2011 Annual Hotel Category Changes
 

Good Morning, FlyerTalk community.

I just wanted to share with all of you an announcement we had recently leaked on Marriott Rewards Insiders regarding Hotel Category Changes for 2011. Please see below:

...we wanted to provide you with advance notice on hotel category changes effective for all reservations made after March 8, 2011. Approximately 100 hotels will decrease by one category and approximately 350 hotels will increase by one category. Less than 10% of the changes have been made to the Category 5-8 hotels.

As you know, we’ve added 3 new brands to the Marriott Rewards program over the last year– Autograph Collection, EDITION, and The Ritz-Carlton. We strive to continue adding more earning and redemption options for our members. We appreciate your continued loyalty.

Below is a list of the changes in categories 5-8:

Current Cat 5 + Hotels Moving Down a Category Level

Current Cat 6 moving to Cat 5
CasaMagna Marriott Puerto Vallarta Resort & Spa
Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel
Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club

Current Cat 5 moving to Cat 4
Fairfield Inn Orlando at SeaWorld(R)
Courtyard Orlando Lake Buena Vista in the Marriott Village
West Palm Beach Marriott
Doral Golf Resort & Spa, A Marriott Resort
Marriott’s Villas at Doral
Renaissance Cleveland Hotel
Courtyard Page at Lake Powell
Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza
Franklin Marriott Cool Springs
BWI Airport Marriott
Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel
Courtyard San Juan Miramar
Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center
JW Marriott Hotel Beijing
Residence Inn San Antonio Downtown/Alamo Plaza
JW Marriott Hotel Caracas

Current Cat 5-8 Hotels Moving Up a Category Level

Current Cat 7 moving to Cat 8
Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club
Marriott’s Aruba Ocean Club

Current Cat 6 moving to Cat 7
Courtyard Ocean City
Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa
Grand Cayman Marriott Resort
Residence Inn Virginia Beach Oceanfront
SpringHill Suites Virginia Beach Oceanfront
JW Marriott Hotel Washington, DC
Zurich Marriott Hotel
Key West Marriott Beachside Hotel

Current Cat 5 moving to Cat 6
Courtyard Boston Copley Square
Residence Inn St. Petersburg Treasure Island
Fairfield Inn Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Courtyard Cape Cod Hyannis
Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa
Courtyard Paris Neuilly
Residence Inn Washington, DC/Capitol
Renaissance Aruba Beach Resort & Casino
JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa
Residence Inn Newport Middletown
Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel
Melbourne Marriott Hotel
Courtyard New York JFK Airport
Renaissance Okinawa Resort
Renaissance Washington, DC Hotel
JW Marriott Hotel Lima
JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square
Courtyard San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf
Courtyard Quebec City
Brisbane Marriott Hotel

Please note these changes will go in to effect starting Tuesday, March 8, 2011. 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 that is 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.

Thank you, all. Feel free to visit us at Marriott Rewards Insiders as well!

Regards,

Andrew

Thank you for the heads up Andrew

100 Hotels moving down a category and 350 hotels moving up a category... seems like a pretty sizeable devaluation.

Is there any place where one can see a complete list of changes?

I was afraid Aruba would be affected. Thanks for the warning so I could take immediate action. I can't wait to celebrate my birthday in Aruba again this year.

Oh-so-thank-U, Andrew! +1 Mjh5o's question. I am esp. interested in Cat. 4-->5 changes because of all our MegaBonus max. Cat. 4 awards!

I have a couple of those category 4 certificates as well so the cat 4-->5 changes are important

Thanks for the heads up, but like other posters said can we please see the whole list? Starwood published their entire list and it would be appreciated if Marriott would do the same.

Thanks, Andrew, much appreciated.

Peurot Vallarta must really have seen a fall off from recent events in Mexico as I recall that SPG has also devalued its property there.

At some point soon, could you list the rest of the changes for the remaining hotels?

Thanx.

NJ

All in all, not too bad.

Andrew -

It was requested last year in the 2010 thread and never done, so it is possible to get a list of all the changes prior to it occurring this year or is sartori going to have to highlight the changes again on his blog after they occur ?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...y-changes.html

SPG does this, not sure Marriott can not. You have the information, you just choose not to publish it. Sorry for the negative tone, it just seems like something so easy to follow up on.

Thanks.

Another year, another devaluation in points. Some of those changes are pretty bad... 3 more locations added to the supposedly very limited cat 8 level. Surf Club and Ocean club aren't even a full service hotel... its a timeshare, so that cat8 level will only get you an ordinary room. For a villa its another 10k/nt.

More hotels moving from cat 5->6 means that annual Visa Signature cat5 cert just got devalued as well. I can just imagine all of the hotels going from cat 4->5 which will make all fo those cat4 promo certs worthless.

Andrew,

Thank you for this information.

Could you possibly post the hotels moving from category 4 to 5, and also those moving from 5 to 4?

With the current megabonus free night certificates offering a category 1-4 night, I would like to know which hotels will be a category 4 after the changes so I can make plans.

Thanks!

Another year, same story. Amazed that a hotel loyalty program with such high member satisfaction keeps members in the dark regarding changes determining the use of its most common high value award limited to category 4 hotels

Certainly category 4 to category 5 adjustment will likely be one of the highest proportion of the coming changes.

IIRC last year there were more downs than ups in the heigher category hotels, this year there's more ups than downs.

Last year there were 50 more hotels that went down a category (appx. 350 went down and 300 went up). This year there are 250 more that are going up a category (100 hotels going down and 350 going up). Changes this year are much more dramaticly negative