Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - Need Help choosing a Marriott for rewards stay vacation (timeline undetermined)

Hey all,

So my situation has changed a little bit since a few years ago when my job had me rack up points (back then me and the wife would fly anywhere there was a nice resort Marriott to use the points, did 14 free nights at the full services in Hawaii, etc...) but now we have two kids, I am back to earning points, and I would like to plan a cheap getaway for me and the wife sans kids.

Due to the kids, we are on a budget, so looking for a budget friendly vacation.

Here is what we are looking for, any suggestions are appreciated!

1. For budget purposes, obviously driving would be ideal.

We live in Southern Maine, with family in NJ to use as a stopover if needed, so I consider anywhere down to about south carolina as reasonable driving distance.

Second to that, anywhere that has traditionally cheap airfare is good (certain spots in florida, vegas,etc...)

2. Mainly looking for a great beach to relax on. I think ideally we would be looking for a resort type marriott, but there are always exceptions to be made (for example, I stayed at a courtyard in carolina beach NC that I loved, every room had an ocean view!)

3. Not too concerned with points, probably have around 200k to work with, so all properties except Ritz Carlton (the extra niceness not worth the points in our opinion) are on the table.

If you are driving, I would look to wentworth by the sea or something like Montreal for a couples getaway.

If you can get cheap flights to SF, I would do Sonoma Renaissance -- realize this isn't the beach.

You can generally fly cheap to ft. Lauderdale with all the cruises, so Marco Island, Eden Roc in Miami, Singer Island or Harbor Beach are some of the best as long as you don't mind a slight drive when you land. A slightly cheaper option might be delay beach or RI Treasure Island.

If you are not going in the winter, Amelia Island Ritz for 5 nights at 200k points is not bad either.

Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and others are too quiet for me and more family oriented. If you didn't want beach, the autograph Mansion in Savannah or something like Charleston might be an options as well. A little less to do for the whole week though IMO.

Hey all,

So my situation has changed a little bit since a few years ago when my job had me rack up points (back then me and the wife would fly anywhere there was a nice resort Marriott to use the points, did 14 free nights at the full services in Hawaii, etc...) but now we have two kids, I am back to earning points, and I would like to plan a cheap getaway for me and the wife sans kids.

Due to the kids, we are on a budget, so looking for a budget friendly vacation.

Here is what we are looking for, any suggestions are appreciated!

1. For budget purposes, obviously driving would be ideal.

We live in Southern Maine, with family in NJ to use as a stopover if needed, so I consider anywhere down to about south carolina as reasonable driving distance.

Second to that, anywhere that has traditionally cheap airfare is good (certain spots in florida, vegas,etc...)

2. Mainly looking for a great beach to relax on. I think ideally we would be looking for a resort type marriott, but there are always exceptions to be made (for example, I stayed at a courtyard in carolina beach NC that I loved, every room had an ocean view!)

3. Not too concerned with points, probably have around 200k to work with, so all properties except Ritz Carlton (the extra niceness not worth the points in our opinion) are on the table.

Do you have a timeline of when you want to go?

A few options come to mind for an early December vacation:

1) Fly to Orlando (about $225/pp round-trip) stay at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes (120,000 MR Points for 5-nights). If you like to golf, relax at a really nice hotel pool, and explore Disney/Universal to do shows at night, this is a good option.

2) Marco Island can be a good option too. Fly to Ft. Myers ($215/pp round-trip) stay at the Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort (120,000 MR Points for 5-nights). Relax, hit the spa, etc.

3) Step it up a notch and fly to Cancun ($350/pp round-trip) and stay at the Ritz-Carlton Cancun (160,000 MR Points for 5-nights). Beach, pina coladas, some fish tacos, and a little dancing at night.

Lots of options really

Depending on how "luxury" oriented you want your stay and when you are planning to travel, Pensacola Beach, FL has a very nice SHS that is on a great beach.

I find this to be a great beach vacation on a budget. Usually, one can find decent flights into either Pensacola, Mobile, or Ft. Walton. The beach here is one of the best I've seen in the US with powdery white sand and it tends not to be as crowded as other beach locations can be. Also, this hotel is only a Cat. 5, so you can either stay longer or save for another vacation.

Note that while this SHS is fairly new and has a nice pool area, but it is still a SHS. If your looking for RC luxury and service, this may not be the place for you. But if you're looking just to relax on a beach and not spend a lot of money, this can be a great alternative.

Also, being in the Florida panhandle, it can get very cool in the Winter months. So if your looking to take a vacation mid-Nov through mid-April, it may be a bit on the cooler side than you'd want to lay-out on the beach. (But I've seen people do it even in Jan/Feb before. So it is possible.) :)