mahasamatman

There were 10 before the change, and 11 after.

I think the Niagara Falls situation is interesting. The Canadian Four Points is +2, and the American Four Points is -1.

damon88

Was happy to see this as this hotel is my "ace in the hole" when I need a few more nights. SanDiego1K is correct that there are awesome restaurant options nearby. In addition to the wonderful Asian restaurants (Tajima- Japanese, Dumpling Inn- awesome Dim Sum, Phuong Trang- Vietnamese), there is also one of our favorite breakfast spots- The Original Pancake House. It is a chain but super fresh and high quality food and huge pancake menu.

The hotel is located just a few block from San Diego's private airfield- Montgomery Field.
(If you do find yourself at this hotel and you are looking for an amazing experience you might try a quick helicopter tour of the city. I have lived in San Diego for over 40 years and never tried that before and then a few weeks ago we decided to try when there was a Groupon special. It was absolutely amazing and I highly recommend to anyone who wants to see how gorgeous our city is. We used Corporate Helicopter, but there are others too. So memorable and fun we are already planning to do again)

cln

Indeed... Anyway with the upcoming drama in thailand and the bath devaluation we will see this reversed next year probably xD

cruisr

CPRich

Not quite as balanced on the Marriott side. Ouch

CPRich

I'm surprised the categories were where they were. It's been quite a few years since I was there, but iirc, the Canadian side was much better and in much higher demand. The Marriott on the Canada side jumped to a 9 this year.


I'm glad to have a Cat 2 back in town - cheap weekend award stay if I need a night or two.

TravelinSperry

Yikes!

TravelinSperry

The Baht is strengthening and tourists are rolling in. https://www.bloombergquint.com/globa...boom-continues.

While Thai hotels do go up and down, not sure why you think it's a given.

Keyser

pretty satisfied with the changes....thanks for the heads up ahmed....

jpdx

I guess what that imbalance means is that SPG properties have been overpriced on points relative to Marriott ones -- a fact many of us have noted (and acted upon) over the past year. It's a shame (if not surprising) that they chose to increase so many Marriott categories, rather than lowering some SPG ones.

Is anyone else having problems booking award rooms? Hakodate seems to be zeroed out until EOS.

mahasamatman

Standard shenanigans when a property goes up. Happens every year. They zero out inventory until the cat change goes into effect. Since they have standard rooms, you can still call to book an award.

Starwood Lurker

It doesn't look like they have any rates at all loaded past August 31, 2018. Not sure why that is, but some hotels in Japan do this.

Regarding from now until August 31, 2018, I can find sporadic availability for award rooms. but then they disappear altogether on May 1, 2018. Checking a range of dates during the time frame between May 1 and August 31, it appears that the standard rooms on the SPG2 rate plan are not being sold at a paid rate either, so it would make sense that no award rooms are available either.

BTW, for those who will go check themselves, don't get too caught up in the word "standard" in the room description. The two room types specific to being offered on awards have already been vetted and they just aren't available on the dates as described above.

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sfozrhfco

It is not as bad as it looks as the vast majority of the Marriott increases were the lowest level brands which at least for me, I don't care much about and likely would not use anyway.

mahasamatman

That means it's worse than it looks. That's where the vast majority of people stay.

rooivalk

If I book a hotel now that is going down in category, can I get the difference refunded once the new rates take effect?