Originally Posted by aaupgrade
Just because you can book a room doesn't mean they have rooms available. You, as a platinum member have a 48 hour guarantee, and are able to book rooms online with that guarantee. A Gold, Silver or non-elite customer may not have been able to book that room.
Also, just because a room is available for you to book doesn't mean they have rooms available for awards. If you are planning this far out then I would pick a different week. Depending on the time of the year, some properties are very difficult to get awards. A good example is the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort and Spa during February and March.
If you are Plat, you can still find out if the hotel is sold out to the general public by simply not signing in to Marriott.com when making the room request.
If a room is available to the general public but not for points, you can use a "stay anytime" award for more points and override the capacity controls. You cannot use a "stay anytime" award if the only rooms available are with Platinum overrides.