Kacee

There's no Marriott requirement that standard rooms be made available for awards. That's Hyatt, not Marriott. Marriott properties are allowed to capacity control awards.

If the property has blocked every weekend from any award redemption, that would be a very aggressive use of the so-called "limited blackout policy" and would either constitute a violation of program T&C or an indication that Marriott has further loosened the restrictions so as to render them practically meaningless.

lowfareair

As of right now, every Friday and Saturday night (except December 3rd) is not available through the end of bookings in mid July 2022, and it does not appear to be a minimum stay issue. Doing a little more sleuthing, it seems only "2 queens, city view" is available on points, and that room is never available on the weekends, even though rooms marked as 'standard' are available, and at the refundable rate (I was wrong when I said they are only available non-refundable, standard rooms are).

Seems crazy to me that these rooms would be gone every weekend night, even in the low season, and makes me think there are some inventory games being played here rather than rooms just getting snatched up super quickly. Is there any way to reach out to someone at Bonvoy to actually verify that rather than getting the standard "well they must be sold out" response (regardless of the number of rooms they have sold in the category), or is it "spam the blogs and hope the comm team reacts at some point"?

andrewstahl

Almost every Fall weekend in Annapolis is either a USNA home game, a class reunion or other event. It is no surprise that you can’t find a points redemption.

Go Navy

SPN Lifer

Beat Army! ⚓

wm47

I've noticed that over the years the Westin Annapolis often has an unusual lack of availability for award bookings that cannot be fully explained by USNA events. Even in very low occupancy times, including weekdays, when its rate is the $125-$150 range and the Waterfront and other area Marriotts (and other non-Marriott hotels) have award availability.

I think the property's kind of meh, never been that enthusiastic about it, so the unavailability of awards has never really troubled me. It's just a cursiosity of sorts -- a property that, at least in the recent past, has been markedly on the aggressive side in limiting award stays. The specific times it would be most worthwhile -- USNA games, because it's walkable to the stadium -- are the specific times the unavailability would be most understandable.

lowfareair

Great, how does that explain no weekend award availability in winter, spring, and next summer?

VA1379

The hotel probably set the number of award rooms on weekend nights to only 1 or 2 rooms each for the weekends that were not blocked for special events. Given that, it is likely that other people took the limited number of award weekend nights.

lowfareair

Double post

lowfareair

That seems like way too easy an out for hotels if that's the case. It seems like there should be a minimum percentage of room count that are available for standard awards.

Kacee

Either some version of that game, or just flat out blocking weekend redemptions.
It may be worth following up with the lurkers here, as Marriott corporate will occasionally follow up and enforce program terms (though that is becoming increasingly rare).

andrewstahl

Your experience is very different than mine at the Westin Annapolis. I have been upgraded almost every stay. I have found the service to be quite good. Although the vast majority of my stays have been paid, I have never had a problem getting a points reservation including several over USNA Graduation Week.

Marriott Bonvoy Lurker II

Hi lowfareair,

Kindly advise that Redeeming Points for an Award Redemption Stay is subject to availability at the time of reservation. Participating Properties may limit the number of standard rooms available for redemption on a limited number of days.

Please feel free to contact us if we can be of any assistance.

Best regards,

Carrie L
Specialist Social Media
Marriott International
[email protected]

lowfareair

Thank you for your response. Per my message above, it appears they have zero award reservations available for any Friday and Saturday night through the end of the schedule in July 2022, yet weekday awards (including Sunday nights) are available for all but 4 nights throughout the next year. This is not a minimum stay issue, as paid rates are available and extending the stay length to 5+ nights does not show any additional availability.

As a comparison, the Annapolis Waterfront Hotel, Autograph Collection is a mile away and also in the downtown 'core' of Annapolis. They have rooms available every weekend from mid-November on, and for weekends they do not, it appears that they are sold out of standard rooms. If the area was truly so popular that all availability was snatched up immediately, a hotel a mile away, despite being one category higher, should also have issues with standard rooms.

Unless Marriott Bonvoy defines "a limited number of days" as over 100 days per year, the hotel is playing games with award inventory. Also, the "Standard" rooms are never released as award nights, only a specific 'Deluxe' room.

Does Marriott Bonvoy consider blocking 100 days per year to be "limited"? If not, can you please investigate why the hotel appears to be playing games with award availability?

Thanks!

Kacee

Would really appreciate an official response to this question!

Marriott Bonvoy Lurker

Hi all,

Thanks for the additional details, lowfareair. We've shared your concerns and this information with the appropriate department for further research and action as necessary.

Thank,

Robert V.
Specialist, Social Media