I Just got back and stayed at the Ocean Suites area. The First thing people need to know is that every room will start renovations in 2014 which is very much needed. The reason I Mention this first is that most of the negative things about the hotel is due to it not being up to par Such as outdated CRT TV'S in every room & Peeling wallpaper , and chipped tiles in many rooms. Being I had the opportuninty to see a sample of how the rooms will look in 2014 ,I Can tell you these things are going to be updated with LCD TV'S, New Royal blue color schemes and a silver/ white black counter tops with new funiture! So If your thinking of staying here, I'd wait till winter time 2014. With that said, people should also know the renaisance is divided with the ocean suites being the family friendly hotel having the beach with pools, but you also have Kids running around constanstanty. So unless you have a family with kids I Would recommend staying across the way at the Marina Hotel.
With those two cons out of the way the hotel itself is only a block away from the fabulous mall with numerous stores and restaurants with One of the 2 casinos also in the mall area.
The staff was very friendly and courteous. As far as Wifi , Only the Lobby area has access to Free internet while in room acesss you must use wired internet with router and cost is $70 /week for 1 Mbps down / .5 mbps up. far from the fastest access for such high fees but if your just using email and web brosing it will be fine. Overall the hotel is fine for an overall fun time with kids.

We love the Renaissance and its whole property. Their island for guests is tops ! Lots of sites- 3 beaches, restaurant,bar, lounges, iguanas, flamingos, parrots, and more !
Snorkling is great. All this is a free 10 minute boat ride from your Renaissance Suite.
You can walk or shuttle to town area & get some grub, restaurants, pharmacy or Supermercado items & carry back to your room. Harborside shops have pizza, bars, & local shops.
Pool at Renaissance is a 'Lazy River' style & one can swim up to a water bar in the pool !
What's not to love at this tropical delight !
Brings tons of sun lotions for their Hot Sunny Weather.
This Renaissance is not part of Marriott Hotels (only in U.S.). This is independent. Wish it was !

We stayed at the Renaissance Marina property and overall it was a great experience.
Pros-
-Picturesque private beach, calm and relaxing
-Great service
-Beautiful lobby/ pool area
-Walking distance to shops and restaurants
-Concierge was very helpful
-Late night menu

Cons-
-Rooms were average looking and bathroom was really small
-$8 cab ride to high rise hotel area where the most action is
-I was supposed to get Mytime perks from the resort but did not receive them even after I reminded them
-No late night room service

Since this is our 2nd stay at the Renaissance Marina Hotel the review will be relatively short. The last trip was in June, 2000.

First the good...
We still love the location and the atmosphere. We've spent a bit more time in the high rise hotels this trip to see whether we would want to stay out there next time and the answer is NO. Even though the Ren was sold out (according to the front desk) it never felt like it was as busy as the properties in the High Rise area.

It was nice to see that they have done a facelift to the public areas and rooms. Specifically, happy to see that they've replaced the sliding balcony doors with something that is relatively sound/wind proof.

Now the bad...
- Room(s) still smell moldy. It may be the nature of the beast being on an island.
- Room facelift forgot the bathroom. Dry paint in the tub and curtain rod following apart. See attached photos. We had the same problem 2 years ago.
- Zero acknowledgment of elites. I had to call after we checked in to learn that in-room internet is free for Gold/Platinum but no free local calls.
- Wire internet in room ONLY. No wifi in the room....bring a laptop or an airport express (or similar) if you want to create your own wifi.

Long story short, we will still stay at this hotel in the future but really hope they can clean up some of the short-comings.