How do Courtyard by Marriott hotels compare to Holiday Inn hotels?

Definitely Courtyards in general. Nice rooms, good service ...

The only downside of Courtyards is they tend not to have great restraunts/lounges (the only exception I've seen to this is the Crystal City Courtyard).

Do we still get Marriott points for Courtyard stays????

Courtyard is far more consistent than HI. The best HI is better than any Courtyard, but with HI you take your chances.

Courtyard have been stamped out like cookies by Marriott for the last 10-15 years.

How about the other Marriott brands like Fairfield Inn and Towne Suites? How do they compare to the Holiday Inn brands?

I have never stayed at a Towne Suites, but I have found Fairfield Inns to be decent. They are good in out of the way locales where you never know what you might get at non-chain hotels/motels. They are consistent (a Marriott trait) if a bit bland, and the price is tough to beat. They compare well with HI Express properties, although HI Express has a larger range of property conditions. I've been in some very nice HI Express and a few deplorable ones. If you absolutely can't get information on the quality of a particular property and have a choice between Fairfield and HI Express, I would go with Fairfield.

EMD ~ Yes, you still get Marriott Rewards points at Courtyard, or any of the other Marriott brands (Fairfield, TowneSuites, Residence Inn).

Flyaway ~ I've never stayed at a Fairfield, but the folks around here don't seem to mind them.

I've stayed at a TowneSuites Inn once ... and it will be only once. It was terrible. Service sucked, rooms were cheap, the place stunk ... it was an all around bad experience. Stick to Residence Inn instead of that place, you'll be much better off!

You get Marriott points but from what I understant, the stays do not count toward the Marquis level requirements.

That's correct, mainly because some (or maybe all ...) of the other hotels in the Marriott branding have their own elite levels, including Courtyard.

Personally I think Marriott has a great system, and they are definitely my second favorite after Hyatt.

You have a single member number and a single point account and you can have multiple levels of membership for the different chains associated with that one account (Marriott Club Marquis, Fairfield InnSiders, Courtyard Club) and if your chain of choice is not available you can stay somewhere else and at least earn points in that same account.

My only problem is that it takes *forever* to earn enough points for free stays it seems. I've stayed at Courtyards (say 10 nights) and Marriotts (another 8 nights or so) and the one terrible night in Towneplace suites, plus a few Hertz rentals (1500 points) and I'm still going to have to redeem 16000 Membership Rewards points just to get a free two night weekend stay (35000 points) in Annapolis this year. That's why I prefer Hyatt ...

Beckles: Have a big meal and a few good wines at the restaurants will boost your points significantly--and your bill of course. Get a Marriott Card for that purpose--I have one that comes with Gold Marquis status gauranteed regardless of actual staying in the previousl year. Add in the 25% airlines bonus and 15% rental card bonus, I get a free night for every three stays.

How did you get your guaranteed Gold Marquis status?

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TheAuditor: How did you get your guaranteed Gold Marquis status?

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Get the Marriott affiliated Visa card and receive Gold Marquis status as long as you maintain the Visa card. The annual fee is waived the first year and there is a signup bonus (5,000 or 10,000 points). Also the points per dollar with the Visa card is better than what you would get with Amex membership rewards.

Stays at Courtyards and Fairfield Inns also do not qualify for the elite bonus (20% for Gold).

The 10% bonus for Hertz rental is LONG gone (replaced by 150 pts in 1997). As of Apr 1 1999, the Hertz bonus and the 25% airline bonus are also gone.

In general, I find that Fairfield Inns and Holiday Inn Express properties are fairly decent for the newer properties (some older properties have been converted and are not as nice). I like the free unlimited local and 800 number calls at those properties.

What did Gold Marquis consist of?

Marquis was the original name for the Marriott Rewards program. Sometime during the late 1990s, Marriott began combining their various frequent stay programs (Marquis, Courtyard Club, etc.) into one big program. Around 2000, they formally came out with their current program, Marriott Rewards.

Gold Marquis was the first level elite status. Basically equivalent to Silver elite status today. If you want to know more about Marriott's old rewards program(s), you can do a search on 'Marquis' in this forum.