I was traveling in a group to Renton, WA for a few days. A couple of groupmates had previously gone…read moreto Renton and recommended the Residence Inn in spite of the overall low rating, mentioning that one of the perks is a free breakfast every morning. I probably would have chosen the nearby Hyatt instead since it looked nicer, but they don't serve free breakfast there.
Residence Inn Seattle South/Renton is located on Lake Washington Blvd across from Gene Coulon Park, not too far from The Landing. It's located next to Hampton Inn & Suites, which also serves free breakfast.
When you arrive, you'll see a breezeway before the parking lot; the front desk is on the right hand side of that breezeway. There's a door on the left hand side that you can only access with your room key; that door can be useful if your room is on the northern half of the inn.
Checking in was simple. Brittany (sp?) was the one who checked me in and gave me a brief overview of the hotel from the free breakfast to the housekeeping every other day as well as mentioning that a card would need to remain inserted in the slot by the front door in order to keep the lights on in the room.
When I got into my room, the TV was on to welcome me to Residence Inn. There weren't any issues with my room after my inspection and also taking photos to add to this page. However, one of my groupmates did mention he had to switch rooms due to the toilet not flushing. He showed me video of that so I could see it for myself.
Housekeeping is done every other day, so during my three-night stay, housekeeping was only done once. One of the desks in each room has a sign reminding guests of this policy. There's another sign on that desk that has a QR code where you can leave tips for their hardworking staff.
There is free WiFi and breakfast for guests of this Residence Inn! WiFi info is posted at the front desk where you check in. Breakfast starts at 6:30 AM on weekdays and 7 AM on weekends. Each morning I had breakfast, they had scrambled eggs in the first heating well, but the three heating wells after that would vary. One had meat patties one day. One had breakfast sandwiches another day. There were some potatoes on one of the mornings, but I'll never forget the pork bacon on my last morning. That's only because the rest of my group went to get breakfast elsewhere, but I stayed behind to get not one, but two helpings of the pork bacon lol.
Breakfast also includes the usual suspects like bread, bagels, fruit, yogurt, milk, and a juice machine. I was satisfied with the quality of the breakfast, and they even had some coffee in front as well. For some reason, I couldn't pour any liquid out of one of the dairy pitchers. One of the staff members notice me struggling with that, and she showed me that the lid was rotated the wrong way. After she rotated it, I was finally able to pour some liquid into my coffee. In addition to coffee, they also have dispensers for decaf and hot water.
They do have a bar in the same place where breakfast is held, but they also have a food menu per state law. On my second evening there, I went down and ordered a barbecue chicken flatbread. Actually, I would have preferred the barbecue pork, which was $1 less, but I guess they didn't have any of the pork left? But I was more than willing to try the barbecue chicken knowing that is California Pizza Kitchen's signature pizza. Initially, they prepared my order to be eaten at the bar even though I would have preferred to eat in my room instead; the staff happily obliged and even offered me some utensils to go with my takeout box. Shoutout to the bartender, Brianna, who told me she used to live close to where I live now in SoCal!
I also appreciate how they were willing to hold my luggage until I was done with work that day. However, when I tried to check out of the hotel on my last morning in Renton, there was no staff present to check me out. It took a minute or two before Geoffrey (sp?) checked me out, which was as simple as handing him my room keys. I didn't even need to say my name; all I had to provide was my room number and a preference for receipt delivery.
I requested for them to hold my luggage until I returned later that day, and Geoffrey provided me with a numbered tag that I needed to return to get my luggage back; I don't know what I'd do if I were to lose that tag. I returned later in the afternoon where a couple of different front desk agents struggled to get my luggage back. It took them a while to figure out where my luggage was, even after I mentioned Geoffrey's name. Luckily, it didn't take much more than a few minutes before I finally got my luggage back.
Overall, it was a decent stay at Residence Inn, and I can see why one of my groupmates recommended it. Bed was comfortable, and so was the sofa. No issues with the bathroom either, but the clock on the microwave didn't show the correct time. It was off by an hour and a few minutes, likely due to Daylight Savings Time.