There are many conflicting stories about the management by aSmallWorld--so we might want to tread carefully. The group isn't known for success in luxury property management.

There also are rumors that North Island will be adding more villas. That may be part of their interest in joining the Marriott distribution via Luxury Collection. According to many in the Luxury Hotels Forum, this property has rarely been fully occupied--and that's not hard to believe when you consider the astronomical rates!

As for redemptions, all the island has to do is use one villa (or one new smaller villa) as a standard award and not make any others eligible for award redemption: having so few villas/rooms in total means even 1 villa/room will satisfy the award conditions. I also expect Marriott to allow this property to be an exception since it has so few total accommodations. But time will tell!

Our Luxury Forum peers are going nuts over this one. For some, this was among the very best in the world. The fact that the management has changed and that it will join Marriott Luxury Collection is giving many pause--as well it should!