The good news is that this is a lovely hotel in a good location , and the beds are nice. The bad news is that the walls are paper-thin and you can hear phone conversations and televisions clearly. The hotel's solution is to keep moving you around to find a "quieter" room. After our 3rd room change we stuck it out for the night,

The hotel e-mailed us a request form (I requested a refrigerator and a feather pillow) but they were never delivered to our original room. The desk staff seemed uninterested in assisting us. We won't be back.

I love the location of this property. The rooms are nice, but could be a bit better. I always hate paying for parking, but they do offer self parking in an attached garage. We did not eat in the restaurant. The bar is small. Not really the type of place you'd stay for a large pool, or socializing. But it works as a central home base to enjoy Fort Lauderdale. You can catch the water taxi nearby.

STAFF
Absolutely the best - polite, courteous and very responsive. I have called the front desk twice and they delivered things within 5 minutes (I forgot my dental floss and the hair dryer broke). The bell hops and valet service are worth every dollar, as they are prompt and friendly. The front desk is also nice without being snobbish.

ROOMS
Super clean & quiet despite being next to the Intercoastal highway entrance & the nice thing is that they offer 2 Queen size beds instead of 2 Full size beds. They are very comfortable, not too hard and not too soft, and the turn down service and cookies on the bed are a nice treat when you get in. Try to get a room facing the Intercoastal Highway side (East side) for some views. Decor is typical hotel decor, but as I'm not going to live there, I don't mind. This place has an antique/classic feel to it, where I'm more into modern design, but again, you're not there to buy a condo, as long as it's clean and well-maintained and the people make you feel at home, then you are perfectly fine. I can't speak for Internet connection, since we didn't get a chance to use the service.

AMENITIES
There's a hottub and large resort pool that were very nice. We only tried the hottub, and it was nice and warm on a cool night. It was very pleasant, but the traffic noise from the streets doesn't really help. The bar seemed to be very busy all nights we were there and the fitness room seemed well equipped.

LOCATION
Nice and convenient, walking distance to all the shops (golf shop, Office Depot, clothing, salon etc.), restaurants (seafood and Italian), cafes (Starbucks, French Bakery), and Walgreens drug store which is open 24 hours across the street. Also, if you drive within a one mile radius, you'll find all that you need - grocery store, shopping strips, Denny's, etc. The beachfront is just a 5-15 minute drive depending on which beach, where all the nightlife, restaurants, and beachlife are.

We stayed here 2 nights post-cruise in January 2007. We booked it via Hotwire for $111/night, when regular prices were over $300/night. Let me start by saying the pre-cruise we stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites in Dania (because our friends and family were staying there, too) and the location of the Renaissance is 100 times better. It's on 17th street, which is a pretty major road. This means there are plenty of options nearby for eating, shopping, and transportation.

I highly recommend using the Sun Trolley, which runs Thursday through Sunday. The Convention Connection trolley goes right past the hotel on 17th Street. All you have to do is wave it down like a taxi. Fare is 50 cents per person per ride. You can take it to the beach, and if you want to go to Las Olas Blvd you can get off at the beach stop and get on the Las Olas trolley. We used it to get to the Science Museum (which we really enjoyed for $10/person and a fun afternoon). Since we didn't know our way around when we got on we told the drivers where we wanted to go and they took us there. They were all very nice and helpful.

The front desk workers at the Rennaisance were all super friendly and helpful. No complaints at all. I always felt welcomed by them and felt that they were genuinely happy to help me.

One funny thing... I went up to the front desk to request a late check-out. That was no problem, but I had to show my ID. The only ID I had on me was my employee ID from Brigham Young University. The lady helping me saw that and said, "Oh, do you know Mr. Marriott?" I thought she was kidding (I mean, does anyone normal like me know Mr. Marriott personally?), but she went on to say that Mr. Marriott was here at the Renaissance just two weeks ago. I was suprised and impressed. I asked her how often he drops by, and she said that he comes every year to Ft. Lauderdale to check up on things. She said he's very picky about the slightest stain in the carpet (which I must say, I didn't notice any of; the hotel seems in pretty good shape). I thought it was cool that Mr. Marriott himself checks up on the place. I think this is a hotel he can be proud of owning.