Thank you fireworksboy for your intelligent response. As a Marriott timeshare owner who annually trades one of my units for Marriott Rewards and has over half a million points, I am obviously in it for the long term. That doesn't mean I can't objectively be upset about the areas where their program falls short.

For me, there are two problem areas. This thread is about one of them - I booked my fourth annual MR stay during XMas week at the Rihga Royal in NY. As a person involved in timeshares, I'm used to planning far ahead. But I also have a Westin timeshare. Starwood is simply more customer friendly - no blackout periods and no need to pay 50% more to get a rewards room. That's not bashing Marriott - it's simply a fact. Booking a MR stay at a popular location at a popular time requires both planning and luck.

The second issue is the value of the points. Five nights at the Starwoood Princeville Resort in Kauai this summer is costing me 48,000 Starwood points. Five nights at the Rihga Royal costs me 130,000 points. The Starwood points are simply worth more. So being worth more and more flexible, I've ditched my MR Visa (except for when I stay at Marriotts) and focus my spending on the Starwood AMEX.

That said, every time I have a nice reward stay at a Marriott, I'm more than grateful for the system and what I get out of it. Just wish they could copy the good points from Starwood.

Because I like Marriott too. I was just comparing different programs with regard to this topic; no need to get defensive.

For me the biggest plus with Marriott is their very extensive selection of hotels in just about any locale. I dropped down to Gold on SPG this year because of that; SPG just doesn't have enough options for my travel patterns. I'll probably concentrate all my stays at Marriott and Hilton this year.

Sorry I ruffled some feathers, that was not my intent. My intent was to ask the question "why would you want to stay at a Marriott anyway?" and get a serious response, because I assumed the poster did stay at Marriott's for a reason, like more properties at more locations throughout the world. More properties at Ski or beach destinations that he/she desires to visit, etc. Thus making the same point a subsequent poster made that each program has its pluses or minuses. Yes it would be nice if they had no blackout dates and unimted availability.

While I understand the purpose of this thread is to discuss award stay availability, the poster to whom I was responding sounded as though he was taking a "slap" at Marriott so to speak. So, my apologies if it seemed I was being defensive.

BTW, my success with availability has been much better than in previous years, but then again I am comparing it with pre 9/11 years. I remember a number of years ago trying to book the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort and Spa 11 months in advance for a January stay and there was absolutely no availability. Last month I easily booked 2 weeks at the same property for next January.

Now perhaps folks are using the last 4 years as their basis of comparison, as opposed to the 4 year period from 1996-2000 when Hotels were full. Back then there weren't post 9/11 empty rooms galore, and we weren't in the height of a recession. So, my contention is that comparing next year's award availability to that of the last few years may not be a fair comparison. Personally, since Hotel rooms have been so inexpensive the last few years I have paid instead of using awards.

I have found it to be not as easy as SPG, but usually achievable with some flexibility.

I focus on these two programs - I've used SPG over Xmas/NY week and other hard-to-get dates, and have used MR at Grand Cayman, St. Kitts, and 2 coming up in Hawaii with a little bit of flexibility.

Yes, SPG is easier to use but the cost of a stay, in terms of nights required to earn an award, is a good bit higher.

I love MR, but the Grand Cayman Marriott really sucks. That is the one destination where I usually choose to stay at the Westin over the Marriott. I use SPG's 50% off rates for 1000 SPG points. Now there is an award category MR shoud consider adding as a selection IMO. Even with capacity controled award availability and no 50% award, I prefer MR and their property selections better.

I just had the opposite award booking experience.
I was scheduled for a reward stay at the Maida Vale Marriott in London this past weekend. The plane I was supposed to fly on broke and by the time it would have been fixed we would have lost a full day if not more because of the time change so we rebooked the air. Marriott was quite nice and able to get me back in to the same hotel with the new weekend dates still for an award stay. I was quite happy.

No apologies necessary for me. :) I didn't mean it as a slap to MR, just wanted to point it out as one of the weaker areas compared to others in my opinion. As others have said, there’s a lot to like about Marriott. The South Bend Marriott where I'm staying right now is a great example- friendly staff, a note and box of chocolates waiting for me in the room, and finally a Marriott bed I I'd actually want to sleep in when home!

I did manage to get a 1 night standard reward at a Courtyard in Orlando this weekend, so I do have some luck with award availability.

Cheers,
mimitche

Slightly off topic, but how did you like the Maide Vale Marriott. I will be staying there this weekend myself and haven't been able to find many reviews of the property.

You must live in the rarified air of Ritz, Four Seasons, and JW's if you think the GC Marriott "sucks" - I've stayed in my fair share of Motel 6's, Super 8's, Courtyards, La Quinta's, etc., in the last 20 years, in addition to the top level hotels, and in my opinion it's better than 90% of the hotels on the planet. No, it's not a world-class resort, yes the St. Kitts Marriott was much better, and I expect the JW Ihilani to be better. But my family was fully satisfied in the top floor, corner ocean view room.

Then again, I'm not all that concerned about rooms, frankly. 90% of my time on vacation is out and about doing things - a hotel is a place to sleep at night.

And back on-topic, we booked that room, plus the St. Kitts room, about 3 months ahead of time with no problem. And no problem booking last weekend for Hawaii in mid-summer.

Perhaps we just need to remember that the three major programs have different strengths and weaknesses re: award availability.

SPG has no capacity controls (strength), but hotels have been known to "game" the system by making zero Standard rooms available via SPG.com, thus making the hotel appear sold out for awards but available for purchase (weakness). SPG features very slow earnings at the hotels (weakness) but awesome comparative earning potential via SPG Amex.

HH hooks up Diamonds with availability - period (strength) and reasonable availability for others. Very few low-end redemption opportunities (even Hamptons are 20k per night in most places) and no breaks for two to four night stays and no breaks on weekends (weakness). Very strong earning potential at the hotels and via the credit card (strength). Everybody who pays enough attention to their hotel programs to care is a Gold, and gets nice treatment (strength).

MR can be a pain for availability, and doesn't bend over backwards for their Golds/Plats even though the levels are comparatively harder to get (weakness). But MR has the most diverse set of property types, is reasonable with their category rankings on both the low and high end, and makes reasonable awards available for 2-4 night stays (strength).

In my own experience, I've never had major problems getting what I want from any of the three programs. That includes 4 award weeks in Hawaii and award nights in several big cities. But I think people here get frustrated when one program doesn't treat them the same way another one does. Marriott has never made a promise to hook its elites up with unlimited availability the way Hilton does Diamonds. And Hilton doesn't really gear their program for you to spend points at Hampton Inn - they tailor it to six-night stays at the top hotels in the chain.

For me, the best course of action is to be active in all three programs. No matter where I go, I know one of them will probably come through.

I'm not trying to wade into a comparative debate about what should be and what is. I don't understand the incredulous disbelief that one might not always be able to redeem a Marriott award on short notice.

As mentioned by another poster one must plan ahead for prime destinations or in-demand seasons/dates as capacity controls and blackouts do indeed exist for Marriott and all other hotels. Stay Anytime awards obviate part, but not all of this problem. In any case, they place the onnus upon the individual to plan and choose carefully.

Fortunately there are lots of chains with all sorts of award programs. If Marriott doesn't float your boat, then try another program as it may indeed work better for your needs and expectations. I myself find MR to be perfectly satisfactory.

Barry

There are obviously times when award availability will be limited or non-existent; that's just the nature of the beast. I bet most people make their vacation plans by booking their award air tix before they book their award hotel stays. Why? Because award air tix are even scarcer. And with hotels, you definitely have more choice.

Marriott has, what, fourteen Hawaii properties now? Name another major hotel chain that has that kind of coverage in Hawaii. There is none. (Starwood has 13, soon to lose one, and Hilton has 3.) Same with Orlando, or NYC, or most any big vacation destination, certainly within the US.

With a good lead time and some flexibility, Marriott has rarely disappointed me in terms of finding something where I want to go, when I want to go. On short notice, yes, it's the proverbial crapshoot. And I do wish they would have a Platinum force like you can get with other chains, especially because their high tier is so much more difficult to obtain. The goodwill it would display to their best customers would surely offset any costs.

But the majority of the time, Marriott does come through. Not always, but apparently enough that we are all still here :)

And a side note to CPRich.....I've stayed at both the Marriott Grand Cayman (liked it, though I know others didn't, and of course this was pre-hurricane) and the JW Ihilani. You will love the Ihilani

Nice analysis pinnipid. Unlike some others, I have had major problems for certain properties obtaining a 7 day award reservation (as part of the travel award package), even when attempting to make the reservation the first day it is possible to make a reservation (almost a year in advance). Yet, Marriott's other strengths (particularly some of the properties, and Marriott's unsurpassed customer service ethic) keep me loyal.

Yes, I too stayed at that property in an ocean view room. It was very basic, musty, and I would put at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to FS Marriott’s. I would prefer some of the nicer Courtyards over this hotel.

And yes, I agree whole heartedly that the room does not make the stay, but other amenities at the Hotel do. Well that is one of the problems with this hotel. It has a 6 foot wide beach, a plain small rectangular pool, and few lounge chairs because there is no room for them. The Westin on the other hand has 100 foot wide beaches, beautiful pool, with two hot tubs, and a swim up bar, and a large quantity of lounge chairs.

Now if you are not interested in a pool and beach then this Hotel is just fine. However, when I get back from diving I like to relax by the pool and go in the ocean. Since MR doesn't have 50% award, and Westin does, I can usually stay at the Weston for half the price of the Marriott. This is the ONE location where I choose the Westin over the Marriott for obvious reasons.

I never thought when I started this thread, it would illicit the response that it did, but I'm glad, since I've learned a lot about the differences between the major chains.

As a side note, I called Marriott yesterday to make a 5 day reservation, using a 7 day stay, in Prague beginning Labor Day weekend. Both the Ren Marriott and the Marriott Hotel had availability. Based on comments posted on this forum when I asked about both hotels, I booked the Marriott.

When I plan a long vacation I plan early, (I already booked my Westin in Puerta Vallarta for next XMAS), it's the getaway weekends, that are tough to plan months in advance. And that is what I found frustrating with Marriott. Well I'm way satisfied with the response to this post.

Thanks. ^