One of my few complaints about MR (I became Plat after years of being Diamond w/Hilton) is that resort properties typically do not acknowledge Marriott members.

Why this matters for me is because when we do travel for pleasure, we always travel out of the country...and, most really nice places are out of the country.

While I am still Platinum, I want to plan a trip using $$/points (either way) to a really nice Marriott property outside of the USA. We live in California, and a flight lasting no more than 8 hours would be preferred. We returned from Australia a few months ago and even though we were in Biz class, it is still a very, very LOOOONG flight....we did not fly Biz home...so 8 hrs. or less is our preference.

1. Can anyone think of a resort property that typically rewards Plats even though it is not guaranteed (just maybe the hotel's policy). Specifically if they have an EL?

2. Can anyone think of a really nice nonresort property that they've been to (no CYs...I don't care where they are)?

I know this shouldn't matter (EL/breakfast/possible upgrades) if we are at a resort property (I know, I know, just the fact that we are fortunate enough to be able to travel should be enough)....but it's just one of those principle things with me....I don't want to use points or $$ if I have status and because it has "Resort" in the name, I am treated just like I got my room off priceline...no thanks. I've been Diamond too long and have been very spoiled over the past few years of not having to deal with this whole Resort exclusionary thing...my big pet peeve with Marriott.

Thanks for any information....looking for late Oct, early Nov 2010.