Some Marriott hotels are indicating incorrect or misleading award points required for a stay. At the Sheraton in Koh Samui for a 5 night stay in February, the cost shown on the search page is 148,000 points. When you select the rate, there is indeed space at 148,000. However at the W Koh Samui, the rate shown is 488,000 points. But further examination indicates that this is the rate plus $1650 USD. For points only, the amount is over 800,000 points. How is this misleading rate allowed? Renaissance in Koh Samui also has significantly higher point requirements than shown on the search page.

The only available rooms are specialty suites that require a cash upgrade cost on top of the base points cost. I will agree that the display on the search page is less than ideal.

This happens to me regularly. I'm generally searching for 2 adults and 1 child, which I know exacerbates the issue, but still annoying that the results display is less than genuine. My favorite recent example:

5 night Award Stay in Singapore
The Vagabond shows available for 150,000 points for the stay
Click "Select Room" and price jumps to 600,000 points because I can only book a suite for 2 adults and 1 child

Searching for awards for an upcoming stay in London often shows several properties in the 230,000 to 260,000 point range for 5 nights only to find that there is a cash component anywhere from ~300 to 1,500 GBP on top.

I've grown more accustomed to it and have tried to take the approach of, "let's see if that's really the price," but every once in a while I see what looks like a deal, get excited, and then not so much.