CPRich

Is this a new "feature"? Search shows results in terms of points required, but the room actually requires thousands of dollars in addition to the listed points?

Can I now trust nothing on Marriott.com search without examining every single listing?

margarita girl

No. Been like that for a long time.

Guess you were lucky not to come across it before.

ftrichard

I've stayed here. The hotel and staff are fine and not inherently evil.

By the looks of it, you've selected points redemption and it's offered you an upgraded room which requires points + cash rather than the entry-level room that would require only points.

Why it's done this, I don't know but you can trouble-shoot it a bit by trying a cash-only booking and seeing what room types it offers you at what price. If it's busy and sold out for your dates then maybe the cheapest room you can book for your dates is the Executive Suite that it's offering you for points + cash. Basic room here is quite cheap for London. I paid about GBP150 cash rate so it won't make a good value points redemption at the best of times. If this room isn't available then maybe (and I'm just speculating) they've loaded this Executive Suite as a points + cash redemption to see if anyone bites.

If you can book a basic room at a ~GBP150 rate then I'd take it rather than try to redeem points at this hotel and save the points for something more lucrative.

EuropeanPete

This happens a lot. It means you can’t easily see real availability until you drill down into individual hotels, but at least it’s not as deceptive after the fact as some of Marriott’s other practices.

exploreaswego

Yup, this usually means one or more nights in this property does not have standard rooms available.
Not that the system is internationally trying to cheat you to pay thousands more in additional to your points.