Originally Posted by mrfussion

I own at the St Regis Aspen. You do get platinum status for being an owner. That is the only benefit, to my knowledge, that carries over to staying at Marriott properties. I am unsure if there is any distinction where other Marriott hotels have visibility to being an owner on my guest profile. And, even if they do, not sure it offers any benefit. The recently promoted a booking services for Marriott properties, which to be honest I have not tried it, but my understanding is it's basically the same as Virtuoso, FHR, etc.

I think each residence situation is unique. Some St Regis residences are full ownership. In the case of Aspen you are buying fractional use. Many owners, myself included, own multiple shares (each share being for 4 weeks). Trading opportunities are limited for other properties. It's not a program where you buy thinking you'll trade and go everywhere. In the case of Aspen the St Regis New York and The Phoenician Scottsdale are the only partner properties where you can trade your weeks or purchase discounted time. I've never used either. You can also trade in your weeks for Marriott points, but this ends up being a very expensive cost per point if you divide by annual maintenance fees. You can also resell your weeks (yourself, or putting them into the rental pool where the property rents it for you and takes a cut). I think all these are pretty much lousy bets. If you aren't buying to use all the time I don't really see the case for owning.

For me, I prefer having all the amenities of a home versus a hotel room. The kitchen, laundry, and spacious living area are all important to me. The fact that the residences are part of a larger resort that offers all the normal luxury amenities (pool, spa, restaurants, housekeeping, etc) make it the best of both worlds. If you're actually going to use the time you purchase, and can get a reasonable deal on the purchase of the residence, the price per night ends up being extremely attractive. However, at the end of the day, these are still timeshares. Appreciation in the value of your asset is pretty much non-existent. In fact, you'll be lucky if it doesn't dropping in value (and it almost certainly will if you buy direct from the developer).