How do Back-to-Back Reservations Work?
 

Apologies if this has been asked somewhere before, but do back-to-back stays at the same property (2 separate reservations) count as 1 stay?

I'm curious to know for when there are promo's where you get something per stay or where you get a bonus if the stay is a weekend stay, in the latter's case when the first part of the booking was a weekend stay but the 2nd part (back-to-back) did not include a weekend night anymore, will the entire stay count as 1 or will they be considered 2 separate stays where bonus points are concerned?

Unless a mistake is made, back-to-back stays in the same property count as one stay.

In addition, in principle, the hotel could force you to check out and change rooms, but this would still be a single stay (and it's costly for the hotel to clean rooms between guests, so they have an incentive to avoid having you change rooms).

True, but in practice that almost never happens.

To be clear, the forced room change seldom happens.

Treatment of back-to-back stays as a single stay is the norm per the Terms and Conditions.

Even where points are concerned? i.e. if the stays were separate and each pertaining to a different promotional period (example given in the first post), would the entire stay count towards the promotion as if it was 1 stay even if the second booking would for example not be part of the promotion (because it doesn't include a weekend night anymore for example - but the entire stay does if stays are combined).

Yes. The point is so people dont use the silly trick you are describing to game the system. How many different ways does this have to be said?

Unfortunately, as mentioned, consecutive nights at the same hotel, no matter the number, types, different rates, etc, between different reservations will all be treated as a single stay. The way around that is you have to switch hotels. If there are 2 Marriott hotels close to each other, you can switch between them and get multiple stays. In fact, I've had business trips with 5 nights where I would get 5 stays out of it just by switch between a couple of hotels every day. Might not work as well for a family vacation though. Another option if there is more than just you in the room, would be to have multiple reservations in different names/accounts. This would mean one of you could each get a stay or if you switched nightly, both of you could get multiple stays (if your trip is 4+ nights or longer of course.)

Back-to-Back reservations, one cash, one points
 

Sorry to resurrect this for a related query. Pretty sure this has been asked before and should be something I'd know, but for the life of me can't remember:

How is a single stay comprising of back-to-back reservations, one entirely on points and the other entirely on cash, treated for the purpose of points accrual? Is the entire stay of both reservations treated as equivalent to a regular Cash and Points stay, i.e. the cash component does not accrue points? Would seem logically consistent with the treatment of back-to-back reservations as a single stay.

If you have back to back reservations, the hotel will combine them under one folio and Marriott will only give you credit for 1 night. So make sure you get folios for both nights for when you write in for your missing stay. You’ll get points for your cash stay.

There is no way to avoid this. I’ve checked out after first reservation, got my folio, and checked in for second reservation. Makes no difference. Marriott IT can’t handle it.

you will get 1 stay and 2 nights and points will be based on the spend of both the 1st night (for incidentals) and the 2nd night total amount on folio. when they get posted is dependent on the stay posting.

That has not been my experience out of dozens of stays. If I have 2 consecutive reservations of 1 night each, the hotel combines the folios for both nights (so I get all the points), but I will only get stay credit for 1 night. Of course you can get the missing night by submitting a missing stay request.

However, today for the first time ever I had my first reservation of 2 consecutive reservations post correctly. I did pay out the folio and checked in for second reservation (but that has never fixed the problem in the past).

So either the hotel did something right, or maybe they did something wrong. :)

I've definitely had a 2 night back to back post as two distinct stays of 1 night each before. So YMMV.

they definitely did it wrong. that's why you were shorted the night and relegated to doing the missing stay. Don't combine the folio. I'd just ask to keep you in the same room, check out then back in and refresh keys and you should be good to go.

Thanks for all the various inputs.

So if I understand yall correctly, I ought to get points from relevant cash incidentals arising from the points-only reservation as well as the normal accrual of points from the room rate of the cash-only reservation, yes?

And to ensure (as far as possible) the proper credit of nights/points, I should request the hotel to keep the respective folios separate (and of course where possible to keep the same room), check out of the first reservation and refresh the keys for the second booking.

But as Margarita cautioned, it seems prudent to bear in mind that some cockup could happen and that I might have to submit a missing credit claim, hence be sure to have the relevant folios.

yes, correct. I would also ask for a copy of the receipt so if something does go awry, you can use the folio to assist with the missing night claim. it's still 1 stay and x nights depending on how many back to backs you do but you earn points on spend regardless.