Opinions THE VINOY RENAISSANCE ST PETERSBURG RESORT & GOLF CLUB Saint Petersburg

I hadn't gotten back to The Vinoy Hotel since the renovations had been completed. The lobby interiors are simply stunning! As a frequent guest of this beautiful historic hotel, I've watched the changes since luckily the Vinoy is close by.
Gone is the fun Speak Easy downstairs. Also gone with serious dissapointment, is their high end restaurant Marchands. Once known as the best restaurant in St Pete. Now replaced with the casual Paul's Landing adjacent to the pool. As a Chef, I find it questionable not to have a high end Restaurant on premise of a 4-5 star hotel. The once stunning dining room with it's historic marbles, rich woods and a massive circular bar is now utilized as a meeting room.

The lobby coffee bar is not only a sweet treat but also a visual treat. Displayed in glass are assorted cakes and pastries. Their assortment of macaroons and coffee cakes with specialty lattes is a must try. The Orange Tea Latte made with Oat Milk is a must. It is certainly worth the price! However, I would have preferred my poppy seed cake not to be overcooked.

A Bride couldn't be happier to party in the beautiful ballroom with it's massive Chiluly glass Chandelier hanging from above.
The Clothing shop along the main floor is a pleasant addition.

A guest can choose to stay in the Historic portion of the hotel or the towers.
The rooms in the Towers were previously renovated and still look as brand new. Having previously stayed in the 1 bedroom suites in the Towers that are large with a full living room. This visit was a single King room with a balcony. It is roomy with views of the marina and the pool. Be prepared, the Tower rooms aren't cheap compared to the Historic part of the hotel. If staying for a music festival at Vinoy Park, the Towers are closer to the park; allowing you to walk back quickly if in need of a respite.
Once in the room, I had an issue with our room that the GM properly addressed. As an avid traveler of 4 star hotels, I found the Associate Joseph more helpful, experienced and knowledgeable than Justin after waiting 15 minutes in line. My coffee maker wasn't working. I couldn't get an answer from the room phone, nor when I called using my mobile phone with still no answer. I had to leave my room and go downstairs to the front desk. To wait another 15 mins, as the guest ahead of me left in frustration from the wait. Never once receiving an acknowledgment from Justin of the wait as other guests waiting started grumbling. It was Joseph, the associate next to him who stopped checking in guests to look up and simply say, "We'll be right with you". Something as easy as an acknowledgement is 101 in Customer Service. For an Assistant Manager, Justin could certainly benefit from the experience of Joseph's.

Finding the lack of customer service is highly unusual for The Vinoy. In fact, the Vinoy is revered for their customer service skills as I have ALWAYS witnessed during previous stays.

If you've never stayed at the Vinoy, you will be in awe of it's beauty. Golf, tennis, swim, workout and close walking proximity to downtown. The only thing missing, in my opinion is a Fine Dining Restaurant. Not that Paul's Landing is bad, it's just casual. Most guests when on vacation want to dress up, order a fine bottle of wine and dine on gourmet dishes when staying at a 4 star hotel.
Stumped as to the reason for eliminating Marchands.

Don't let the fact that the Vinoy no longer has a fancy restaurant stop you! There are many restaurants that are within walking distance.

Your stay will be memorable surrounded by it's beauty!

Just one word... Outstanding !!

My room was beautiful with a great view and very comfortable. The hotel was beautiful and the staff friendly and helpful. Why the 3 stars then? There were signs of neglect that are unforgivable for a property like this at a price like this (or anywhere, really). The faucet in the wet bar fell apart when I tried to use it, the toilet paper holder was loose and the soap dish in the shower was just about to fall off too. These are simple maintenance items that were obviously neglected long before I arrived and show how little the management actually cares about this wonderful old building. Shame on you, Marriott!

I recently booked a stay at The Vinoy for my family, and I cannot speak highly enough of our experience. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with exceptional service that continued throughout our stay.

Booking two premium Queen rooms was a breeze, and every aspect of our stay exceeded expectations. The valet service was prompt and efficient, and the check-in process was smooth and welcoming.

One of the highlights of our stay was the poolside service, where we were pampered with attentive care and delicious refreshments. The ambiance was perfect for relaxation and enjoyment.

However, what truly stood out was the hotel's flexibility and kindness during a challenging situation. Due to a family emergency, we needed to extend our stay at the last minute. Despite being fully booked, the staff went above and beyond to accommodate us, securing two additional rooms for the extra night.

As someone who frequents St. Pete for Eckerd College board meetings, The Vinoy has become my go-to choice for accommodations. Their consistent excellence and dedication to guest satisfaction never disappoint.

I must give a special shoutout to Jenee' and Chris for their exceptional service and attention to detail. Their professionalism and warmth truly enhanced our experience.

In summary, The Vinoy sets the standard for luxury and hospitality in St. Pete. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a memorable and comfortable stay.

Thank you to The Vinoy and its staff for an unforgettable experience. We look forward to returning soon.

Beautiful hotel, solid service, but really over priced for what you receive.

Just checked in yesterday. Been staying here yearly for a large swim meet for the last several years. Rooms are expensive but nice, location is great. Lack of early options for breakfast is a minus. The big thing that really drove me nuts though is you used to be able to self park your car, so I could get in and out quickly and leave stuff in the car to get what I needed for the swim meet. No more, now mandatory valet. So they charge you $45 for valet and a mandatory resort fee, so tack on an additional almost $100 to whatever you see for the listed price. Probably won’t stay here anymore due to the lack of self parking.

Just to add. We asked if there was a microwave for guest use to heat up some food for the kids. We were told they would bring one to the room. Never saw it. Next day we asked if there was at least one we could use. Nope. Not sure what is going on with this place.

Unfortunately, we’ve had a comically awful experience both staying at the Vinoy and trying to resolve events that ensued there with Marriott. Perhaps I should just start with bullet points of our experience and build from there:
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- My partner and I both got severe food poisoning from the hotel restaurant (Paul’s landing) on Friday 3/15, the first night of a weekend stay, 10+ hours overnight dealing with tell tale symptoms.
- Zero customer service response upon reporting the food poisoning. Said they were sorry and were investigating, never got back to us.
- $700+/night for a second-floor room with a window facing an exterior wall. They call these "mezzanine level king rooms" - do not allow them to put you in one of these.
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This truly was the worst hotel experience we've ever had. Multiple days of rude service from desk attendants, being violently ill, and then the staff passing the buck around, buying time until we had checked out of the hotel and there was little recourse left.
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We were particularly offended by the hotel manager, Bora, who, at our time of checkout, kept us waiting in the lobby for 20 minutes before coming down to tell us "we apologize, we're investigating, nobody else got sick, I've never dealt with this situation before" and sending us on our way. This is simply not how this sort of incident should be handled anywhere, let alone at a four star hotel! The fact that we were put in a wall-facing room for $700+ a night was really just the icing on the cake.
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With all this said, I would like to shout out Janee, who was one of the only professional acting desk attendants we interacted with.
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This incident has been escalated to Marriott international, who insist the investigation is still ongoing, and that an appropriate customer service response will follow. It has been weeks since I’ve last heard from them. I am beyond frustrated with how the Vinoy and Marriot handled (or didn't handle) this incident.

Hotel staff stole my stuff. After a restless night my Wife and I checked out early (9am) only to call them 2 hours before our expected check out (11am) to notify them that we accidentally left clothes hanging in the closet and wanted to turn around to pick up our items.

The front desk provided zero customer service and was unwilling to assist on the issue. Alexander(at the front desk) forwarded my call to voice-mail every time I called.

Ultimately, Security notified me that housekeeping would return anything (if they found the clothes we left in their small closet) they would call back. It wouldn't have been a burden for me to turn around and pick up clothing

The thinly insullated windows overlooking the marina. Provide plenty of road noise and let all of the heat in forcing you to keep the curtains closed.
Hearing our neighbors cough and the drunken crowds through the thin walls made our night restless despite the comfortable bedding.

Tl:dr: We ultimately left early because of the paultry accommodations and thin walls, accidentally left stuff in the closet hotel staff kept it.

I wouldn't recommend this stay

Great downtown location, beautiful property. The major downside is the service... Needless to say you can tell this is a Marriott property.

1. Bar staff didn't know where the oysters were from
2. Bar staff had no oyster forks, they gave me a small spoon
3. Was overlooked for a long time at Paul's Landing
4. Room service had me come down to pick up my food
5. Food wasn't ready within the estimate given by room service
6. I was asked when I wanted housekeeping. I said noon. They came at 9:30a and 1:30p...

I understand that this is a cheap property for the area compared to Don Cesar or the Edition, but the service was really quite degrading. Only worth it for the location and building, avoid the dining and bars at all costs.

A message to Marriott: please sell this property to a company that can do justice to the beautiful building. The way it's currently run is disgraceful.

Nothing more beautiful than this great historical hotel. Do not think that because is historical one that you one find top notch and gorgeous views. Located right by the pier and walk to many places.

Beautiful hotel and get service!

Working

Always fabulous

We arrived at hotel on Friday evening after a 5 hour drive from Fort Lauderdale. The valet parked the truck, the bell hop took the luggage and it started out as expected. Then we got to the front desk and it took a horrible left turn. We were told that the hotel sold our room and unfortunately there was no room available for the night and given a voucher to stay in a hotel down the street. From arrival to the time we checked into the other hotel it took 2 hours. And the all day music festival was right outside this hotel so to get there we would have to find parking. The hotel they sent us to was terrible, we missed the Friday of the festival and the morning on Saturday. When we returned, they told us they would make it up, so I expected us to be upgraded to a much better room. We had to wait over an hour for the room to be ready, spent $150 on eggs and some bread (it was buffet only but I was on diet and could not eat anything but eggs) and then we finally get the call, only to discover that they put us in the same room we booked. But it gets worse. We prepaid the entire stay and paid double the normal rate for the convenience. Nothing was comped, no upgrades given, and they never gave us any type of credit. Meaning we paid double the rack rate of this hotel to stay at a significantly cheaper hotel and only got one night with no upgrade. They truly ruined our weekend and experience in St Pete. The first night when the news was delivered the desk person called for a manager who never showed and then the second day the desk person did the same thing and they never showed. We got treated like second class citizens, yet paid for a first class experience. Disappointed is a huge understatement.

It’s all in the color, “Vinoy”! Iconic as it gets in St. Pete. Beautiful grounds in a perfect location.

We are platinum members for many years and we have never been to a Marriot hotel with personel and management that are soo unaccomodating!! Hopefully Marriot comes here and cleans house or we will become members of another hotel chain. $800 a night and they can't provide parking. Manager Ricardo knows absolutely nothing about customer service and he is the onsite manager! He suggested I park in a public parking lot about 15 minute walk away from hotel! Are you kidding me! And you are a manager....what a joke.

Staying at the VINOY was everything I thought it would be. The building and rooms are stunning and the location is convenient to everything. The staff were accommodating and pleasant. Special shout out to Janae at front desk (hope I spelled name correctly) Sean at the pool and Daniel at the Veranda bar. Strictly top notch across the board Can’t wait until next time

Very nice boutique hotel with excellent personalized service. I went for work but would recommend it for a romantic getaway.

We ate brunch here on a trip to St. Pete. Michael helped us and was fantastic. He went out of his way to ensure my wife could have what she saw online even though they were no longer on the menu. The food was amazing anfmd Michael's service was second to none.

Iconic property with a rich feel all the way around. Perfect location within walking distance to everything. Yacht, downtown, Indy GP, and business!

The worst experience I’ve ever had at a hotel. They refused to let me park my brand new F250 in the garage due to height limitations. When I suggested I would park in the empty overflow lot, they refused. The valet manager was a complete rude $@@hole. Simply shrugged his shoulders, and said I can’t make an exception. My wife surprised me with a getaway weekend. I’m explained this to the hotel management and was met with we can’t do anything about it. It seems the awful valet rules the hotel. Who care if the guests are treated rudely? Nobody! Read the reviews. All the negative reviews have to do with the valet. If anyone in charge has any good sense, get a new valet contractor! I will use every social media platform to make customers aware of what a poorly run hotel The Vinoy is!

This was the worst experience at a hotel we have ever had! They completely ruined our staycation! We live fairly local and have event tickets locally and decided to make it a special weekend. My husband and I drove our truck and when we pulled up, we were told they couldn’t park using the garage due to our F250 being too tall. Ok, understand. There is an overflow lot in front. We could not park there because “if we let you park there, we have to let everyone park there.” Keep in mind our truck is brand new and not a junky truck! The hotel manager told us the parking company is a 3rd party vendor and she has no control over their decision! Really? You’re the hotel manager and you’re allowing the parking company to rule over you and be rude to your guests?!! I was in tears because everyone involved ruined our plans. One night, and they refused to let us park in an empty overflow lot! My husband told the parking manager , “you can let us park there, you just don’t want to so you can show us your “power”! He shrugged his shoulders and walked away! Shame on the management of The Vinoy! I hope you all have the karma you deserve!

I was very disappointed with the condition of this historic hotel. The grounds are lovely and the bones of the hotel are beautiful. However, at more than $300 per night, you at least expect a clean room. The entire place just feels a little dilapidated. I wouldn't be surprised if the effects of COVID on the hospitality industry have something to do with this -- but I just couldn't get over the state of our room. Bedding was ripped, lampshades stained and bathtub + shower curtain were appalling. Additionally, the spa locker rooms feel like they haven't been updated since the 80's. I hope they work on sprucing up this place because it deserves to be a 10/10 hotel.

Here is hotel beautifully restored and close to the St. Petersburg city centre. Service was great, and the rooms were well appointed. The

A must see even if you're not staying there. Beautiful beautiful architecture with an amazing history. The staff is the best I've seen in years, and happy to answer any questions you have about anything and happy to give you more stories and info about the hotel.

Walking distance from everything St. Pete.

Walk through the second floor "museum" of the hotel's story. Enjoy a complimentary glass of champagne during check-in, see the famous chihuly chandelier in the ballroom, and enjoy the wonderful bar, coffee, pastries and food.