We spent a Saturday night at this hotel and it was really nice. Very quiet, large bathroom, and the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in (even better than the Heavenly Bed!). Friendly staff. Great location just a short walk from the Bricktown area. The breakfast buffet was excellent (although not included). We had originally planned to stay at the newer Residence Inn, but the rate on this hotel was less so we gave it a try. We were not disappointed.

Hotel was top notch and loved Oklahoma City. Bicktown was nice and had fun attending OKC Blazer hockey game at the Ford Center

We arrived in Oklahoma City and were greeted at the Renaissance Hotel by a very friendly bellboy. Being a Texas Longhorn in Oklahoma Sooner territory, we were hesitant. But this guy was great. The young lady at the front desk was extremely friendly and quickly checked us in. We were with friends and she was easily able to grant our request to put our rooms close together. Things kinda went downhill from there though.

We arrived in our room to find that it was adequate. It was clean and had all of the usual things a hotel room has. But it was hot. Now mind you, it was about 30 degrees outside so you'd expect the heat to be on, but it was really warm. I cranked the thermostadt down all the way and we started checking out the room. We discovered the mini bar, which I already knew cost a fortune, and quickly found out that not only did they charge for what was in the fridge, they had sensors in it so they could tell when you moved something and they'd automatically charge your room just for moving an item whether you consumed it or not.

When it was time for dinner the hotel shuttle was the most convenient means of travel. Free of charge, but tipping was of course expected. We went to Toby Keith's Bar & Grill. It was nice, and so were the people, but it was warm in the restaurant (we would soon find out that everywhere was warm, and usually down right hot in Oklahoma City). When the shuttle came to pick us up, the guy had the heat cranking full blast....more heat. We went up to the room so the kids could change into swimsuits and guess what? It was still hot. So I called the front desk and was informed by a not so friendly woman that the thermostadt didn't control the temperature in the room, it was controlled by body heat. She questioned me at length about how long we'd been in the room and tried to convince me that it would eventually cool off. But I finally convinced her that for almost $200 a night, they should try to make me comfortable. She sent an engineer up. Our friends in the next room called in the same complaint and the engineer was sent to their room too.

So off to the pool. It was clean, but of course it was hot in the pool area (kinda expected this). Afterwards we ventured over to the restaurant to have some dessert. There were all of about six people in the restaurant, but it still took them almost 10 minutes to get us a table. Dessert was ok...pretty, but the taste was average. Upon heading out I asked how busy the buffet was in the mornings. "It's chaos after 8:00am." Is what I was told. So we made plans to get up fairly early and send someone down to put our name on the list. Back up to the room and guess what? It was still hot. So I opened the window. Our friends continued to contact the front desk and were finally told that they just needed to open their window. So almost $200 a night and I'm sleeping with my window open when it's 20 degrees outside. Nice.

Oh, I almost forgot. We had more friends arrive late. We asked when we checked in earlier if they could also be close to our rooms. The lady said "yes", it was "no problem" and typed a few things into their computer system. When they checked in they were given the card keys to their room. They went upstairs and someone else was already in their room! Luckily they had the metal security bar across the door otherwise our friends would've walked right in on the people in the room. So they went back downstairs and were told that there were no more rooms available...Sorry! Well this was unacceptable. All of our rooms had been booked since October. After some squabbling, a room was suddenly found and our friends were allowed to check in. (Their room temperature was nice and cool too.) Later that evening the hotel sent a basket of goodies to their room as an apology for all of the confusion.

Ok, so the next morning...breakfast. I looked over the railing to see how crowded the restaurant was about 8:45. Didn't look bad at all. Told the friends to step it up and let's get down there before this "chaos" sets in. So we headed downstairs. Table for 8 and a baby please. There were quite a few vacant tables, so it looked like a very simple request. After about 10 minutes and having both the host and a man in a jacket that said "executive chef" ask how many in our party, we were finally seated. There was more than enough staff working, but they were running all over the place. They were completely unorganized. We quickly realized that the "chaos" we'd heard about wasn't because of the volume of customers, it was because the staff didn't know what they were doing! They were all nice, but totally clueless.

So breakfast ends and we're off to the convention center for the cheer competition we were there for. Guess what? It was hot there too! We were back in the room several times throughout the day...still hot, so the window stayed open.

That evening we went to the hotel bar for a drink. The waitress comes over and I tried to order an Absolute Red Bull. "We don't have Red Bull at the bar, but you can go to the gift shop and buy one and then we'll give you the vodka in a glass." I said no thanks and ordered something else. A few minutes later I see the other waitress coming back in carrying a Red Bull. She makes a drink for a man at another table..an Absolute Red Bull. So when our waitress came back I asked if there was any of the Red Bull left. She said that he must've gone and bought it. I told her that no, it was the other waitress. She looked at me like I'd been smoking crack and basically told me I wasn't getting it unless I went an bought it myself. I declined. She walked away and as she did, she asks the other waitress a few tables away if she went and bought the Red Bull. The other waitress said yes (with a look like, "of course I did ding-a-ling"). Our waitress asked the other waitress if she paid for it and she said she did. But do you think our waitress asked me if I still wanted the drink and offered to serve me in the same way the other man had been served? Of course not. All it would've taken was an "I apologize, I didn't realize we could do that, would you still like that drink?" But no, this was too much trouble for her. And yes, I could've gone to the gift shop to buy the Red Bull, but by this time it was just the principle of the whole thing.

Dinner that night, more heat at the Spaghetti Warehouse (I swear, these Oklahoma people must love heat) and more tipping for the hotel shuttle. Back to the room for the kids to change for swimming. The room was finally beginning to cool off a little. That night, we were able to sleep with the window closed. Ahhhh....this was much better. Comfortable bed, comfortable room temperature, now we're talking.

Sunday morning, same issues with the buffet...slow service, confused staff. Back to the same problems with the hot room by Sunday afternoon. That evening when we wanted to use the hotel shuttle to get to Abuelo's though, we were told, "sorry, no shuttle tonight." What, does Oklahoma City shut down on Sunday night? Ok, so they gave us directions and we walked. It wasn't too far, but it was really cold. By the time we got back after dinner, my chest was hurting from breathing the cold air. And again the room was hot, so we slept with the window open. Maybe all of this hot and cold explains why I'm now sick!

Monday morning and we awake to hammering. They were remodeling on the 12th floor. We were on the 9th floor. You could also smell paint fumes...not bad, but you could smell them. So off to the buffet. New staff today and they actually knew what they were doing! (Where were these people over the weekend when they needed them?!) Our waiter was so friendly, so attentive, so helpful...we just loved him.

Ok, it's time to get back to Texas. We tried to get a cart to get our bags downstairs but were told that we HAD to let a bellhop help us. Rather than have to tip yet again, we got our bags downstairs on our own. When we started loading them into the car, a bellboy tried to help. We told him we could handle it, there was an art to organizing things just right so that it all fit and we could see out the back window of the Tahoe, thanks, but no thanks, etc. Well he didn't like this one bit and stormed off in a huff...sorry guy, we were tired of tipping and we were tired of Oklahoma.

So bottom line, the hotel was nice, some of the staff was nice, some of the staff was nasty and hateful. They nickel and dime you to death...the sensors on the mini bar were almost funny but should've been our first clue about how the weekend would go. And the room temperature issue was completely unacceptable. But, we didn't have mouse droppings in our bathroom which some other friends found next door at the Sheraton. So take the good with the bad??? I guess. But I doubt I'd stay here again. I'd probably go down the street to the Hilton, which I heard was very nice.

Generally i don't give a bad review easily but this hotel experience & staff made me do that.

Only Good things i found:

* Bed comfort.
* fitness center is ok.

Now the reality:

the hotel is old and needs refurbishment.
so it's a motel sold at hotel prices.

staff's attitude is worse - some of the staff just work
to get salary - for them customers are disturbance.

they try to rip off money by every possible way.

some part of my exp:

i was charged a concierge rate (240$) when booked - but the hotel is refurbishing the concierge floor & lounge and gave me a normal room. when i went to the temporary lounge the staff there was watching TV without even recognizing anyone. But then she charged me for the drink i had saying that only snacks are free but not drinks.