. I was surprised to see so many high-end stores like St. John, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci, but also other favorites like Lulu Lemon, J Crew, Brooks Brothers, Victoria’s Secret, and more!
Rooms: Our assigned room was nothing to write home about, as it is an older property. No upgrades here. It was a smaller room with a view of a concrete abandoned car parking lot. Also, the decor was below average. For an historic hotel, I felt the interior design could have been better with hints of old world southern colonial. Below expectations.
Bedding: Met expectations. The king sized bed was comfortable and had 4 large pillows. The blankets kept me nice and warm so I didn’t need to turn up the heat. I slept well in this bed!
Bathroom: Again, older bathroom with no upgrades. I do enjoy the Aveda products the Renaissance brand provides for its guests. These Aveda products have a “minty” and “fresh” scent and are fabulous! Unfortunately, one huge negative with the bathroom was the grout needed to be redone. It was black and somewhat moldy and even missing in some areas. I’m not going to lie, I was grossed out. A $300/night room with moldy grout–not good my friends, not good.
Safety: Very safe property. The doorman and bell stand are always open and the employees are very aware, present, and hospitable as you enter and leave the property. Charleston has undergone huge changes in cleaning up the city and making it safe and enjoyable for everyone.
Front desk/Lobby: Beautiful Lobby! I am a huge fan of this style of decor. I would love for my house to look similar! The lobby had great scent control and an inviting atmosphere. In one area of the lobby, there was a place set up for afternoon snacks. This snack area serves guests three times a week–hot foodie snacks and drinks, trail mix bar, milk and cookie, and more.
Food: Below expectations. We ate breakfast (brunch) in the restaurant on Sunday morning. It was underwhelming. For a Renaissance brand hotel restaurant with no lounge for Elite members, this is unacceptable. The breakfast spread was small and unappetizing. Small selection of food with none of the bells and whistles like whole wheat toast, peanut butter, cheese or salsa for the scrambled eggs. Also, if you wanted to eat made to order eggs from the kitchen, then you would have to pay $7. I found this offensive because the kitchen is located next to the restaurant/brunch area and two eggs cost less than a dollar.
Platinum Experience: Disaster. I am very surprised at this property for its lack of proper Platinum Elite treatment. First issue occurred before check in when the representative was unable to attach my Marriott Rewards number to the reservation because it was booked through a third party. After calling 4 different phone numbers and going through several representatives, the front desk manager completed the reservation with my rewards number. Second issue with this Renaissance property is the lack of an executive lounge. Third issue turned out to be the awful breakfast. I’m usually very satisfied with the breakfast brunch and I find it well worth the free breakfast instead of Marriott points. The breakfast was very disappointing (see above “Food”) so I traded in the coupons for points and I ate a chicken gyro at nearby Taziki’s for breakfast instead–LOL! It was delicious.
Customer Service: Upon arrival, the doorman and front desk staff were very welcoming as well as very nice and upbeat to say the least. I definitely felt the southern hospitality. Unfortunately, the hotel was sold out, therefore, no upgraded rooms available. Sometimes it happens, and it did appear to be busy with weddings and so forth. Everyone we encountered was warm, friendly, and willing to go the extra mile. Exceeded expectations.
Maid Service: The room was very clean and housekeeping did a very good job at cleaning and picking up the room during its routine service and turn down service at nighttime. The only negative is that the room did not get serviced in a timely manner. Housekeeping didn’t make it to the room until after 4pm each day. It didn’t really work for me because this was the timeframe when I was back in the room to regroup and get ready for dinner. I instructed the housekeeper to return after 6:30pm. Later that night, I got back to the room around 10pm and the room was STILL not serviced. I immediately called down to the front desk and they sent someone up–even the woman at the front desk said if she could not find someone available to clean the room, that she would do it herself (I’ve never heard that before from a hotel front desk clerk…Knocked my socks off! Can I take her with me to every hotel?). All in all, the room got cleaned and the manager gave me a round of drinks at the bar and extra Marriott points to make things right.
Amenities: This Renaissance has a nice gym overlooking the rooftop pool. At the gym, there were nice gym towels, cold water, and fresh fruit for guests. The equipment was new and easy to operate–cardio machines, free weights, stability balls, and more. I had a nice little workout in there! Also, this property has 5 meeting rooms including a ballroom.
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