Originally Posted by Kyle53719
I would much prefer Sheraton or Westin, since they have a larger network of hotels. The Sheraton brand extends to Westin, W, Luxury Collection, St. Regis, etc... and have as many amenities as Ritz at their high end locations. Four Seasons, which owns a few Ritz Carlton hotels, has a much more limited hotel list. With the Starwood Brand I think card members will have much less of a problem booking rooms, unlike the problems that have been common with Ritz redemptions.
Even though I am a huge Starwood (Westin, Sheraton, St. Regis, Luxury Collection and soon to be LeMeridien) fan, I wouldn't like to see ML+ Rewards go with them for the free nights vouchers. A lot of people (including myself) earn SPG points either through hotels stays and/or through the SPG AMEX card. ML offered me another luxury alternative and I hope they go that way with their "new" partner if all the rumors are indeed true. I would naturally prefer Four Seasons.
One interesting thing I noted is that ML+ Rewards currently offers Ritz-Carlton, Fairmont, Hyatt, Marriott and Wyndham vouchers as part of the ML+ Rewards gift certificate points redemption program. Wouldn't it make sense for them to offer vouchers from a chain they already work with or would they go out and negotiate with Four Seasons or Starwood? IMHO Fairmont is nice but they don't have enough properties. Hyatt would be good but I would still like either Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons so I can get 4 free Luxury nights. (Spending my 4 Ritz vouchers at the Laguna Niguel property this year!) One more thing...I can't see Starwood working with ML Visa because they really push their AMEX card.