After spending a few days with my parents down in Flat Rock, we headed up to Asheville for the final stop of our trip. We were in town for a wedding and the Renaissance was the best located Marriott Bonvoy property for us during our trip.
Booking
There are a few Marriott Bonvoy properties in Asheville but the two main hotels downtown are the Renaissance and the AC. The Renaissance was slightly cheaper than the AC and I also prefer the Renaissance experience over the AC. We booked our room directly through Marriott.com for $311 per night.
Location
The Renaissance Asheville is located on the northeast corner of downtown and occupies a large lot between Woodfin and College Streets. While not in the middle of the action, the hotel was within a five minute walk of almost everything in the downtown area. Also, it is one of the few hotels actually located downtown proper. Many of the Asheville hotels are located between Tunnel Road and I-240 across the Beaucatcher Tunnel from downtown.
Lobby/Check-In
We arrived at our hotel just before 2:00p and pulled up to the front of the building since the parking lot was gated and you needed a keycard to access it. A bellman helped us unload our bags and we headed inside towards the check in desk.
The lobby itself was on the small side and consisted of the hotel restaurant off to the left, an elevator bank and seating area straight ahead, and the hotel bar, concierge and reception desk off towards the right.
There were a couple of groups in front of us so it took a few minutes before we made it to the reception desk. We initially booked a room with two queen beds and, due to our early arrival and needing to get ready for the rehearsal dinner we didn’t try to change to a king room. We were given keys to our room, which was located on the 11th floor.
Parking
The hotel had two very large surface parking lots. One was for the valet while the other was for self park. The self parking rate was over $20/day which seemed extremely steep given the fact that there was more than enough parking and the hotel was set up more like a suburban hotel than a downtown one.
Double Queen Room
Upon entering the room it was your typical Renaissance set up. The bathroom was located to the left immediately upon entering the room, with the bedroom located down a short hallway.
There were two queen sized beds off to the left that had a nightstand in-between.
Across from the beds was a desk, tv stand, and a small set of drawers with a coffee maker on top.
The windows gave us a great view of North Asheville and the mountains off in the distance. Though the interstate was close by, the room was well insulated and we couldn’t hear any outside noise.
The bathroom was small, but well maintained and featured toiletries from Aveda.
The bathtub/shower combo also featured Aveda toiletries in reusable containers mounted to the wall.
The only gripe I had about the bathroom was the wallpaper, which looked like a wall that was being prepared for tile. Not sure why they decided to go with that pattern.
While getting ready I flipped on the TV and noticed that the colors were extremely off. The whole screen had a blue hue to it that made it feel like we were underwater. Since I had to run out for the wedding rehearsal, I spoke with the front desk on my way to the car and they said they would send somebody up to fix/swap it. Ultimately, they weren’t able to do so for whatever reason so they moved us down the hall to another room, this time a king.
King Room
When I returned back to the hotel all of our stuff had been moved over to the new room. Mrs. ATX Jetsetter had already unpacked but, as if I didn’t have enough reasons to love her, she took photos of the room before unpacking, so you can thank her for these. The room was basically the same layout as the double queen room we had earlier with a couple of minor differences.
First of all, there was a large chair in the corner near the window, which we mainly used for holding clothes. The chair also had an ottoman and a table.
The king sized bed was flanked by two nightstands instead of the one that we had in the double queen room.
Our view was different as they had switched us over to the other side of the hotel and we had a view of downtown Asheville instead of the mountains.
Finally, and the reason for the shuffle in the first place, we had a working TV!
Dining
Thanks to my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status we had complimentary breakfast at the hotel both mornings during our stay. The setup was a hybrid of a buffet and a full service restaurant. Upon entry, the hostess would take your name and escort you to your table where a waiter would greet you and take drink orders.
From there, you could head around the corner to a buffet that featured a variety of hot dishes and some yogurts in a small refrigerator.
There was also a selection of cereals, pastries, and fruit as well as an omelet station.
While the breakfast wasn’t bad, I wouldn’t have paid for the breakfast buffet had it not been included as there are a number of great coffee shops and bakeries in downtown Asheville.
Summary
The Renaissance Asheville is a nice enough hotel close to all of the action in downtown without being directly in the middle of things. This made it easy to get on and off the highway while still being walking distance to many of the attractions nearby. While I wouldn’t go out of my way to avoid the hotel, I’d probably explore other options in the Asheville area during my next trip to town.
