We stayed at the Renaissance Parc 55 for a business meeting. The hotel is conveniently situated very close to the Metro station - also very convenient to the multi-company car rental pickup/dropoff garage across from the Hilton on O'Farrell Street. While there were panhandlers in the area, as mentioned in other reviews, we didn't find them aggressive.
The room was nice and well-maintained and the fitness center was well-equipped. Room service dinner was good and not overpriced.
My main complaint was the telecommunications. First, there's the usual $10 per day charge for high-speed Internet access- a ridiculous nickel-and-dime charge when you know most of your guests will need it. I couldn't get connected after we arrived and spent 15 minutes on the phone with Tech Support. They said they needed to check some things and would call back- they never called back. I called again and they said the modem was bad and would be replaced. It was 8 PM Sunday. I went off to my meetings Monday morning (still no modem) and finally when my husband went to the front desk and requested a new modem they sent one up.
The second problem was the phone lines. There was some kind of feedback on the line that made it hard to hear. I had to resort to my cell phone for the tech support calls. I tried participating in a teleconference on Tuesday morning on the hotel phone (800 call-in #) and the sound quality was so bad I had to disconnect and use my cell phone again. Usually a cell phone is worse than a land line. Not here.
Summary- I'd recommend this hotel unless it's important for you to use their Internet/phone connections.
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