Which hotel chain to maximize points for 60-90 day stay?
 

Hi - I will be staying in the New Jersey area for 60-90 days starting August/Sept...

Would like to know:

1) Which hotel is good (service, cleanliness, etc) around the morristown area?
2) Any deals (double points, great bonuses for long stays , etc) that I could take advantage of?

I am platinum with the Marriott but am willing to give other chains a shot if it is worthwhile..

Thanks

I think Hyatt is due for a nice promotion in the fall, but I've only been with them for a year so who knows if it's consistent from one year to the next.

I don't know the ins and outs of every hotel program, but I know Hilton, at least, has a max # of points per stay. I suspect the others probably do, too.

In such a case, you're going to have to hop hotels a few times when you're about to hit the points-per-stay max if you TRULY want to maximize your points.

There's a Marriott in Bridgewater and also a Westin in Morristown that I like

I will be in Morristown -- I am platinum with Marriott and hence would like to take up another hotel chain only if there are some kewl promos offered.. How is the marriott at Hanover? and how does the Marriott rewards compare to HH, IC, starwood, etc??

I have not stayed at either Marriott, but colleagues who do regularly tell me they prefer the one in Bridgewater, but that's obviously not as short a commute. Why not try both over 2 weeks? I typically stay at the Westin in Morristown but it often sells out and I end up in the Sheraton or Hilton in Parsippany. You could check with Starwood or Hilton about a status match or challenge -- if you'll be staying for 60-90 days, no reason you can't maintain your Marriott status for another year and build up status on a new chain too.

Yes, to maximize your points/status qualification for a long stay like that you absolutely need to break up the stay into multiple different stays at different properties. Hotel hopping is your friend!

A little early to know what all promotions will be going on across all chains in the Aug/Sep timefreame but once they are announced you can then plan your hotel hopping accordingly.

I hardly ever stay at Marriotts since my impression is that anything other than their absolute highest tier gets zero in the way of benefits and they were unwilling to consider a status match at all.

In that area I've stayed at the Hilton Parsippany and found it a decent enough place. Nothing special but certainly adequate.

But yeah with 60-90 days you could rack up quite a lot of points and make a big dent in status qualifications with 2 or 3 programs if you are willing to hotel hop liberally.

For lengthy stays at the same property, ensure that the propert(y)(ies) you select will grant benefits for stays more than 30/60/90 consecutive days.

Until 2008, Starwood had a 30-day limit. It's now 90 days. But this means, Starwood stays of 91 or more consecutive days at the same property get zero points/stay credits.

How many consecutive days in a property before you are no longer a "guest" and are now considered a "tenant"?

It can vary by state but when my job sent me to California the longest we could stay in any one place was 30 days. I don't know if that was company policy or state law.

What does becoming a "tenant" impact??

By becoming a tenant, you are covered by all the rules having to do with eviction. So technically you could not pay the hotel, and they would not be able to immediately kick you out. They would have to go through the courts and file an eviction, give you so many days notice, and hire the sheriff to actually have you removed. And if they make one mistake in the process, the clock resets, giving the tenant even more time.

I think Hyatt you become Diamond after 50 nights or 25 stays..

So after 50 nights at a Hyatt.. switch to another hotel chain and add up some points.. Priority Club is not a bad program as they have Points Break promo (10 points per dollar spend), redeem 5,000 points for a free night using the Points Break promo.. So on a $2,000 spend thats for free nights..

Thanks... so why is it that you (and others) advocate reaching top status and then changing hotel chain?

Isnt it always better to rack up as much points with 1 chain? As an example -- in marriott there is a point redemption that gives 100,000 miles + 7 nights at any of their property (cat 6 - which is pretty good) for 270,000 points... so my intent has been to rack up as many multiples of 270,000 points...

Comments welcome.. thanks again!

If you are talking a block of days without any breaks you need to check with the hotels to see what the local laws are for long stays. In many areas, after some number of days (usually 30) you are no longer a hotel guest but a resident.

The advantage to you or whoever is paying the bill is in most areas, there is no hotel tax on residents, and in many cases, there is some procedure in place where you can sign a form or whatever so that you don't have to pay it on the first 30 days.

The disadvantage is it may not count as a stay at all and you don't get any credit. It all depends on what the local law is which could be at the state or even down to the local level.

To maximize points, I would be hotel hopping on a regular basis. Breaking the stays up will quickly move up the number of stays and any bonus points they are offering at the time.