Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel — Hotel in New York

I will preface by saying I am not one to typically leave a review, but I feel compelled to share my family’s experience so others may make an informed choice prior to booking with this hotel.

Disappointing would be an understatement. I planned a short trip with my two boys for them to see NYC for the first time. I booked this hotel specifically for the pool and the rooftop views.

Upon arriving we were pleasantly greeted by Lissy. This was the only positive interaction with staff the entire time during our stay.

I paid extra to have a room with a city view and was very disappointed when we opened the door to our room and definitely did NOT see the city. We confirmed in the lobby that we didn’t receive a city view room, and were told no other rooms were available. Shrugged it off and quickly changed into our suits to head upstairs to the pool. Unfortunately, we soon realized that after 1pm the pool is NOT for hotel guests unless you are willing to pay a “minimum” of $150 a person on food and beverage. It was explained to us that a third party runs the pool/bar area and requires a minimum spend to partake. This was not at all apparent on the hotel web page. I never would have booked this hotel if I knew we couldn’t use the pool throughout our stay!

The next day we got up early and tried to take the elevator to the pool. Nope. Can’t do that. To get to the pool you have come down to the lobby and then be escorted up to the 39th floor by security. Not very thrilled about having to come to the lobby in my suit to get to the pool 39 floors up in the hotel I am paying to stay in.

Once we arrive in the pool area we were greeted by an extremely rude and flippant employee. I observed as he interacted with the guests using the pool and was appalled by how he engaged with them. He made my family (and many others based on facial expressions and body language observed) feel like we were not welcome in the pool area and we felt incredibly uncomfortable using the space entirely. This was such a disappointment considering I chose this hotel based on the pool.

I listened to the pool attendant and the lifeguard as they spoke about closing the pool early and giving dirty looks to guests. If not speaking to the other employee, the “lifeguard” was on her phone. Extremely unprofessional.

I decided to use the $25 “resort fee credit” to enjoy a $20 cocktail each evening and was frustrated our last evening there when there was no bar service. After giving up waiting, I ordered an appetizer from the restaurant (calamari) that was immediately disposed of because it was absolutely inedible. Disappointment at every turn in this hotel.

Our last evening we woke repeatedly to what sounded like people attending the night club. Very early the next morning the fire alarm went off and a great deal of time went by before we received any instruction as to what to do. An abrasive announcement went out over the intercom that we were to stay in our room. Needless to say, no one was able to get back to sleep.

There are multiple other issues we encountered during this stay, but this review is long enough already. I would strongly recommend guests with families think twice before booking. There is definitely a feeling that this hotel is made to cater to the nightclub guests above all.

I had spent so much time choosing this hotel and went above my budget because I thought the amenities this hotel had to offer would be worth the extra cost. Obviously, I made the wrong decision and am currently rethinking my family’s hotel brand loyalty after this experience. It was honestly...

An Unforgettable Stay with Extraordinary Service at the Renaissance Chelsea, NYC!

My sisters and I had the most incredible stay last week at the Renaissance Chelsea New York. Coming all the way from London, we couldn't be happier with our choice of hotel. From the moment we arrived, everything exceeded our expectations. The hotel itself is modern, stylish, and impeccably clean, with spacious rooms that provided a serene escape from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. The thoughtful touch of having water always available in the lobby was a lifesaver—ensuring we were never dehydrated on our way in or out.

One of the most surprising highlights of our stay was how peaceful the rooms were despite being in the heart of busy Manhattan. The soundproofing was exceptional, and we had the most restful nights, which made our trip even more enjoyable.

Now, I absolutely must give a special shout out to the staff who truly made our stay unforgettable:

Felix– What a gem! From the moment we stepped into the lobby, Felix greeted us with a warm, welcoming smile that instantly made us feel at home. He went above and beyond every single day to check in on us and ensure we had everything we needed. His vibrant energy was contagious, and waking up to his cheerful "good mornings" became something we looked forward to. Felix, you have a gift for making people feel special—you brought so much positivity to our mornings, and your genuine care about our plans and whether we'd had breakfast made all the difference.

Jahmel– Truly one of the kindest, most attentive souls we've ever met. Jahmel’s attention to detail blew us away. When we were preparing to head back to London, he remembered we were flying out of JFK and thoughtfully alerted us about a major tunnel closure that could affect traffic. Thanks to him, we avoided what could have been a huge travel delay. He also helped us arrange our pre-booked cab, ensuring everything ran smoothly. Jahmel, your help was invaluable, and we are forever grateful for your kindness. Your recommendation on when to visit Crumbl was spot-on, too!

Golam– Always cheerful, always smiling! No question was ever too much for Alejandro, who was happy to answer every query we had with grace and enthusiasm. His positivity added a lovely personal touch to our experience.

Alejandro– A true gentleman. Thank you for kindly assisting three very tired ladies in loading our luggage into the taxi. Your helpfulness and patience were much appreciated after a long and eventful trip.

While we were a little disappointed that we didn’t get to use a pool—Google images initially led us to believe there was one—it turned out the pool belongs to a club nearby, which is associated with the hotel. But honestly, this small hiccup didn’t detract from our experience in the slightest.

In the end, our stay was perfect in every way, thanks to the exceptional staff and prime location. Thank you to everyone who made our trip so special. We’ll definitely be back!

The...

TL;DR: It's clean but trying way too hard at a trendy facade Basic tech features in the hotel did not work or were incredibly glitchy

Have you ever had a piece of jewelry that looked pretty but turned your finger green? The Renaissance New York Chelsea inspires a strikingly similar feeling. There has clearly been a lot of effort put into making this hotel appear chic but, unfortunately, most of these features are irritatingly clunky or unnecessarily pretentious.

Standard features in a modern hotel room- including the digital key-- did not work. The chat feature between the app and the front desk was incredibly slow and the app prompted you to make choices about amenities in the room that were not actually available. Information about breakfast, wifi, or check out was not available on the app or given to us during check in.

These could be written off as some glitches in the app but the technology snafus continued in the key-dependent elevator, which did not consistently work or let you on to the correct floor. At one point, the elevator opened up onto the 5th floor, which appeared to be uninhabited, but would not let us out in our floor (the 6th).

Somewhere Nowhere, the roof top bar, seemed like it would have promise. We figured we could stop in for a drink around 5 before heading to dinner later that night. After trying to get in through the hotel elevator (silly, that we thought the buttons in the elevator would work), we were told we needed to use the exterior entrance. No big deal until, at that entrance, we were told that going in was at the "doorman's discretion" (whether that meant cash or who they deemed trendy enough was unclear) and ultimately, that we would need to pay a $150 minimum per person in order to get a drink.

Cut to later that night, when we made the mistake of trying to use an elevator in the hotel lobby to get to our room and were followed by a staff member who told us these now could only be used to access the roof and that we needed to leave. It seems there is some confusion as to whether the bar is "part of the hotel" (in which case it should be more accommodating to guests) or not (and therefore should be less of an inconvenience to those staying at the hotel).

After checking out of the hotel, I discovered that I was charged an extra $28, which supposedly for a wifi/ food credit that I was not informed about or provided a receipt for.

Overall, the hotel was clean enough but does not achieve nearly the level of sophistication they attempt to pull off. In a city with several thousand hotels, I would not stay at...