Justification for Residence Inn only earning 5 points per dollar?
 

It's not about the price - as you note, RI is often priced the same or more as other brands.

And it's not about the breakfast - other free breakfast brands like fairfield earn 10x.

The three 5x brands - Residence Inn, Townplace, and Element - are the ones that Marriott views in the Extended Stay category. Maybe they feel that on a weeks-long stay you'll earn plenty even at 5x. Or maybe they think extended stay folks are less motivated by points.

And they may be right. I've had two stays in my life of over two months. In both cases, I opted for RI, even knowing the points were half, because for that long a stay, having the extra space and the kitchen was pretty important to me.

Given the number of families staying on weekends they don't need to provide any more incentive.

Good point.

The reality is Marriott doesn't need to "justify" anything. If they decided to take a benefit away from the OP, I could understand wanting some explanation. But this is just the way the program works. Marriott has whatever business reasons they have for offering fewer points, and we customers have choices of where to stay. If you want more points, stay at the Courtyard. If you want a kitchen, stay at the RI. If you want to pay less, with room for your family, and have a kitchen, but no points, stay at the AirBnb.

I hope, along with everyone else, they do increase the points for RI's, and I'd choose them over CY's and SHS sometimes. But I wouldn't expect it any time soon.

Just an FYI that under Starwood one earned full room and incidentals credit at Element, but half the elite amenity points.

I usually have one long term stay of 3-4 months each year for contract work and have always stayed at RI. The Marriott Megabonuses for each stay was always substantially more than the base points and elite bonus at RI; which made Marriott Rewards work for me. Now bonvOY has reined in the promotions to the point where it does matter where I go for extended stays. This year "Endless Earning" bonus would yield a grand total of 1500 points for a 15 week stay (or about a dime per week).

I've moved to Homewood Suites which awards 10 full Honors points per dollar, and adds real Hilton bonuses too.

I can't remember do Townplace and Element have Kitchen/Kitchenette? Close to where I work they have two Residence, and as noted pricing seems to be set by location/demand ( close/high ). I'd likely choose either due to proximity even though the condition of the property and food/breakfast are less than my current further choices. The swing factor in the end was points, I stay often enough that the delta does quickly add up ( stay further, better breakfast, equal to better unit, cheaper, and a lot more points ).

At least in my case the Marriott's would get another 30-50/night from me if they matched on the points/$, instead I drive another 15-20' spend less and get more points and better breakfast and even some dinner snacks.

Always wondered this -- I actively book away from RI as a result unless no other option (especially with the increasing number of CY/RI combos where location is the same and I don't need the extra RI "benefits")

It's important to realize that despite what some people here think, Marriott's core business is being a hotel franchiser. While they do have a side business that provides hotel management services, the main "customer" for Marriott is the hotel owner.

The points that hotel guests receive are paid by the individual hotel. Complete speculation, but I'd imagine the 5 points/dollar anomaly can into existence due to way things were at the birth of the extended-stay market segment. Perhaps back in the days of yore when the rewards program was conceived, the profit margin at the extended stay brand (only Residence Inn at that point, I believe) was slim enough to warrant fewer points. (That assumes some brands always had a lower earning. I don't know my frequent guest history enough to know exactly when the anomaly started.)

Anyway, my point is that you'd need to look at market conditions back then and not today for the reason why these brands offer fewer points per dollar. I don't think these brands are significantly different today to justify the lower point earnings. But, once something that benefits a franchise is part of a franchise agreement, it's hard to remove it. If neither the franchises nor Marriott see a compelling business reason to switch from 5 to 10 points/dollar, expect the status quo to be maintained.

I have to say that the number of points offered does not even qualify as the last item on my checklist for hotels.

OP - it is a mystery how a hotel chain makes up its own stuffs.

To make this even more simple - why are some RIs Cat. 6 but some are Cat. 1?

The only thing that I can say is try to make this simple. If you want more points, go to a CY. If you enjoy space, then RI.

There are always some trade-offs.

I currently stay at a RI/SpringHillSuites pair, 1/2 is Residence the other half not, same price, gym is shared, breakfast menu exactly the same on two different sides of the ground floor, shared parking. I never book RI, why should I, even if they were a block apart or more. The RI kitchen regardless of size, brand appliance isn't an amenity I use so pretty much ignore the brand if any other alternative is available.