I hope they are.

I have a few nights booked at Marriott; but more nights booked with SPG. I am on the fence as to where to stay in NYC next month and have bookings with both. I think I'm one of the few people on here that likes the Marquis, but seeing that their lounge has been downgraded, it looks like the Westin may get my business instead; after staying at the Marquis for the past 14 years.

I'm not jumping ship but I'm estimating a 33% reduction in nights stayed (to 50 on the nose) due to the changes that are happening including the wkd lounge closures

My 1st MR stay will be the last week of jan and thats ONLY b/c its by far the best deal in town (a really small town at that) and in a town with no SPG/Hyatt/Carlson properties.. there are some PC properties but for some reason are quite a bit higher in price

Hey Trojan,

We will welcome you to Columbus this Sept. We owe you one after the past game. Without a QB we can take you next year.

Sorry, a little OT. The big10 got me. We will see again come Sept. Hope you can make it out.

Starwoods is looking better

I'm having the same issue booking a hotel in the near future in Galveston, TX. I thought blackout dates were eliminated. If I can pay for the room they still have rooms available. Reservations line couldn't do anything. Ira?

Are regular rooms available?

Very unhappy with changes.
 

We always use the 7 night rewards. Since we get most of our points through the Marriott Vacation Club, the increase in points for purchases at the platinum level will not benefit us at all.

We are very disappointed with the changes to the reward system, and are considering opting out of Marriott altogether, Vacation Club and all.

:td: :mad:

It's a play on words when Marriott says, "No blackout dates." What they mean is that everyday will have at least ONE room available to be reserved with rewards points. They no longer "black out" days like christmas, new years, july 4th, etc.. It does not mean that all rooms are available. For that matter, it doesn't even mean more rooms are available.

This has aggrivated me so much!! I make many trips a year to a certain location and have always stayed at the same Courtyard Hotel. This year I have already made two trips to the same location and both times have stayed at the Hyatt Place hotel.

This is really problematic. Maybe I have missed it (on this very long thread), but has this problem been clearly pointed out before? This is a clear (negative) differentiator from SPG and Hilton where, based on my experience and understanding of the rules, there are generally no capacity controls.

This has been discussed numerous times on this thread (and others). The final ruling is, and has been since the announcement, that if there is a "standard room" available for $$ reservation, it will be available for award redemption.

There are a handful of properties that are excluded from this policy completely.
There are some additional exemptions for any hotels for "special events".
If you are Platinum, you can use your override for a $$ reservation, but not for an award.

The only time this gets really dicey is in how a property identifies "standard room", and how many standard rooms they have available.

For the vast majority of the 3500+ Marriott properties, this policy improves a "normal" MR member's ability to use MR awards. However, there are 20-30 properties (I might be willing to even say 50), highly desirable, best of the best, etc that MAY BE less available for award stays... primarily due to the fact that while they used to offer "deluxe" or other "better" rooms than "standard" for more points, they no longer can.

Ditto.....MVCI owners have been totally disregarded!!!!:td:

Evidence has shown that many properties are adding "breakfast" or "airport parking" or some-other-made-up-pie-in-the-sky $5 charge to NOT have to offer the room for MR points stays! :td:

I pointed this out in the early days when this DOWNGRADE(no way is this an enhancement :mad: ) of the once fine Marriott Rewards program was announced.
Marriott has a culture of being deceitful in their business practices.Lying to customers was a matter of course from the very beginning of the Marriott empire.
These examples of making standard rates/rooms "special"and therefore excluded from award inventory is just one more example of the disdain Marriott International has for their Marriott Rewards members.

A bold-faced lie at best or a negligent misrepresentation at worst.

I can't think of a way to post what I'd like to without violating a confidentiality agreement other than to say what you believe is occurring isn't