A stay at Renaissance Midtown in New York

Having a lovely weekend in New York City and so decided on the Renaissance Midtown on W 35th street as the main reason for our trip was to enjoy the High Line and Little Island at the southern end.

The giant pigeon at the start of the High Line.

The northern start of the High Line is only 3 blocks from the Renaissance hotel just past Hudson Yards and the Vessel.

https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/nycsg-renaissance-new-york-midtown-hotel/overview/

Check-in:

We arrived at the hotel about 3 but they did not have a nice room available for us. The lobby is on the 6th floor so there is a pleasant view while sitting. We agreed to sit in the waiting area and they said they would call us when the room was available. I have Platinum status at Marriott but that did not seem to make a difference here.

Of course they didn’t call us and so after about 40 minutes I went to ask at the desk and they had a room immediately available for us. Silly.

The lobby waiting area which is used by the bar when it opens.

The room:

Typical of New York hotel rooms the room was so much smaller than a normal hotel room anywhere else in the country.

Don’t get me wrong it was a really a nice room, but the Caesars bathroom in Las Vegas is the same size as the whole room and bathroom here.

Nice bed with units on each side. The wall to the bathroom is the glass wall on the right. It is diffused halfway up for modesty. There is also a blind that you can pull down for full cover.

The side units were unusual in that the lights are different on each side. The right side had an interesting tear drop light hanging and there was a small sewing machine on the unit. The sewing machine was a theme through the hotel. There were 2 nice coffee table books about New York in the left unit. Very nice thought.

This is the view of the chaise lounge and table at the window and the view outside. An interesting skyline.

The chaise lounge is very comfortable, I lay on it and snoozed one afternoon. Lovely.

This is the view from my window.

I was able to zoom in on 101 VanderBilt (the tall building with the spire on the far right) and get a nice picture of the building and the public viewing areas.

There is also a desk and chair up against the wall near where the tv is. A long shelf is under the tv that proved useful. It also held the ice bucket, coffee maker and then there is also a fridge and a safe. Nice that they have proper glasses and not plastic cups.

Standard cupboard with extra blanket, ironing board and iron and soft cushioned hangars for your delicates.

The bathroom:

Overhead shower with a hand wand. Toiletries are all by Kevin.Murphy. The hotel supplies shampoo, conditioner, body wash, hand soap and young again body lotion.

The vanity glass was perfectly comfortable as it covers you up to about your shoulders.

A nice sink with one basin, a shaving/make-up mirror, tissues, drinking glasses, and kevin.murphy toiletries. A rather nice setup. The toilet is on the right where I am standing, no separate room for it.

Overall a very pleasant bathroom. Really tiny but the space is well used and all the fittings are good quality and very logical.

The hotel corridors:

A really stylish hotel, this is the waiting area for the elevator. There are only 12 rooms per floor but there are a lot of floors.

And these are the pictures on the back wall in the elevators. Wonderful pictures. Elegant and glamorous, helping you feel like you are heading out to an awards show.

The elevator controls are very modern. You select your floor from a list of numbers and the panel tells you which elevator to use. On the 5th floor you can see there is a ‘roof top’ bar. The bar is above a roof, just not the rooftop of the whole hotel. We did not eat there but it is highly recommended.

The hotel gym which is on the ground floor is a Planet Fitness, a nice quality space to exercise in.

This is the entrance to the hotel with a small drive up area and valet parking.

Conclusion:

The Renaissance Midtown aims at a slightly smarter market. The whole feel of the hotel is definitely upscale as much as you can with the limited space and the small rooms. I would recommend it anytime you are in New York, especially if you are spending time in this area maybe going to Madison Square Garden or the Javitz Center or Hudson Yards and the Edge or the High Line. One of the better hotels (that is not 5 star) that I have stayed at in New York.