Miles or Points
 

Not sure if this is news, but I just found out that you can convert Reward points to miles.

10,000 points = 2,000 miles 5 points/mile
20,000 points = 5,000 miles 4 points/mile
30,000 points = 10,000 miles 3 points/mile

I ran some numbers thru Excel. If you except to earn 3,000 or more points during the stay, take the points, else take the miles.

Not sure I understand the logic here. I try to maximize dollar value when deciding between miles and points. At Marriot hotels, my rough calculations led me to believe that if you were only staying 1 or 2 nights, the Marriott Miles program was a better deal than points. For stays of 3 nights or longer you would be better off with points.

Instead of looking at how many nights you are staying, try to look at how much you are spending since that determines how much points you get not the number of nights you stay.

If the bill, for the whole stay (regardless of whether you stayed 1 night or 3 nights) will get you 3,000 or more points, take the points.

3,000 points for one night is not impossible if you flew in on Marriott's partners (25% base points bonus) and/or you are elite with Marriott. It is also pretty easy to achieve if you spend the night in NYC.

You have the right idea seawolf. I used an average price (I think it was $140/night, although that was sometime ago). You are correct in that the calculations need to be tailored to the individual property since some locales (NYC) run up the points very quickly due to high prices. Also, don't forget to include the 2500 bonus miles if you run a calculation for Marriott Miles.

Yes, but some of us have enough miles already and like hotel points for hotel stays. Also promotions like recent 15,000 points for 5 stays invalidates the calculations.