Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - Marriott Hotels in Australia

Going to Australia for a couple of weeks starting next week and saw the prices of all of the Marriott hotels in Australia are outrageous.

The only exception is Sufer's Paradise but I'm not going there.

Does anybody have any special codes to share for the Marriott's in Sydney or Brisbane? I've seen very good rates under Club Marriott but I'm afraid entering the code means they will ask for my gold card at check in...

Sorry I don't have any codes, but I agree, prices in Australia are outrageous (at least compared to North America). Which is why I use my MR points in Australia. Actually between my MR points and my SPG points, I didn't pay for one night of hotel during our 16-day trip to Oz last year. Same for our 12-day trip coming up later this year. If you have points to use, this is where I'd use them!

We are going in July to Aukland (Hilton, no Marriott) for 2 nights, Sydney Circular Quay MArriott for 5 nights and JW Hong Kong for 4 nights all on points and feel like we are really getting bang for our buck at all of these places!

Vickisocal, you will love the JW Hong Kong. We travelled with the kids and had a week there on points. Got upgraded to a big corner room which overlooked the water. It has a fantastic lounge.

We also enjoyed the Sydney Harbor Marriott on points. Not as spectacular a hotel, but very well placed. Note at the time they didn't let kids in the lounge.

To the op, when we went on vacation to Australia we cashed in most of our points at the time - 6 nights in Sydney (Marriott), 7 nights in Cairns (Hilton) and 1 night in Port Douglas (SPG). We paid for another five nights (in Surfer's Paradise!) as the price was very affordable. We actually stayed at the Courtyard, which was pretty good.

To the op, when we went on vacation to Australia we cashed in most of our points at the time - 6 nights in Sydney (Marriott), 7 nights in Cairns (Hilton) and 1 night in Port Douglas (SPG). We paid for another five nights (in Surfer's Paradise!) as the price was very affordable. We actually stayed at the Courtyard, which was pretty good.

Somewhat off topic, but how did you like the Port Douglas SPG property? I'll be vacationing in Australia in Feb. 2013 and was planning on using points there, but the reviews of the resort seem really unfavorable. So, I am considering either booking another hotel in Port Douglas, getting a vacation rental type property, or changing our plans and staying at the Hilton in Cairns.

OP - you may want to use flexible search as rates vary each day and then book multiple back-to-back reservations.

AAA rates: $246 for Fri and Sun nights, $255 for Mon, Thu, and Sat nights, Tue and Wed are $284-331. Regular rates vary in the same fashion, just higher ranging $269, $279 and up to $349. AAA rates at the Sydney Harbour are better than the rates at the Sydney Marriott which are going for $239 next week and $279 for most days the weeks after.

The least expensive rate I could find at the Sydney Harbour Marriott for this coming November (so far) is $331, and I check for lower rates every couple days. Last year the cheapest rate I could find was $253. So there are a few points of reference for you.

Any rate below $300 for Sydney Harbour Marriott is great IMO. Keep in mind that rates in Australia include taxes. Same goes for meals. When that steak costs $48 it includes taxes and gratuity. There is no tipping in Australia.

Australia is an expensive place to visit especially with the relatively weak US dollar. That will probably changing in the coming year or so, but that doesn't help you, or me, now.

JustinTI - We were there in 2008, so more recent reviews will be more relevant. It was fine, but nothing over the top. I guess it would be a good choice if you were there during stinger season, as they have a manmade beach/pool on the property. Or maybe the fact that I have no status at Starwood may have colored my view ;). We had just completed a fantastic week at the Hilton (Cat 3 at the time), and moved on afterwards to the Marriotts, which were also good. Plus by 5 pm Port Douglas was locked up tight. JMHI.

I guess it would be a good choice if you were there during stinger season, as they have a manmade beach/pool on the property.While stingers are a concern, the real reason they have man made beaches and lagoons in Northern Queensland is because of the salt water crocodiles. I thought the same thing about stingers for years until I was set straight this past year by my Australian friends.

Anybody want to transfer their gold cards to me for a couple of weeks? Lol.

I've resorted for Hilton in Melbourne and Adelaide because prices were less than half but rather stay at Marriott in SYD and Brisbane...just ridiculously expensive!

Anybody want to transfer their gold cards to me for a couple of weeks? Lol.

I've resorted for Hilton in Melbourne and Adelaide because prices were less than half but rather stay at Marriott in SYD and Brisbane...just ridiculously expensive!

Off topic - In Adelaide, don't miss the Auge restaurant on 22 Grote Street just opposite the Hilton.

There is no tipping in Australia.

O/T but this is not a true statement, tipping is not mandatory and Australians have differing views on tipping but plenty do tip up to 10% for good service (has to be good). Indeed some high end restaurants add service automatically, Arras is a good example of one that does (8%).

Not intending this to be a debate about the merits of tipping (plenty of other places on FT to that) just want to be clear that a blanket statement like the above is not valid.

O/T but this is not a true statement, tipping is not mandatory and Australians have differing views on tipping but plenty do tip up to 10% for good service (has to be good). Indeed some high end restaurants add service automatically, Arras is a good example of one that does (8%).

Not intending this to be a debate about the merits of tipping (plenty of other places on FT to that) just want to be clear that a blanket statement like the above is not valid.

No wonder the last time I tipped $20 for a fine meal, the cashier looked surprised...

No wonder the last time I tipped $20 for a fine meal, the cashier looked surprised...

As an aside I would say Americans often get tables quicker due to their reputation as generous tippers, a friend of mine who worked as a host at a busy London restaurant once told me any American was always going to go to the top of any waiting list there.. ;)

Codes anyone?

In this case, forget loyalty and look around. If your airline rewards you with miles for booking at one hotel booking site like booking.com you could book for one serviced apartment much much much cheaper, almost 30% per night of what you would pay to stay in Marriott.

Just finished two weeks in Australia and stayed at the Marriotts in Sydney and Melbourne.

Sydney
Stay Length: one of two nights, one of one night
Points or Cash: points for both
Upgrade: Yes, executive level, opera view in both cases
Suite Upgrade: No
Platinum Arrival gift: Took points both times, but received chocolates from the GM both times.

Melbourne
Stay Length: five nights
Points or Cash: cash
Upgrade: Yes, executive level
Suite Upgrade: No
Platinum Arrival gift: Took points, but received, on various days, chocolates from the GM, bottle of wine from the Concierge, chocolates and a bottle of wine from the lounge staff.

As to lounges, we found, as others have, that the Sydney lounge was very crowded in the evenings and food seemed to disappear quickly. Wasn't so bad at breakfast. The printer was also broken, so we had to email things to the Concierge to get them printed; although that worked well as they did the printing and delivered it to the room straight away. The one real advantage I found in the Sydney lounge was that they cooked the sausages for breakfast with onions (yum!)

The lounge in Melbourne was much less crowded, and we thought it had better offerings. You could easily make dinner out of what was available in the evening, and it seemed to me that you had better access to the drinks over the course of the day. One thing I really liked here is that they had pistachios, walnuts and pecans out at breakfast. I like adding nuts to my cereal and this made for a nice selection (Sydney only had peanuts, which, of course, aren't really nuts). And, maybe it was because it was less crowded, we found the lounge staff in Melbourne more engaging and attentive.

Overall, we were satisfied with our stays at both hotels and will probably stay there again on future trips. But, we found Melbourne to be the nicer of the two. In fact, I sent the Melbourne GM an email thanking him for such a nice stay. Don't recall having ever done that before.