I booked the Marriott in Kaua'i via points. For 7 nites I need the 125,000 reward. It was not available for the garden level rooms, but for 5000 points or $60.oo a nite we could be upgraded to Oceanfront. So we will be using the points and paying the additional 60 bucks. Seems like a better deal than spending an additional 35,000 points. On a related note, last year we stayed at the Renaissance in St Thomas on a five day reward. The hotel has pool/beach front rooms and others up the hill, with a view of St John. Our reward was for the hill rooms, but i asked for an upgrade, and they too wanted $60 bucks a nite. We decided to go for it, and were not disappointed. In fact we were pleasantly suprised to find no additional charges upon check-out.