I would say this is true for me as well. I was in London for 3 nights and the rate at the Bankside was pretty reasonable (it is normally quite high) and it is a hotel I quite like. I elected to stay there only one of 3 nights and booked the CitizenM Bankside for the second night (at half the cost) and then the Moxy Piccadilly Circus the third night (I was going to the theatre in the west end that night and the rate was pretty low). The CitizenM was fine and was less than a 10 minute walk from the Bankside. Second time I have stayed at a CitizenM (also stayed at the one in New York Times Square). The rooms are small but it's a king bed and so to get the perks of the promotion, it was worth moving to (especially at half the price). The only thing good about the Moxy is the location. The city view rooms have no view and I would say it is one of the worst Moxy's I have stayed at (and they are generally pretty poor) with a good chunk of things either under renovation (a part of the lobby and the front entrance) or not working (one escalator and two elevators). Very reasonable rate for right in the heart of the West End so with the added perks of the promotion I would say it wasn't a wrong choice for one night. I certainly wouldn't stay there again, unlike the CitizenM which I might choose again (I am a big fan of the Southbank area).

This promotion is seemingly a dumb move on Marriott's part. I think a lot of us are gaming it and choosing to stay at hotels we otherwise wouldn't choose to get the benefit of the promotion, especially cheaper, lower quality hotels because we can stomach the one night. If I was getting 1 EQN for each night regardless of brand or stay length, I would have paid more and stayed at the Bankside for all 3 nights. I will be surprised if this gets repeated this way as I am sure Marriott will have all this data to review and will demonstrate some of this behaviour.