We pretty much stay with beach vacations too, but a really great choice, especially for a Sept honeymoon is Paris... or London and Pairs 5 and 5

Anymore help?

I think we may do 6nights each at JW Phuket and Ren Phuket. I am thinking this would be ideal.. We love the room options here..

Thoughts?

Do I have to book a suite to get upgraded to a suite?

Upgrades are subject to availability. The longer the stay, the tougher to upgrade. We booked a room at the JW and got a suite. That was only two nights though-before checking in to our villa for 7 nights at the MVCI.

I understand upgrades are based on availability...

Can I book a deluxe room with no upcharge and call the hotel with it being my honeymoon and a platinum member to obtain a suite upgrade? Apparently it has worked before?

Thoughts... We are going in slow season in September..

I think you could. We booked a regular room at the Ren in January. Emailed the hotel. They processed an upgrade already. It shows on marriott.com in the reservation. It's my wife's birthday.

A lot of things might be possible, and sometimes, maybe even probable (though I doubt suite upgrades could normally be thought of as "probable".)

The real question for you is if having a suite room is a make or break situation for your honeymoon? If not having one will put a damper on your honeymoon or cause you to worry over that rather than the rest of the trip, then maybe you should just spend the money and guarantee you get one. I wouldn't take chances with my honeymoon on anything I considered "important", but that's just me. ;)

Does anyone have an email address for the JW Marriott Phuket?

A couple more questions... I booked into a suite where I would be paying $200 a night extra on top of the nights. I am trying to figure out how to get one more category as this is ideally the room I want. Anyway to get out of the payment per day piece or be guaranteed the one category upgrade?

Thanks!!!

couldnt agree more. Wife and I went big with first class flights, stayed at Scrub Island for a few days, then did the Ritz in San Juan for another few days. While we vacation all the time, there is never going to be another moment of being on your honeymoon again!

We actually picked the caribbean simply b/c we didnt want to spend a lot of time flying and rather wanted that time sitting on the beach. Otherwise, we most certainly would have picked HKT as well!

Thanks for the advice. I feel 2 days of flying is worth it for 12 days in phuket?

Where is your location? I'm planning for my honeymoon, and searched for Scrub Island as well, but flying from Southeast Asia to Scrub Island is costing me too much points even in the economy class, is there any airline which you would suggest?

5 night Marriott or RC Mini-Honeymoon
 

Looking for FT to help me brainstorm. I have a ton of MR points and am giving my brother a short honeymoon right after his wedding before they go on a longer one the next year.

Here are the criteria:
- 5 nights only
- week after Labor Day
- departing from NY
- beaches / tropical
- could be a Travel Package but also have WN and UA miles

If they had more time, I'd probably send them to HI, but not worth it for such a short time.

Looking forward to hearing the FT gang's ideas. Thanks!

If Hawaii is too far, then the obvious places for a beach break would be Florida, Caribbean (need passports for most islands) and Aruba, etc. or southern California. [I'm not fond of Mexico these days.] Check the weather situation before deciding on an island getaway. You wouldn't want to go in tropical storm or hurricane season and I don't know what dates are considered risky.

Do they want a relaxed resort or something like Miami South Beach for activity and nightlife in addition to the beach?

In the not exactly beach category would be Vegas, Phoenix/Scottsdale, Palm Springs, Sante Fe, downtown San Diego and La Jolla, parts of the LA area (Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, coastal villages a bit farther north, even Westwood), etc.: Warm weather and good pool scenes but not a genuine beach with a large body of water, waves, and sand.

You mention possibly ordering a TP award. Do you have an MVCI timeshare? Otherwise the hotel award is 7 nights (though nothing would stop them from only staying 5 nights and not use the other 2 nights.)

I guess the question is what type of experience are you wanting them to have?

There is a very nice SHS on Pensacola Beach in FL. Nothing fancy, but the beach is very nice (wide with lots of powdery white sand.) So if you want to give them a "beach" location that would be very nice choice. (In fact, my wife and I are doing that very thing next week with a small/short trip to the panhandle of Florida. It is a quick flight and the beaches are as good as any beaches anywhere else in the world I have seen (and better than most all of them.)

But if you really want more of a true "tropical" feel in a nicer resort, you could send them to one of the Caribbean islands (Cayman has both an RC and a Marriott to choose from.) If you want them to stay in the US, but still have a resort feel, the Harbor Beach Marriott in Ft. Lauderdale is a very nice resort right on its own beach area. Just south of there is the Hollywood Marriott which is also on the beach but with a much smaller, almost boutiquish feel. It only has one small pool that is nothing to write home about, but it is right on the beach. It is a bit unique in that it is the only true beach hotel that I can think of with a CL.

If you choose to transfer into Southwest points, I do believe they now have some flights to Aruba and Marriott has some nice resorts there as well.

Personally, for a short 5 night trip, I'd try to find the shortest flight and worry less about the hotel itself and more about finding a nice beach to just relax at.

For a romantic getaway Scrub Island in the BVI. If have status might be able to get upgraded to the one bedroom. The room was beautiful. The resort was intimate, romantic and exclusive. Perfect for honeymooners.

The only problem is you are chancing it with the weather as it is hurricane season that time of the year.