Same here.....

never been refused an award room in Hawaii.....or most any Caribbean location....but we do plan somewhat in advance. Was pleased to see great availabilty all across Hawaii for awards next Feb during my kids Winter Break. I booked the hotels in mid June, and they are all still available as of today.

Might be nice, however, if Marriott would think about waiving blackouts/sellouts on award availability for their Platinum members, since Platinum is so much more difficult to reach in their program as opposed to the others. It would be a very nice perk to know that if a room is available, you can have it on an award.

ps- In my experience so far, I'm batting a thousand with Marriott for great room upgrades on awards....so that is always appreciated.