My wife and I will be making our first trip to Aruba in May. Since I plan on using Marriott points, I was wondering which property is recommended.
Thanks

Welcome to the board Wolf. The choice depends on what you want in a resort...

Ren:
Location: Downtown (southern coast), lots of shops/restaurants within walking distance. Marina and mall adjacent to the resort.
Property: Ocean Suites is excellent, good size suites with kitchen; balcony with a view of the ocean - and Venezuela on a clear day. Grounds are lush, lots of foliage including surrounding the nice free-form pool. Iguanas are everywhere, but harmless and friendly.
Beach: Small man-made beach on-site. 5/10 minute water taxi takes you to Ren island, one of our favorite places in Aruba. Private island with plenty of hammocks and chairs, calm water, great snorkeling. Restaurant and bar on site. Nature trail.
Cost: Less than Marriott

Marriott:
Location: Palm Beach (west coast), along with all the other high rise resorts.
Property: Beautiful, one of the nicer resorts in Aruba.
Beach: The water is very calm, lots of water sports available. Many people, competition for spots/palapas on the beach.
Cost: More than the Ren.

On our first (2 wk honeymoon) and second trips we were happy to be downtown with so much nearby. We're admittedly biased, not having stayed at the Marriott, so hopefully you'll get responses from people who have stayed at both resorts. You may also want to try tripadvisor.com, or other search engines for add'l info. Good luck!

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Kevins info is correct. It realy depends on what you like. We stayed at the Marriott hotel a few years ago and loved it. It is in the high rise area but away from all the other highrises. The beach there is great and the pool is also. It is within walking distance to all the other highrises and the casinos and restaurants on palm beach. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to the Wyndham (slowly)at the south end of Palm Beach along the walk that starts in front of the Holiday Inn. The rooms are big and clean in the hotel. You did not say if you were looking at the hotel or the Ocean or Surf clubs. The Ocean Club and Surf Club next door also have very nice pools. If you stay in one of these you will be impressed. Beautiful suites with kitchens.

We stayed at the Renaisance marina towers 2 years ago for a couple of days and will not stay there again. Small rooms and very noisy. Last April we stayed at The Renaisance Ocean towers for 4 nights. I liked it, my wife did not think she would want to stay there again. Her main problem with it was that she couldnt just walk out to the beach whenever she wanted to. She will go out to the beach in the morning for an hour then go to the pool then to the room and then repeat if you know what I mean. She could not do that at the Renaisance. Also be sure you take everything you are going to need when you get on the boat to the island because the round trip takes a while if you have to go back to the room to get something. I had to buy her a new pair of sunglasses on the island to avoid this and it cost me a lot.
I think you will enjoy your trip at either location but it depends on what you prefer.

This is just my opinion...............
I would definitely stay at the Marriott. Beautiful hotel, beach and pool. Restaurants are wonderful (Simply Fish, right on the beach, and Tuscany, inside dining). Hotel rooms are very spacious. You won't have to worry about getting a palapa in May. I usually go in May and Oct/Nov and never had a problem getting one. Stayed at the Ren once and wasn't happy at all. Too much noisy traffic being right downtown. The boat ride was ok, but after a few days it was a pain having to take it. Of all my trips to Aruba, the time I stayed at the Ren was my least favorite. I would stay there maybe for 2 or 3 nights tops only if I was extending my trip for 9 or 10 days, and then I would be using my points. You won't regret staying at the Marriott.

For what it's worth, the difference between the marina tower and the ocean suites is night and day. We never had any issues with noise/traffic at all in our stays at the suites, other than remodeling construction, which has been completed (the Marina tower was doing renovations when we were there last week, but should be done by May). I agree that the boat to the island is less convenient than walking out the door and being on the beach, but the prize is the island itself and IMO worth the very minor hassle. Secluded, perfect conditions, good snorkeling.

Even though we usually stay on Eagle Beach now, we still find ourselves making trips downtown nearly every day.

To each his/her own, to be sure. One of these days (when we can afford it) we'll stay at the Marriott just to see how the other half's living.

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I did some checking and the Ren is a category 5 while the marriott is a 6, so it doesn't look like there is a big difference in the amount of points as a base. Where you may run into the increase in points or even extra cash per night is the room type. It looked like it may cost extra (dollars not points) to get a better room at the Ren. I may me wrong but thats what it looked like from the Mariott rewards web site. You may want to calculate what the out of pocket vs extra points may run for a better room at both. I have only stayed at the Marriott so I couldn't give you a valid recomendation but the executive king room is great. I thought the Marriott was great and I'd be willing to bet the Ren is too.

Please don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to pitch anything.
I do have a suggestion you may want to look into, the Surf club offers packages to people to come down and attend the vacation club presentation. I know this year they were offering 5 days 4 nights at the Surf club for $499. They were invited by way of an owner giving names of people to their sales rep. I happen to be an owner and I can tell you the the 90 min presentation is zero pressure unlike some others I have attended. If you know someone who owns there, you may want to look into it. Then you could move to either hotel for the rest of your stay.
If you'd like I could e-mail my rep and find out more details for you.

Which ever hotel you chose really doesn't matter, you'll still be in Aruba.

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I have stayed twice at the Marriott hotel, 1st time for 7 nights and last time for 3 nights. Used points both times. Didn't upgrade, stayed in a standard room. The room was very spacious with a refrigerator & coffee maker. No reason to spend $$ to upgrade.

We stayed at the Ren Ocean Suites and LOVED it last year. Friendly, quiet, and beautiful. I would definitely not recommend the Marina Tower. The pool overlooks a busy road. Just my preference-I like to feel more like I'm getting away and I felt that way at Ocean Suites, but it was still very convenient. The beach at Ocean Suites is small and more like a pond, but the island is beautiful!

Stayed at Ocean Suites at Ren (when it was a Sonesta) twice and Ocean Club once. We (4 50-somethings) liked the Ren a lot better. 1 - Snorkeling at private island. 2 - walking distance of a lot of great restaurants and easier access to quick/fast/cheap food. 3 - better shopping. 4 - didn't seem as crowded (at we were there once for Carnival).

JMHO but I would pick the Marriot. Downtown is very nice and we always go to gamble at the Crystal and have stayed there for one night when it was the Ren but it just isn't a beachy place.