Originally Posted by DADISGARYK
at which point, the OP can use points for a free stay before or after Labor Day, and pay for the one night that isn't available as a free stay...I have done that before at the Renaissance Chicago downtown.
Yes. Marriott.com is a little inflexible that way. If one of the nights you are booking is blacked-out for awards, it won't offer
any of the nights you are asking for on awards.
You can mess around with multiple reservations online, but if you call up reservations itself, they can make one reservation where some of the nights are on awards and some of the nights are for payment.