Renaissance ClubSport Aliso Viejo Hotel, Aliso Viejo, CA

Sitting amid a sprawling business park in south Orange County, the RenaissanceClubSport Aliso Viejo Hotel is quite unusual.  While most hotels have a gym, this is a gym that happens to have a hotel attached to it.

Upon entering the hotel, the lobby is bright and open.  The gym is located to the left, while the hotel is on the right.  There is a restaurant in the middle of the lobby towards the back.

The front desk is located to the right.  There is one small front desk area and if there weren’t a “HOTEL” sign posted one could easily walk right past it.

Upon check-in my Ritz Carlton Platinum Elite status was recognized.  I was given the choice between bonus points or a $10 food/beverage credit and took the points.

I was told that there were no King bed rooms available despite me booking one.  I was asked if it was okay if I would be okay if I was given a double room.  I asked about a possible upgrade to a suite to ensure a king bed was told that the suites were all booked.

Without much choice, I acquiesced with the double room, however when checking the website after getting settled into the room, I noticed that both Junior Suites and Executive Suites were available despite the front desk agent telling me that all of the suites had been booked.

I am not sure why Marriott does not guarantee room type for their Gold and Platinum members like Hyatt does.  These are people staying a minimum of 50 nights per year with the chain and should be rewarded for their loyalty.  Hyatt does guarantee bed type for their Diamond members or an additional 5,000 points are awarded.

Hallway

 Upon exiting the elevator, the hallway is brightly lit and has a nautical type feel.

Welcome Amenity?

Upon entering the room, there is a small shelf holding an apple in a metal tray.  I am not sure what the apple signifies.  Is it meant to be a welcome amenity?  If so, this is a poor showing of the hotel as it was bruised, aging and starting to wrinkle, and well on its way to becoming a shrunken apple head.

The bathroom is located to the left which is quite spacious.

Sink

There is a single sink with adequate counter space.

Aveda Products

There are Aveda bath products.

Towels

There is an open “cabinet” of sort which holds towels, the ice bucket and glasses.

Black Marks on Towels

Housekeeping did not do a good job of looking over the towels before putting it in guest rooms as one of the bath towels had several black streaks on it.

Shower/Tub Combo

There is a shower/tub combo which is on the large side.  Water temperature was great while water pressure left something to be desired.

Closet

There is a fairly small closet that holds 2 bathrobes, an iron and ironing board, and an extra pillow.

Dresser/TV

Entering the bedroom, there is a set of drawers with a flat screen TV.  The style of the dresser reminds me of being in a dorm room however.

Desk

There is the Marriott signature split level desk which I am not a big fan.  Although it theoretically doubles the size of the work space, each desk space is not very wide.

Beds

The beds are very soft and comfortable but appear a bit shorter than your normal bed.  Anybody over 6 feet tall would probably have a hard time lying in bed without their feet hanging over the side.

Chair

There is an oddly placed chair by one of the bed with not much space for sitting.

Hotel guests have access to the 75,000 square foot ClubSport gym.

Gym "Lobby"

Aerobics Room

Upon entering there is a large lobby type area with an aerobics/exercise room, full court basketball court and men’s and women’s locker rooms.

Going upstairs there is a small women’s gym/weight room to the left.  In the main gym area, there is a plethora of cardio machines including treadmills, exercise bikes, elliptical machines and stair climbers.

Gym

Gym

Gym

There are a variety of different weight machines, free weights and plate loaded machines.

Guests also have access to the sauna and there is an outdoor swimming pool. 

Citrus Fresh Grill

Breakfast is served in the Citrus Fresh Grill.

Upon entering the restaurant area there were no employees to be found.  After waiting for several minutes still no employees were in sight.  I went over to the bar area and asked the worker there if somebody was working and he said that it was self-seating.

We sat ourselves and waited, and waited, and waited with no employee to be found.  Several employees finally were seen but they did not acknowledge us, and were walking past our table too quickly in order to try and track them down.

Buffet

Buffet

Frustrated with the situation, we decided to help ourselves with the buffet which was pretty meager.  Hot options include scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and oatmeal.  There is an omelet station as well.

Cold options include cereal, fruit, muffins, bagels and bread, along with yogurt.

After getting our food and starting to eat, several more minutes passed before an employee asked us if we had been helped and if he could get us something to drink.

This had to be one of the worst service experiences I’ve ever had at a Marriott property.

Self-parking is $10 which is sort of inexplicable since there is a huge parking structure right next to the hotel which sits empty during the weekend, and valet is $20.

Given the poor service, and housekeeping oversights I doubt I would come back to this hotel unless absolutely necessary.