This morning, at the Navy Yard CY, I experienced my first not-even-free-coffee CY experience. It will likely be my last. I'm in the process of canceling all upcoming CY reservations and will try out some of the other companies' similar level properties. Over free coffee, which costs CY about $0.65 a pot, CY is losing $500 in bookings over the next month and probably a couple thousand through the end of the year. Yeah, that makes financial sense. Nickel and diming customers drives customers away.

One more thing about CYs, SHS and FIs...always check TripAdvisor before booking these brands. Many of the properties are pretty old and not in good shape. Many are shiny, new properties with comfortable beds, nice linens and convenient work areas, but you'll likely want to avoid the older properties.

Between hotel stays, Marriott timeshare stays, and credit cards, I should be able to hit top tier status with both Hilton and Marriott this year, and I've found a few cases where a Marriott stay actually makes more sense for me. For instance:

A 5 night stay where HGI would cost $120 but Springhill Suites is $89. (For that difference, I'll go out for breakfast if it's not great.)

A 5 night stay where Embassy Suites is $139 (and other Hilton properties won't work) but Residence Inn is $120.

I'm sure there will also be some award stays (and free nights with the CC) that will work out good as well.

1) With regards to SHS, as far the hotel goes, you should be fine. Beware of some of the older ones, and plan on breakfast out based on your criteria.

2) remember that Res Inn earn only ONE HALF the points, so a lot of long term stays will affect your earnings. And Res Inn is comparable to Homewood, not Embassy IMO.

That's too bad, even with Gold status, you don't get breakfast at Courtyard.

We have an upcoming trip to FL. Looks like we'll redeem 2x25,000 points for the Courtyard at Key Largo (was Ramada and had included breakfast), then at FLL we'll go with some other brands.

Not sure what your needs are for an FLL hotel, but if you just need to be in town and don't care about beach access, the FS North hotel is a Cat 4. While it's not the most elegant full service hotel in the chain, it's a bargain. You get CL access as a Gold or higher, parking is free and they've always been good about late checkouts.

I think Marriott's brand portfolio is a little too cluttered. For instance, two lower-end suite brands: TownePlace and Springhill. Why? What the hell is the difference? Neither is really even all that different from Residence. And then at the top there are a number of barely distinguishable brands... Renaissance and Marriott are pretty much on the same level IMO.

The only sense I can make of it is that it allows larger markets to have many different brands instead of just having 5 Marriotts and 5 Courtyards scattered throughout the city.

There actually are big differences between SHS and RI/TPS...RI/TPS are both extended stay brands targeted to that segment, SHS is targeted towards guests who have shorter length of stays...TPS is targeted towards a guest with a lower spend than a RI guest....the touchpoints are very different between these 3 brands

The big differences seem to be more in theory than in practice...well, to me, at least. I am hard pressed to tell the difference between the three except that Residence Inns are a bit nicer than the other two in the same way that Clarion Inns are marginally better than Quality Inns.

Thanks for the suggestion.

We're flying to FL for a cruise Sat. 2013.08.24. Before that, we're going to Key Largo 8.21-23. The Courtyard at Key Largo is a cat 5 hotel, so we cannot use the certificate we have for cat 4. Too bad they don't allow a way to use the certificate, plus 5000 points, to use on that hotel.

For Fri. 8.23, we were going to somewhere closer to the cruise port and beach. Again too bad the hotels there are cat 5, and we cannot use the certificate. That's where we're now thinking to use our Best Western for 24,000 points for BEST WESTERN PLUS Oceanside Inn, that includes breakfast.

Huh????

RI and TPS have full kitchens, with refrigerators, stoves, ovens, utensils, pots, pans, dishes and dishwashers. SHS has a mini fridge and microwave. That's a huge difference. SHS tends to have nicer mattresses and linen, too. SHS is one large room, usually with a divider. TPS and RI often have separate rooms. And those brands have dining tables. SHS does not. TPS and Ri offer two bedroom suites, SHS usually have only a single room layout per entire hotel.

If I were staying a week or longer, there is no way I'd stay in a SHS. That's not its niche, but it is exactly RI and TPS's niches.

If you look at the physical product alone you'd be able to notice the difference - heck just look at kitchens, SHS doesn't offer them, TPS's are smaller...then look at room evening socials, SHS & TPS don't offer them - RI does....I could go on but what I gather from your POV is that these items aren't as important as they might be for someone else which is why there are so many different hotel brands out there

You're likely right... someone in the habit of booking extended stays would probably appreciate the differences more than i would.

That said, I know that there are differences between the flags I mentioned but it just seems to me there is significant overlap in the array of Marriott brands.

it seems that Hilton offer better hotels in the low-mid ranges. Hampton inn is serviceable while FFI is just awful. CY is OK but HGI gives out free breakfasts. ES is better than SHS and Homewood suites, again, offer a little bit more than RI.

OK. I can stay at FFI or RI for the same amount of points for a three night stay. Which one offers a better breakfast in general?

RI, IMO