<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cygone:
Marriott rewards are capacity controlled and capacity is quickly filled in Hawaii. To eliminate capacity controls and blackout dates you need to spend 195,000 points. Starwood has no capacity controls and no blackout dates. If you need a room during the summer, Easter break or Christmas vacation and a revenue room is available you can use an award to pay for it. Try that with the standard Marriott award.
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I have done two Marriott rewards weeks in Hawaii (Maui, Kauai), both in the summer. I had no trouble with availability, booking 2 months in advance.
For Kauai, I had to book 5 nights in one room class and the last two nights in another to get my dates, but the hotel said that was fine with my 7-night certificate and that they would try and work it out so I didn't have to change rooms. About a week before my stay, availability in my preferred room-class opened up for the last 2 nights, so it wasn't an issue.
Point is...Marriott might not be as bad as you think. Granted, it's 2003 and hotels don't seem as full, and I would guess that Christmas-through-Easter is probably booked solid. I've also never had a problem redeeming Marriott points in US hotels. (Don't know about Europe.)
Certainly, if your goal is Christmas in Hawaii for free, you'd better go Starwood...or factor in Marriott's "anytime" award levels when making your decision. (Give Marriott credit: at least they have that option.)