Marriott Concierge

Good Morning, all. I just wanted to share with the FlyerTalk community an announcement made on Insiders this morning regarding hotels changing their category in 2010 - effective for all reservations made after March 8, 2010:

Approximately 350 hotels will decrease by one category and approximately 300 hotels will increase by one category. Ninety-five percent of the hotels changing categories are in categories 1-5. The positive news is that many of our most popular locations will be available for fewer points.


Below is a list of all hotels changes in categories 6-8:

Current Cat 6-8 Hotels Moving Down a Category Level

Current Cat 8 moving to Cat 7
Le Merigot, A JW Marriott® Beach Hotel & Spa, Santa Monica
Renaissance® London Chancery Court Hotel
South Beach Marriott®
Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe Hotel

Current Cat 7 moving to Cat 6
Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina
Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club
Courtyard® New York Manhattan/Midtown East
Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa*

Current Cat 6 moving to Cat 5
JW Marriott Hotel Buckhead Atlanta
JW Marriott Hotel Beijing
Dalmahoy, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa
JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort & Spa
Marriott’s Grand Chateau® 1&2
Kaua’i Marriott Resort
Marriott’s Kaua’i Beach Club
Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club
Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center
The Buttes, A Marriott Resort
Rome Marriott Park Hotel
JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa
Hanbury Manor, A Marriott Hotel & Country Club
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
The Rosseau, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa
Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino*
Renaissance Curacao Resort & Casino*
Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa*
* Indicates hotels that have recently lowered categories and are available to be booked at the present time.

Current Cat 5-8 Hotels Moving Up a Category Level

Current Cat 7 moving to Cat 8
No Hotels

Current Cat 6 moving to Cat 7
Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort
Wentworth by the Sea, A Marriott Hotel & Spa
Marriott's Frenchman's Cove

Current Cat 5 moving to Cat 6
Courtyard Key West Waterfront
Hamburg Marriott Hotel
Residence Inn® Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Berlin Marriott Hotel
Courtyard Cape Cod Hyannis
Courtyard Carolina Beach
Moscow Marriott Royal Aurora Hotel
Courtyard Virginia Beach Oceanfront/South
Courtyard Virginia Beach Oceanfront/North 37th Street
SpringHill Suites® Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Courtyard Ocean City

Please note these changes will go in to effect starting Monday, March 8, 2010. Any reservations made prior to March 8 will be honored at the current category level as long as the certificate is ordered prior to March 8. If you have an existing redemption reservation at a hotel decreasing in category, you may call Marriott Rewards® Customer Support to adjust the reservation after March 8. We thank you in advance for your patience.

Thanks!

Regards,

Andrew

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the list. Is there a link to all the property changes, and does N/A from Cat7 to 8 mean not available yet or none in that category?

Cheers.

Marriott Concierge

Thanks for the question, Sharon.

We currently do not have a link listing each hotel category change, but as noted, all changes will be reflected in individual hotel websites and Marriott.com by March 8.

N/A from Cat 7 to 8 should really be "No hotels," as there are no hotels making such a category change. I have now made this edit in the original post, for the sake of clarity.

Thanks again!

-Andrew

satori

Seeing more high category hotels moving down rather than up in 2010 is a sigh of relief.

My analyses of hotel category placement still has Marriott offering far lower category levels for comparable hotels to Hilton.

If you have a HHonors earning preference for Points & Points the programs work out similarly for earning points and redeeming for award stays. But if you go with Hilton Points & Miles, then Marriott is the better value for earning points for comparable reward stays in most cities.

I predicted in October 2008 Marriott would move categories up in a massive devaluation to better align with Hilton. Marriott proved me wrong and instead Hilton HHonors went with the systemwide points devaluation by shifting most properties to higher points reward categories in 2010.

Kudos to Marriott for retaining strong value in their Marriott Rewards program.

ohmark

Agree with this; but why only two weeks notice? My recollection is that much more notice was given previously.

Savannah2000

Well done, I like the changes!

hhoope01

Thanks for the heads up on the impending category changes.

Will we have a chance to see the lower category hotel changes before the changes take effect?

socrates

yes...see Post #1

hhoope01

It doesn't list the lower Cat. changes. It just says that 95% of the changes will be either one cat up or down in the Cat. 1-4 range. But I haven't seen where that list is?

jerseygirl

Thanks
looks like we will be staying longer in hawaii!!

NJUPINTHEAIR

Much appreciated for the heads up Andrew! ^

Lane412000

I want to also thank you for posting this information.

allset2travel

Thanks for the heads-up.
Would be nice to have a link to the entire list.

Ladyallenfla

Thanks for the info...perfect timing...I will save myself some points and book after the effective date

BrightlyBob

Yes, thanks for this, Andrew, it is appreciated that Marriott is involved in this forum, especially as involvement is not always a pleasant experience for you.

For me it's a bit of good news/bad news, I like the Paris and London changes, not so sure about the Moscow though. The Moscow one does seem strange since its been on permanent pointsavers for the last few months, indicating it was chasing redemption trade, yet this uprate will do nothing to encourage that. Nonetheless, I guess you guys know what you're doing, and category adjustments are a part of these programs. It is good to see that with a fair division in movement Marriott is demonstrating its commitment to the scheme.

Lastly, like everyone else, I would be grateful to see/link in the list of all the forthcoming changes, all the way from category 1-8, whenever anyone can copy and paste them over here...