Hotel Renew is a beautiful hotel. You wouldn’t realize this from the outside as you could easily drive or walk by and not even know it’s there. During our stay Hotel Renew was wrapping up renovations that began in December of 2007. The lobby was still being worked on and Guest Services was temporarily located on the 2nd floor.

The beauty of Hotel Renew lies in it’s simplistic yet functional accommodations. It has a minimalistic design but you’ll find nothing lacking. The rooms are laid out well with a spacious design. Walking into the room there is a large entrance with low-set drawers on one side. You could use the top of the drawers for your luggage, shelf space etc. On the same side is a two door closet with plenty of space and a safe.

On the other side of the entrance is the bathroom with a beautiful design. You know how some bathrooms are just bland, cramped and lack any sense of feeling? This bathroom felt really comfortable, almost cozy. I’ve never been in a bathroom like that before.

Moving into the main part of the room is the bed (very important) which is actually quite comfortable. Standard fare with two end tables, lamps hanging from the ceiling over each. Small chair with ottoman that matches the decor.

The windows looking out are large and provide one with a fantastic view if you’re facing the ocean. If you’re facing a direction other than Diamond Head or the ocean the view is less than intriguing. I was on the 8th of 9 floors with an ocean view and it was wonderful. The windows have two types of coverings. The first is a pull down honeycomb shade, the second are Japanese style slat shutters that pull from each side to the center of the window. That may sound like a lot but the side of the hotel facing the ocean gets plenty of direct sunshine during the day. Located under the window is a large air conditioner built into wood paneled enclosure that runs the length of the wall. There is a slatted wood piece that lifts up on the top so you can access the air conditioner controls.

There is also a large desk above which sits a LCD HDTV (Sony) mounted on the wall. These flat screen TVs are also hooked up to personal computers in the rooms which are hidden away on the right side of the desk. The personal computers are Dell and are of the small form factor Optiplex line. The computer system is set up with “Everything on Demand”. In addition there is also WiFi access throughout the hotel. I didn’t use the WiFi although I did spot Linksys routers with dual 7dbi antennas connected to them.

Hotel Renew as a luxury boutique hotel is eco-friendly, smoke-free and for those with canines dog-friendly as well. Some would say it’s within walking distance of world-class shopping. It definitely is within walking distance of a lot of shopping. If world-class shopping refers to massively over priced items and designer shops that charge hundreds of dollars for a shirt that cost $2.50 to make then yes. There are lot’s of restaurants nearby, some are affordable and most are very expensive. Hotel Renew did offer us complimentary continental breakfast every morning which was nice.

Overall staying at Hotel Renew was a great experience, the staff was super friendly and very helpful. I would recommend it and would stay there again myself!

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Apparently it’s right up in the Ghetto, all the hookers and drug dealers hang around there.  Just something to keep in mind if heading to Orlando.

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