joshua362

They say its based up historical redemptions at the property in comparison to its peers within the entire chain, adjusted yearly.

I say that's BS since they tend to move up, up, up in disproportion to those moving down. Average expected room rate has got to be overriding factor.

SkiAdcock

Supposedly it's a combo of room rate + redemption demand.

Cheers.

dayone

+1.

Horace

It's not surprising to me that a room that averages $500 per night would require twice as many points per night as a room that averages $250 per night -- regardless of which is more luxurious.

DELee

From marriott.com hotel search page, 28 hotels are identified as "London".

Four are Cat (CY Gatwick) 4 or 5 (Bexleyheath, Waltham Abbey, Cheshunt). These are, by and large, near/at/past the M25 - literally miles from the center of London.

The remaining 24 are Cat 6 (6), Cat 7 (4), Cat 8 (4) and Cat 9 (7) with one Tier 3 (London EDITION). The Cat 9s and the EDITION are clustered in about a 2 km x 1 km ellipse at the center of London. The London Cat 9s are AU (1), JW (1) , MC (4) and BR (Renaissance) (1).

If you look at Washington DC, 24 hotels are listed: Cat 6 (6), Cat 7 (14), Cat 8 (2) and Tier 4 (2). In the Cat 6 group, 2 CYs, 2 RIs, 1 FI and 1 Marriott (Wardman Park). Looking at the 18 DC remaining hotels (Cat 7-9, Tier 4), there are 4 CY, 3 RI, 1 FI with the rest AU (1), JW(1), RC (Ritz-Carlton) (2), BR (2) and MC (4). 15 of these 18 hotels are in the NW quadrant of DC.

In the 86 hotels marriott.com lists for San Francisco, there are 12 hotels that are Cat 8, Cat 9 and Tier 4. Of the 9 actually in San Francisco, 3 are CY, with the rest AU (1), JW (1), MC (4), BR (1) and RC (1). 2 of these properties are at Fisherman's Wharf with the rest (7) being around Union Square and SOMA.

For the 24 Marriott hotels listed for Shanghai, 8 are CY and the rest JW (2), MC (5), BR (7), RC (2). The CYs are either Cat 1 or Cat 2, so everything else is Cat 2-6 with the RCs at Tier 2 and Tier 5.

So, yes, tier categories for Marriott hotels in London are generally higher than other major cities. However, as others have mentioned, the category tiers are driven by demand. And because of the demand for Marriott hotels at the center of London, their reward category levels are some of the highest in the world.

However, even if you could convince Marriott to open a bunch of Courtyards (CY), Residence Inns (RI) and Fairfield Inns (FI) in and around Central London similar to major US cities, it is very likely that those too would have very high category level rates again because of the demand.

David

CPRich

The obvious US comparison to London is NY.

NYC: (1) Tier 5, (1) Tier 4, (4) Cat 9, (22) Cat 8, (3) Cat 7

London - Cat 7.7 average
NYC - Cat 8.2 average

I don't know of a single Cat 2 in DC, let alone 8.

DELee

Correct - should be: "Cat 8 (2)". Sorry about the typo. Fixed it in my post.

The reason I didn't try to do the analysis with marriott.com's results for New York is the number of properties that come up that are either in New Jersey or on Long Island - whether Cat 2's through Cat 5's. With 139 Marriott hotels in the Greater New York City area, the comparison is harder with London given the NY properties are "accessible" to NYC but not in NYC (assume primarily Manhattan).

The build out of "lower category" London properties isn't there yet - and likely will not given the competition and brand awareness, challenges of either reflagging existing non-Marriott hotels or renovating existing older structures to become hotels as well as the profitability to have more higher category and higher end brands in Central London. Also, adding SPG properties isn't going to make the comparison any better for the OP since most of those are also higher end hotels at higher cost/point redemption rates.

David

karrjl

I was able to get a LNF with the Marriott County Hall! Took a while, but persistence won out. However, it is still a little bit more expensive than the deal I got with the Grosvenor House JW Marriott. Btw, I will be maintaining my Gold Status for the year, so hopefully that makes the decision a bit easier.

Here's what I got:

Grosvenor House JW Marriott
Deluxe Room, Guest room, 1 King (20sqm/215sqft-29sqm/312sqft)
1,149.75 GBP for 7 nights

London Marriott Hotel County Hall
Deluxe Room, Guest room, 1 King (30sqm/323sqft-45sqm/484sqft)
1,359.82 GBP for 7 nights

Is the County Hall worth the extra money for the location? We will be doing quite a few 'touristy' things, as it is his first time. Is there a decent likelyhood as a Gold I would receive a room with a view?

TIA!!!

DFW_CK

Folks - my wife, 10 year old, and myself are off to London in March. Based on all the reviews, I was planning on using points at the Park Lane Marriott. Just called the hotel and they are saying there is a strict no rollaway policy in the hotel and the only way to accommodate 3 would be an executive suite with a sofa bed unless we want to squeeze into a king or a 2 twin bed. Is this really accurate? Any experiences with a rollaway at this property? Many thanks.

lexdevil

They allowed rollaways in a very limited number of rooms prior to the renovation, but they have not allowed them since.

We often travel with our son and have been able to get two double beds at both the County Hall and the Edition. The Edition only has a couple of double doubles, and they require a slight upcharge. This fee is totally worth it (at £30 per night it is lower than the rollaway charge at other locations). It also nets you a larger room, which is important at the Edition. At the St. Pancras Renaissance and the Grosvenor House we have had King rooms with a rollaway. Do take care with the rollaway charges (£35 per night at Grosvenor House, for example).

SkiAdcock

The Marble Arch Marriott & the St. Ermins Autograph Collection have 'family rooms'. Marriott Grosvenor Square (which is different than Grosvenor House) has double double rooms.

Cheers.

DFW_CK

Thank you both; I'll try the properties you mention above.

sig05

I can only speak to County Hall, but we enjoyed the location. It's right across from Parliament and Big Ben. Upgrades can be had to a Big Ben view. Pretty busy across Westminster Bridge, very good location to "touristy" activities, and Westminster tube station within 5-6 minutes. You can walk to Waterloo in about the same time.

The hotel is set back off the street, so it has limited noise. We had a Thames/Big Ben facing room where we heard some noise before the crowds died down, but it was minimal at best.

I loved this hotel. Gillray's was a great place to eat when we were too tired to venture out after a very long day out.

abcx

What is the standard treatment for a Marriott Gold at the Park Lane if I book a Deluxe Room?

The PL really looks like a gem of a property and quite reasonable compared to the IC Park Lane, Dorchester, 4S Park Lane, Claridges, Connaught, etc.

Thanks!

SkiAdcock

The most expensive meal of my life was at the Connaught ($450 for 1 person; exchange rate sucked back then, but even so!) Also, rooms at Claridges & Connaught are small. Can't speak to Dorchester or 4S.

As a Gold you have free access to the Park Lane executive lounge & potential upgrade to better room or suite.

Cheers.