Reviews Renaissance Hotel Harbourside

Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Sep 12, 2009
Stayed here pre-cruise (out of Ballantyne) on points. We walked from the new Canada Line and was a little more of a hike than we thought, but if you are active, it should be fine. Checked in to find that we had a room with gorgeous view of harbor, Stanley Park and a little glimpse of the Lions Gate bridge. Loved the decor in eclectic reds, golds and blacks. Room was clean and beds were comfortable. Had the buffet breakfast in the morning and it was VERY good and the setting was so beautiful. We walked to Granville Island from here (quite a walk) and Stanley Park to rent bikes. Would stay here again in a heart beat! Great way to start a phenomenal vacation.

Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Sep 8, 2009
Hotel was very nice with great view of harbour and float plane pier. Had a deck to sit out and eat or have a drink and close to boardwalk. Highly recommend, try and get a room with view of water.


Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Aug 30, 2009
Good hotel, it seems like most of the rooms had an update, rooms have LCD tv's, in-room safe. Downside is that you have to pay for you wireless internet aswell the lack of a complimentary breakfast. Try to get a room on the floor 15 or 16 on the waterfront side, see how the water planes take off.

Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Aug 20, 2009
We spent 5 nights at the Renaissance and enjoyed our stay immensely. The friendly staff really add to the experience. They could not have been more helpful particularly the doormen/bell staff and the waiters and waitress in the restaurant.

The rooms may be on the small side but are lovely with more then enough space for two adults. The large windows provided great views of the city. Most rooms have a sliding glass door with a Juliet balcony. We enjoyed the fresh air this provided but may have felt differently if traveling with small children. The location is perfect for touring this beautiful city - morning walks along the sea wall are wonderful. Plenty of options in the neighborhood for breakfast. Yes, the hotel restaurant is expensive but the dinner we had there was very good. The fitness center and pool area are also well-maintained and spacious. We did not experience any of the problems others mentioned with housekeeping. Our room was always spic & span clean and had a full supply of towels, shampoo, etc. Plenty of public transportation nearby and if you are a tourist the hop-on/hop-off bus stops right across the street. Enjoy your visit to beautiful BC.

Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Aug 10, 2009
The location is wonderful, the hotel is nice, clean and beautiful. I thought the service was excellent from the Concierge to the front desk. I work for Marriott and they didn't know it, but still went above and beyond. The fitness equipment could use some maintenance. I would definitely recommend eating breakfast and the Urban Market next door. Amazing omelets (plus potatoes and toast) for $10.00! We ate there everyday. You can also pick up sandwiches and snack items if you hit the hiking trails (Grouse Grind is a must if you want a workout).


Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Aug 1, 2009
This hotel has a great view and is located in a continence location. The pool and gym are very nice. The room is not too spacious but it is still a good size. The bathroom is kind of small but at least it is clean. The parking is terrible and super expensive.

The customer service is poor. Our bath tub didn’t drain very well the first night we stayed. We told the front desk in person and asked them to fix it the next morning. However, the bathtub still did not drain well the second night when we showered. Apparently they did not take care of the problem at all. I called the front desk about this problem again, but they told me there was no engineer stand by in the evening. However, we can just let the water over flow. I really felt sorry for the house keeper. This hotel really needs to improve their management.

We got a good deal from Priceline so I was guessing that’s why we got a room with a bad tub. They definitely discriminate Priceline customers. Overall, the stay was not too bad for the price we paid.

Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Jul 24, 2009
We really enjoyed staying at the Renaissance. I had booked the hotel through Priceline and got a fantastic deal. When we arrived, I asked for a double room, as I was traveling with my husband and son. They were sold out but they offered me a bay view room on the top floor with an extra bed at no addtional charge. The view was absolutely fantastic. The room was generously sized and looked to be recently updated. The outside of the hotel looks a bit tired but the inside is lovely and the service is incredible. I would definitely stay there again. If you are going on a cruise, the terminal is within walking distance from the hotel.
 

Guest Review of the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside
Jun 28, 2009
We spent four nights at the Renaissance on a recent vacation in Vancouver. Overall, we had a good experience at the hotel, but could not quite get past some of the hotel's quirks.

We ended up in a harbour view room. This after an intervention by a very helpful bellman, who asked my wife how our stay was shortly after we checked in and were "upgraded" to a city view room to be given a king size bed. Note that the harbour view room also had a king size bed.

The harbour views are excellent - or at least were from our room. It appeared that the high rise condo across the street could block views from some rooms. There are two sets of sliding glass doors which both allow you to open the windows and / or block out the seaplane noise. With the windows closed, the room is very quiet.

The room itself is quite small. The closet area is not very deep. Hang a shirt or jacket on a hanger in the closet and you'll have to turn it sideways to close the closet door. There is a very modern set up for accessing the internet and displaying your PC on the flat screen TV in the room. We did not try this set up. Internet access in the room costs $16 CDN per day.

The bathrooms were small, and the light switch was a bit of a reach around the corner on the outside of the room, if you forgot to turn on the light before entering.

The bathroom servicing was one of the quirks. Most hotels will leave 3-4 bath towels for a room with two guests. Consistently we were left only two towels. I don't know if this was conservation, hotel cost saving measures or just a quirk of the cleaning staff on our floor.

The biggest quirk by far is the elevator system in the hotel. The doors close very quickly and on arrival, I actually rode the elevator up and back down and up again from the parking garage as by time my wife got off the elevator, the doors closed before I could get off. As noted in prior dated reviews, a room key is needed to operate the elevators to guest floors. I had several interesting experiences as the elevator began moving before guests could punch the button for their floor.

There is a very large pool / fitness center area on the fourth floor. This would definitely be one of the pluses of the hotel

On the whole, we had a good stay, and on the whole I would most likely stay again on my next visit to Vancouver. And I do want to acknowledge that despite some issues with service (towels, check-in), the helpful intervention of a great bellman really made our stay.

Renaissance Hotel Harbourside
1133 West Hastings Street
 Downtown Vancouver