Damn, wish I could take over that reservation!! My one Okotberfest experience was made possible with SPG points - a jr. suite for 4 for something like 8,500 points per night at a Sheraton that was about 20-30 minutes away on public transit from the Oktoberfest grounds. It was an amazing weekend, and I remember even then looking at Marriott, Hilton, and IHG and finding zip for awards. Only SPG stuck to the "any standard room" spirit of their program.

The Marriott merger has some pros and cons for me, but I agree with this one. Marriott lets its properties game the system and use all sorts of "special event" exceptions (including things far, far smaller than Oktoberfest), whereas Starwood typically had awards available even for high demand periods.