After multiple major devaluations in HH in the past few years, I would hope they could pause for a bit. Marriott is burning: Hilton should be trying to capture some of that market.

The W=A Maldives is not surprising, nor indicative of a broader trend. Starwood always had an "out" for some of its overwater villa properties - they were not part of a posted category. I look at 120k for that Waldorf as a pretty solid value (2 cents per point, looking at my possible dates in early 2020). The standard award isn't overwater, but it looks pretty damned amazing anyway. I can't wait to start seeing trip reports from there.

I've lost track of when all of the devaluations to HH occurred. The end of GLON/ALON, the end of the revised GLONP2, the end of AXON, the end of Gold/Diamond being legit suite upgrade tiers, the end of Categories, the "premium" room awards for things that weren't really that premium, and finally every lame Hampton Inn and Doubletree in the system shooting up to 50,000 points per night.

I looked at 2018 as a big devaluation year for HH. They'd be smart to retain a little value in 2019 and capture some Marriott/Starwood stays. I've been all HH since the merger in August, mainly due to customer service issues, and it's possible I won't ever go back to Marriott they way I used to.