Even though Wuhan’s urban sprawl is fairly large even by Asian standards, Marriott’s footprint in Wuhan was only around the outskirts. However, even with the slightly inconvenient location in mind, the Renaissance Wuhan was a gem. An older gem, sure, but a gem nonetheless.
Like I mentioned, the Renaissance was older, especially as I arrived and saw the building from outside. Once inside however, it was evident that the owner did a good job with upkeep, because nothing seemed visibly dated at all.
Check-in was seamless. I was able to secure a suite as an upgrade pre-arrival – the hotel was very generous and guaranteed the upgrade one night prior, which normally doesn’t happen at Marriott hotels. However, it wasn’t ready as I checked in around noon time. I took this time to check out the club lounge and enjoy some afternoon snacks (more on lounge later), and had a chat with the lovely lounge attendant, and before I knew it, my room was all set. It was well appointed, although there was an old musty smell in the ambience. Wuhan is humid all year round so I wasn’t surprised.
The suite had 1.5 bathrooms, and the bed was comfortable. However, I wasn’t a huge fan of the pillows, and they gave me huge cramps in my back after the first night. I slept without a pillow on the second night and my back was very appreciative.
What I really loved was how the hotel treated their elite guests. While a renovation is slightly overdue, they did absolutely everything they could to make their soft product more appealing. Upgrade aside, their lounge buffets had to be one of the most generous – in fact, since I traveled during a holiday, they proactively moved their breakfast and “happy hour” dinner from the lounge to the main restaurant, which means elite members enjoyed the full buffets twice a day – FOR FREE! They had all-you-can-eat hotpot and splendid bar options during happy hour – can’t say I’ve ever had that in a hotel lounge dinner before – and the breakfast buffet was overwhelmingly large for a premium hotel.
People say hotels in APAC go all out in the hospitality industry. I’d agree with that maybe 10 years ago but not nowadays, until Renaissance Wuhan completely blew my mind. I can’t wait for them to renovate, but even as it is today, I will book here again in a heartbeat next time I’m in Wuhan.
RealScore
Service: 8.0
Design and Room Size: 8.0
In-room Amenities: 8
Bathroom Size and Layout: 9
View from (my) Room: 8
Hotel Location: 7
Available Guest Facilities: 10
Food Quality: 10
Food and Beverage Service: 8
Executive Lounge Quality: 10
Final RealScore: 8.23
Final RealRating: AA
Hotel is built/opened: 2006
Total number of rooms: 295
Length of stay: 2 nights
Membership level at check-in: Titanium
Room type experienced: One-bedroom Suite
Hotel4Real! 
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