Review: Renaissance Naples Mediterraneo

Great timing on your article. My wife and I are considering a trip to Italy over New Years and were thinking of visiting Naples and staying at the Renaissance for a couple of nights. Your article makes me rethink both. Looks like we will stick with Florence and another "to be determined" location.

The lobby looks very nice, but the rest of the hotel doesn’t really fit Marriott’s Renaissance brand. I have always perceived the Renaissance brand to be modern, this hotel is the opposite. The Renaissance hotels at Edmonton Airport and in Dusseldorf that I have stayed at are a better representation of the Renaissance brand than this hotel and both are quite nice. They either need to renovate the entire hotel in Naples or rebrand it.

For sure your best bet would have been Hotel Piazza Bellini. We stayed there 2 years ago and it was top notch. It was perfect! Also, I find that Napoli is one of my favorite cities in Italy!

I was scheduled to visit this hotel in March, but had to make a last minute trip cancellation. I'm glad I did now!
I've been in the same situation where my room was unbearably hot and I was jetlagged and didn't want the hassle of waiting for engineering or another room when all I wanted to do is go to sleep. (Courtyard Istanbul Airport)
I actually woke up in a puddle of sweat the next morning (after taking an Ambien to get some sleep)

Outside of the view from the deck, very disappointing.

Italy has got a very competitive local hotels market. Big chains are never the best choices, except perhaps in Rome and Milan. However, I understand your job is to review hotels where you got benefits and points, and this is a big disadvantage in most of Italy, where the best accomodations are actually the luxury farmhouses (agriturismi), all of which are much more modern than city center hotels. Indeed, city hotels are probably the area where Italy lags the most, in terms of touristic offer. But if someone doesn't necessarily have to use international hotels, getting a room at a luxury farmhouse in the countryside is a remarkably better experience.
Also, no pun intended, but cities in the south of Italy are rather ugly, with few exceptions (such as Lecce or Ragusa), while others like Naples and Palermo alternate wonderful spots and areas which resemble big dumps. In the central and northern Italy, you'll have a definitely different experience of cities.

I liked the Palazzo Mgallery Hotel - and palace converted into a hotel.

We went to Rome a couple a year's ago. From there we spend a day riding the 200 mph high speed train back and forth to Naples. The sole purpose of going to Naples was not the city itself, but to visit Pompeii, the ancient city that was "buried alive" in an eruption from nearby volcano Vesuvius 2.000 years ago. The entire destroyed city functions today as one big museum and archeological work ground. The little we saw of Naples matches the impressions of Lucky, but do consider the 1-day trip to Pompeii.

Most of Italy (particularly south of Milan) is a dysfunctional toilet - and Naples is particularly filthy. I worked in Rome 5 nightmarish years and the best view of the country was seeing it disappear as I entered French airspace.

Stayed there a year ago and had the same A/C issue

Ha, must have passed you on the streets. We took a day trip to Naples yesterday. It was hot and the traffic was stifling...like much of Italy, Did the Pizzeria Brandi while in Naples thing. Not a bad city, but we needed more time.

SPG Luxury Collection used to have a property in Naples as of a few years ago but they rebranded -- I believe it is now the Eurostars Hotel Excelsior. It's a very nice hotel in the grand palace style of many nicer European hotels, like the Westin Madrid. There are also a couple of other grand hotels next to it that looked similarly nice.

I really enjoyed Naples, in that it felt more "real" than anywhere else I've visited in Italy -- it was not just a tourist attraction like Rome or Florence or Venice. That said, it does have a reputation for being on the unsafe side (though we had no problems during a short stay and using basic common sense precautions), and there isn't as much to do as in some of the other major Italian destinations. But it could still be worth a visit if you'll be in the area; the street food and the pizza are excellent.

(We also stayed a night in Pompei, the modern city surrounding the ruins of Pompeii, before going to the ruins, and that town is a real dump. If you want to do the ruins I would strongly recommend finding somewhere decent to stay in Naples rather than trying to stay in Pompei. We were advised that we would be able to beat the rush when the ruins opened by staying nearby, but in our experience the earliest trains from Naples arrive in plenty of time to make the opening of the ruins.)

Just left the hotel and had the same impression as you did. Wish your review came out a few days earlier then we would definitely not paid the $215 per night for this place. We didn't have the ac problem though. I'd pay closer to $100 and consider it a 3.5 star hotel. Nice lobby and breakfast room has a great view. Location is good for the ferry going to the rest almalfi coast (10min walk). However, breakfast was underwhelming. The "clean dishes" were dirty and no toiletries when we first got to the room. Room looked into a stairway of a dark courtyard. Maybe our most disappointing chain experience among Marriott/SPG/Hilton in the world.

This is an embarrassment for Renaissance. At best, it's 2 1/2-3 stars. The coffeemaker, lack of complimentary water, no bathrobe, no slippers and the general decor. I'd expect this from a Holiday Inn, but not a Marriott Renaissance, which are almost always nicer abroad than back in the United States and Canada.

By the way, the room and hallway--especially the bathroom--look like a college dormitory.

I've also never seen Renaissance-branded toiletries.

Unfortunately hotel chains arent the best option for Italy. The local boutique hotels are the best option.

Also Ben, youre too nice. I wouldve called someone immediately and reported the hot stuffy room.

Holliday Inn in Cava de' Tirreni (just outside of Salerno) is 10x better, and even cheaper. Plus, Cava de' Tirreni has very charming main street and it is perfectly safe (but do bring Italian phrase book, not too many English-speaking folks there).

I think Pierre went too far with his comments about southern Italy! Naples is a big city with a struggling economy but the cultural patrimony and natural surroundings are second to none! Il Museo Archeologico, Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Caserta ... moving north, every region has its enviable sites: Rome, Assisi, Florence, and so on. No fancy hotels but agriturismo to truly enjoy nature and the superb food. The term "toilet" may belong elsewhere... a while back my friends and I cut short our stay in Paris due to the unfriendly welcome...and yet it is southern Italy that saves lives in the Mediterranean while the Northern countries close their ports!

There are plenty of gorgeous hotels in Naples - the above is what happens when if one becomes a slave to points schemes...

I had a completely different experience when I stayed at the same hotel with my family last summer. I had reserved a room for 4 people (2 adults and 2 kids) and we got a huge suite with an amazing view. The room was gigantic and the bathroom was way nicer than yours. The breakfast was pretty good and the views of Mt. Vesuvius were breathtaking. The staff on the hotel was amazing, location was perfect and I would definitely stay there again. However, I believe the top hotels are the Grand Vesuvio and the Romeo Hotel.

Napoli has plenty of inspiring architecture, all you have to do is take a walk down any street and you'll soon see lavish prewar apartment buildings that would be the pride of any city. Napoli has thousands of them.