The Battle House Renaissance Mobile Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Mobile

I wanted to try something new and treat myself to a retreat type birthday week. It was far from ideal. Hospitality: Dalton was extremely professional and sweet. Others who I have spoke to on the phone were as well. I can’t speak for any others I have encountered. Valet: You’re forced to pay for valet in order to have assistance with your bags. I paid for only one night. It’s $30 a night. Not all the valets are pleasant. Kudos to the two who DID help me. They were very patient. Amenities: Everyone was pleasant who I spoke with over the phone. I noticed that A LOT of people had their own food and drinks from off the premises and little to no one had valet assistance. Not even older persons. Upon checkin, I explained that I requested champagne in my room to celebrate my birthday. I asked to confirm and concierge stated there was “no such request.” I was told over the phone on two separate occasions my request was accepted and noted. At checkin, I was told that it would be a 24-48 hour process, I would have to submit an amenity request form, wait 24-48 hours to have my card charged and APPROVED. NONE OF THIS was stated over the phone….I was told the price per bottle and that the request was submitted. I asked several times over the span of two days on how do I start the process to ensure I get my bottle of champagne I was promised. “No one could help me.” Personally, I can’t help but to believe that this amenity was not available for ME. I still believe that especially after I was told to go down the street and get what I wanted and bring it back. So, when you request amenities, PLEASE make sure they keep their promise. All other amenities were in the suite when I arrived. Spa: I couldn’t even go to the spa….it was the number 1 task I had for my week. Room Service: Everyone I encountered was very patient and nice. Unfortunately, you will have hidden fees that are not discussed until you ask about them. There is a fee for every time you use in-house services. The amount of this fee is determined by the price of the service. It’s not always promised that you’ll receive room service, though. Fees: What I did not appreciate, was that there are so many hidden fees that you don’t know about, that it is a real task in order to continuously ask about each fee. If you use any in-house services, be prepared to have a certain type of holding fee or increment fee, added to the initial service price. These fees are subject to be held for three business days to two weeks. Please be mindful of what you ask over the phone. Know who you are talking to because the promises made and the confirmations that are stated over the phone are completely different in person. Charges: I liked how you can view all of your charges on the tv. What I didn’t appreciate was hidden charges. I shouldn’t have to go to concierge to ask what certain charges are. It was portrayed as if it was a secret. It was even a task to get a copy of the charges. Views: The only view you have is the Renaissance Hotel from the balcony AND window. The window also has two massive cameras on it. I assume it’s traffic/surveillance cameras but it motivates you to keep your blinds closed. The balcony is a shared balcony. No greenery. Just concrete. Although, you do have privacy. You just have to share a balcony with other guests who like to get “physical” outside on the patio. Suite: The photos are exactly like the suite. The suite is a decent size but does look larger in the photos. The bed is heavenly. The bathroom has a walk in shower and a GORGEOUS soaking tub (not a garden tub, better). The tub is deep and it is not tall people friendly. Ideal for shorter persons. The walk in closet is nice. There is A LOT of floor space. It’s almost as if the suite has a Fourier. There is a door that connects to the other room but it’s no worry. You have your own climate control as well.

You will be awaken at early hours due to noises outside, house keeping, and ship/boat horns (they are LOUD). Most noise is loud but brief.

This was definitely a...

What a beautiful and historically grand hotel! You can't help but love the grand lobby and all the seating options for relaxing!!! The staff was so friendly and very helpful as well. Beyond that, well... Valet parking seems to be the only option and it is very difficult. They do have a lot of valet members working, so they move through the cars fast, but it is a very hectic street with no real way to get out of traffic. By the end of our stay we got very comfortable just blocking traffic to drop off our car LOL!

As for the rooms, while I will say they were definitely clean, some serious updating needs to occur. I'm going to attach a couple of pictures to show what I mean. I feel like carpeting is very outdated now, and no matter what, you will never get carpet clean enough. We upgraded to a corner king room and was surprised to see a separate door leading out onto a shared balcony with another room. Was not told that was going to be a feature of the room, and for security reason, we did not like that at all. Lighting in this corner room was very bad. The main entrance into the room is large, but only one light on the wall so you feel like you are in a bit of a dungeon. Furniture has definitely seen better days, night tables looked pretty beat up, but the bed was absolutely heavenly. I guess if I had to choose between a wonderful bed or new furniture, I would choose bed every time! Again, everything was clean, it just felt old.

Biggest issue we had was with the bathroom. This is where this hotel really shows it age. The tiniest shower I have ever seen and it definitely smelled musty. And then, the most inconvenient place to put a toilet ever! The big soaking tub was up a step and then had this large black surround but the window behind it was frosted with a blind, still don't know how you could possible pull those blinds down!!! The entire bathroom is poorly designed and was hard to work with. Low hot water in the shower as well, so you took longer in the small box than you would have liked.

Last issue was more with our requests before we arrived. I am allergic to feather pillows so in our Marriott profile it always says "feather free" room. When we arrived, there were 4 feather pillows on the bed, and after calling for housekeeping they sent an engineer up with 4 new pillows (that were still feather)! It took three different trips and 4 different people to finally figure out where the foam pillows were stored and get them to our room. I haven't had trouble like that before, so I am thinking this might be a one off situation, but if you have any medical requirements like that, I would triple check before getting into your room that your requests have been met.

Would I stay here again - probably, but I would ask for a different room layout for sure, and I would make sure they secured us a feather free room. Our allergies got so bad during the night from sleeping on the sheets that the feather pillows were on. Hindsight, I should have requested a total bed change, but I didn't think of that. Anyway, yes, I would stay here again. Super great location and always a step above other places. Just pay close attention to the type of room you request or you will end up peeing behind a very large wooden...

My husband and I were to stay at the Battlehouse after our wedding that day. When we arrived, we were asked to leave a card for “incidentals”. I handed the front desk my card and mentioned that it did not swipe. I was met with eye rolls and a very cold “Oh, we don’t have a chip reader. And we can’t manually enter the card.” My husband’s card had the same problem. I asked if we could use the card on file (my mother left her card information to pay for our stay as a wedding gift and believed that the room was already paid for), we were met again with yet more eye rolls and “Yeah no we can’t do that.” After calling my mother, my father (who was quite sick that day) had to come up there and use his card. The entire front desk experience that night was absolutely dreadful. My husband and I were treated as if we were an inconvenience with the front desk giving short, obligated apologies and plenty of sighs to go around. After finally getting into our room, (which I will say was clean), my husband and I ordered from a delivery app to have some dinner. After eating, I went to place our leftovers in the fridge. Much to our surprise there was no refrigerator in our room (we ordered a king room). The rest of the night was uneventful. The next morning, we went down to have the complimentary breakfast, and there were no hiccups there. After breakfast, my husband and I walked to our massage that was, mind you, supposed to be included in our package with the room. The massages were great, and we got to enjoy the amenities for 1 hour (a jacuzzi and sauna). I was disappointed that I could not enjoy the amenities with my husband as these things were sex-separated, but I understand that. Then came check-out. My mother explained to me prior that she had prepaid for the room and for ONE massage (in the form of a gift certificate), because the package only included one massage. In order to have a couple’s massage with my husband, my mother graciously gave me a gift card with enough to cover the second massage. The front desk gave me my remaining balance, which was almost $40 more than the massage. Confused, I called my mother and explained the situation. My mother spoke to the front desk at the spa and was told the massages were $20 more than what was advertised on the website and on the gift certificate, even though my husband and I did NOT ask for any additional services or amenities. Why include a massage in a package for a hotel room and then not include the ENTIRE price of the massage in the certificate? Overall, my husband and I thought we would be enjoying a night away (our first night away EVER in the 6 years we’ve been together). We were disappointed to be treated poorly with attitudes from front staff as if were lesser beings, and continuously getting the run-around at every turn. I will never enter this establishment again and will never recommend this hotel unless something...