This hotel held up to my Renaissance expectations: great service, spotless, & even a little classy. It is in the building that was to be the Masonic Temple, so the Capital is right next door & the outside is slightly impressive. Unfortunately, it is located quite close to the interstate, but most of anything worthwhile in Providence seems to be. It is 1 block from the very large indoor mall & 1 1/2 blocks from WaterFire. There is an abundance of places to dine around the around the area. We took a cab to Federal Hill & had some Italian, but were not thoroughly excited by that experience. The bathroom in the hotel room is large, has marbel flooring, and was very clean. They were able to give us a King-size bed, which was surprising because we were using Marriot points & that doesn't usually happen. The furniture wasn't too exciting, but everything was well cared for. The decor is a little dizzing at times. The choices seem to be out of 17th century France complete with striped carpet, but nonetheless, look new so don't let this deter you. Overall, should I ever be in the Providence area again, I will be staying here & hope should you do the same you will have a good experience as well. Looking online, the prices look far too low for this wonderful place. We did NOT research other hotels in the area, so I don't know how it compares. Side note: no continental breakfast, as always in Renaissances & valet is $25 (ouch).

My husband and I stayed at the Renaissance for two nights last weekend for a Providence College reunion and were amazed by the luxurious feel of the hotel. We paid $170 a night at a AAA rate. Having been to the city many times before, we had no difficulty locating the hotel and the well laid out valet parking station. The outside of the hotel is grand and not at all the appearance of a standard Marriott, valets were attentive,courteous and plentiful with staff holding doors and offering assistance at every step.

Check in was equally quick and easy, we were greeted warmly and told that friends were waiting for us in the attached Temple restaurant and bar. Staff was accomodating about assigning us a room 3 doors down from our friends. We stayed in room 902 which was located immed off the elevator lobby on the 9th floor.

We heard no elevator or hallway noise at any point during our stay due to substantial doors and the unique layout of the room. Our room was situated with a large square foyer area containing a closet (we later found that the same closet held a luggage stand and opened also into the bathroom!).

Off to an angle was a small hallway leading to the hotel room proper. Built into the angle was a tidy bar with a concealed refrigerator and laptop-accomodating safe. A coffeemaker and lovely selection of teas and coffees as well as a list of available snacks for stocking the fridge (no bargains among them) sat on the counter.

The 2 Queen bed room was large and attractive with bold but well thought out colors. Beds had soft mattresses, 2 fluffy pillows each, quality linens and soft duvets. A small sitting area in front of the window (non-opening, no capitol view) held a large laptop desk with multiple internet and power outlet options, lamp and pull out work surface and 2 comfortable chairs. Blackout drapes were effective as well as attractive. Large flat panel TV with HDTV was placed on a chest of drawers immediately before beds. Nightstand held an alarm clock and lamp with handy electrical outlets for charging cellphones, etc.

The bathroom was just beautiful, spacious and clean. We loved the pass through closet which made it easy to access clothing from the bathroom for dressing. Bathtub was large enough for soaking and hot water was readily available.

Our only complaints were:

-Low water pressure - annoying but not terrible.

-At 5 pm the second day, after being out all day, we found that housekeeping had not yet come to refresh the room. When they did arrive a few minutes later, they were unwilling to give us 5 minutes to use the bathroom and get out of their way - the housekeeper looked at her watch and insisted that they start immediately, while my husband was in the bathroom!

-The biggest problem we had: the room was extremely warm and we were unable to regulate the temperature. It was 79 degrees on the digital thermostat when we arrived and although we set the air conditioning to 60, it never came down below 76 all night. The second day, we mentioned the problem to the front desk who speedily remedied the situation with a visit from the engineer. The room was a cool 65 in no time and maintained that temperature throughout the rest of the stay.

Check out was easy via the remote control - valet took about 20 min to retrieve our car although we had called down ahead. During our stay, we had drinks in the Temple restaurant which we found to be dim, quiet and upscale with very upscale prices. Service and quality of drinks was average. We walked to Waterfire and the Providence Place Mall with moderate effort rather than looking for parking in the city and found it easy to navigate and safe enough.

All in all, it was a lovely and romantic getaway for two adults who left the kids with grandma!

This was our first visit to Providence and we were there to visit Brown. The hotel was great and we got a great rate ($109 a night thru Priceline). My first experience with the hotel was when I called prior to our arrival to inquire about booking an additional day since we would be arriving at 9:00 am and check in was at 3:00. The staff said I didn't have to purchase another day, they would just allow me to check in early at no extra charge. I thought this was incredibly nice, especially since we had just flown overnight and were in need of some serious snoozing. Upon arrival, the staff was very attentive and greeted us by name. Our room was clean and very comfortable. The beds had a lot of pillows and big fluffy comforter. I loved the way the bathrooms were decorated. They supply a hairdryer and their shampoo/conditioner/soaps were good quality. There is a coffee maker and they supply Starbucks coffee(yeah). The mall is a block away and there are plenty of restaurants to choose from. As a matter of fact, we were still adjusting to the time change and we woke up at 11:00pm and were able to walk right into the Cheesecake Factory for a delicious dinner. My only complaints: Water pressure was a bit low(no biggie), the bath drained slowly, it is a bit of a walk to Brown and they charge you a fee to park your car($29 bucks a night which most of the hotels charge unbeknowest to us). All in all, I would recommend this hotel to anyone.

My now-husband and I recently had the pleasure of staying at the Renaissance Providence during our wedding weekend. Many of our wedding guests stayed here as well (we had about 35 rooms booked total), and everyone had a fantastic experience.

Pre-Stay: Working with Damaris and Mary to set up our block of wedding rooms was very easy. Whenever I contacted them to see what the pick-up on the block was, one of them would get back to me within 24 hours with the latest pick-up numbers. Some guests were initially told that their preferred room choice could not be guaranteed, but as soon as I called Damaris and Mary to find out what was going on, they fixed the problem and all guests got their preferred rooms.

Accommodations: Upon our arrival, my husband and I were impressed with the lobby's decor and with the welcoming, warm manner of the front desk staff. We were signed up for a regular king-size room, but the hotel upgraded us to a large, beautiful room with a spectacular view of the State House. We loved our room and I just wish we had gotten to spend more time there! The bed was extremely comfortable, as were the couch and armchair, and everything was impeccably clean. The room also included a big closet, a flat-screen TV, a tea and coffee set-up (Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea - great), and a desk set-up. There was a mini-fridge that did not have any mini-bar items in it; you could order your own themed mini-bar selections from a menu of options. There were things like beer and pretzels, or a "zen" package of healthier items like granola bars and energy drinks.

The bathroom was large and well-appointed; the Lather amenities smell delicious and there's a good variety of products (e.g. different bar soaps for body and face, and also the yummiest yuzu bergamot shower gel ever). My one issue with the bathroom was that the water pressure in the shower was not great, but the tub was huge and it was wonderful to soak and relax in. I loved the red striped walls!

Service: On the evening of our check-in, my husband and I received a fruit and cheese platter and a bottle of wine with a congratulatory card signed by the front desk staff -- we really appreciated this very sweet gesture. The front desk staff was also incredibly helpful with making last-minute photocopies for us and giving us access to the "Club Room" when we needed rehearsal space for a song scheduled to be sung during the wedding ceremony.

Room Service: We put out our breakfast order on our doorknob at 12:45 am on Saturday night, requesting breakfast to be delivered between 9:15 and 9:30 am on Sunday morning. Breakfast came a bit later than requested, around 9:45 am or so, but everything on the order was correct and they had honored the special requests that I had written onto the pre-printed order sheet. The food was great, with everything at the right temperature, and the orange juice was fresh-squeezed -- always a plus!

I am so glad that we picked the Renaissance for our wedding -- it is a fantastic hotel, definitely the best in Providence (oh, and the Temple Bar is an awesome place to hang out, too). I highly recommend it!