Great potential, didn't deliver
This Marriott is part of the large Renaissance Center complex that also houses GM offices, as well as shops, banks, restaurants, even a car showroom. The hotel is in the central circular building, and floor-to-ceiling windows offer impressive views, at least on our (38th) floor. The hotel is flanked by 4 other buildings, towers referred to as 100, 200, 300, and 400. There are 2 related structures that are connected, but not part of the geometry around the hotel; these are the 500-600 towers.
As others have noted, the layout is a bit confusing. There are one-hour tours at noon and 2pm on weekdays. The tour includes a trip to the 71st floor to enjoy the view from the Coach Insignia restaurant (which is not open for lunch). It also provides a nice orientation to the layout. This might be one way to get a handle on the building arrangements. Ground level is "A" on the side facing the river, but up a flight to "1" on the "motor lobby" side (I think it opened to Renaissance Drive). Elevators don't stop on 2, and the 3rd floor actually feels a bit more like the main entrance, with registration, the Volt bar, and the 42N Restaurant. Access to 2 must be by escalator from 1 or 3. Elevators are in the center of the central Marriott tower.
OK, that was my attempt to map it for you. As far as our experience, there is good and bad.
The good: registration and restaurant staff have been uniformly courteous, above average. Food in the Volt bar has been very good (we are vegetarian and they include a couscous dish and a veggie burger; the latter was very good accompanied by sweet potato fries). The physical layout of the room is fine, the view is impressive. I think the TV is 37" and the image on cable was fine; channel selection a little limited. Proximity to the reasonably priced "people mover" is very convenient ($0.75 each time you enter the system). The surrounding area was suitable for daytime walking, with restaurants handy on foot or by "people mover." The tunnel to Canada is very close by, although we are told that the crossing must be done by vehicle. We brought our car, but also saw a bus trip advertised.
The "challenges:" There were hair strands in the bathtub, sink, and floor when we arrived. It was late, and I didn't want to start out by antagonizing the folks that have the key to my room, so I cleaned with tissue. We always wear shower shoes in hotels, and this is why. Noticed that bathroom tissue had rusty marks on edge of roll, easily visible from bathroom door. Just . . . eww. But there was a packaged roll, so I traded out.
First day, housekeeping picked up the dirty hand towels we put on floor, but did not replace. Also hung dirty bathmat on side of tub. I requested hand towels & mat. They explained about having to leave stuff on floor (we had), but did give us towels. No mats on cart (that explains the attempt to recycle the dirty one). They later did bring us a clean mat.
Next day we did get replacement towels for the soiled ones on the floor. But apparently the bath tissue had run low, so they traded it, installing the dirty roll that I'd foolishly set aside (note to self: put nasty tp rolls down laundry chutes). But this time, they put it on backwards, so the soil would not be visible from the door. That's pretty much a deal breaker for me. Missing a problem that might have been left by a previous guest is bad, but concealing it, totally unacceptable. And no fresh packaged roll this time, so I had to call for fresh.
Internet is $12.95 per 24 hours, reportedly based on clock time, not registration day. Started out at 0.99Mbps, could not stream a video. Called to inquire. They denied throttling, but were immediately able to bump it up to 2.0 Mbps. Still could not stream video. Perhaps it is my hdmi cable, but I don't trust the console setup that you must use to connect to TV. Movies run $18 & up, so we skipped that. This was my first attempt at streaming from laptop to hotel TV, so maybe it just cannot be done. Might try one more time.
Free internet in Volt bar, Starbucks, I suspect in some of the conference areas. The at-your-service person was very helpful in addressing my frustration with the paid in-room internet, ultimately removing the charge, but I never succeeded in being able to stream content.
Sunday night, I heard popping noises like fireworks. I noted the time was 1:07 a.m. Checked the news the next day. You can google "Detroit Princess shooting August 2012" and likely find what I heard. This appeared to be a domestic dispute, not generalized violence, but it was startling to realize that I had heard it take place from my bed.
Summary: The complex is a landmark, easy to see from most of downtown. The "people mover" and walking are handy ways to access nearby locations during the day; I will remain inside the premises for the 2 nights remaining in this trip, as I am not used to major cities. The building's architecture is unique and interesting, but can make navigation confusing; the tour was useful and is free. Internet should be free in rooms, period. If the TV console is configured to make streaming cumbersome, shame on Marriott. Movie prices are too high, but perhaps they are industry standard. Food service and quality was above average, registration was very helpful. Housekeeping was sufficiently bad that I would not stay here again. It is one thing to "miss" something. It is quite another to try and pawn soiled material off on a guest by hiding the soiled area. When the material is bath tissue . . . just eww.