First of all thanks for all the replies. The plans have changed I think!! I enjoy shopping around online looking for low rates and may have hit the MOTHERLOAD of good deals! My wife suggested looking at the JW Marriott and the lowest price I could find for an premium oceanview room was $459 before tax (Marriott website and Travelocity among others). Anyway I called Costco Travel today and they had rooms available at the JW for the time we were going. The concierage level rooms were roughly the same as the Marriott website but the same premium oceanview room I was looking for was $1000 for the five nights INCLUDING TAX. They also offer, for an additional $47.50, four round trip airport transfers back and forth...total price $1047.50! We included the transfers and the way I see it, you can't beat it!

To compare if I had bought the room thru the Marriott website the total for the five nights with tax (12%) would have been $2570.40. I am saving $1570 for the five nights!!!! Anyway for that price I probably am going to cancel the $389 a night ($436 with tax) CasaMagna deal. I do like the thought of an "all-inclusive" but this deal is just too good to be true. I told my wife the total for the CasaMagna would have been $2178.40 with tax. We will have almost $1200 in our pocket to spend on food for the trip and be in a superior hotel. Plus we're not "locked" into one resort for food. Not to mention unlimited Pina Coladas around the pool could've been scary!

The pro is of course saving $1500!

The cons are: no Marriott awards points for the stay. Certainly anything charged to the room (meals, etc.) I assume I'd get credit for. Not a huge deal to me. Also I will have to pay $400 up front and then the entire amount about a month in advance and there are cancellation penalties after seven days. When you book thru Marriott they allow me to cancel almost until the day we leave.

Two questions:

1. Can I use TWO bonus bucks for this five night stay? Since the nightly room charges won't be on the bill I figure these would go towards food and anything else charged to the room. Is this OK?

2. What are the chances of getting upgraded (no problem paying more) by asking the front desk at check in? The front desk would have a record of my reservation but I am pretty sure would not know the price I paid. I think all they know is I booked thru Costco travel. Perhaps $50-$100 a night extra is worth it for the Concierge, or Club 91 level? Or maybe a bigger room with a better view? Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Marc