Marriott offers many great properties in quaint cities around the world. Using their redemption search tool can help you find these hidden gems.
You can run flexible date searches to see award rates for hotels that price at 35,000 points or less (or within 15,000 of the threshold of your free night certificate if you’re willing to add points). These prices don’t include taxes and fees.
Branded Residences
Branded residences, essentially apartments attached to luxury hotel brands, offer owners an alternative form of high-end living. They tend to sell at premiums of up to 30% over comparable developments due to the added lifestyle perks and the brand recognition.
Usually set within or adjacent to their five-star hotel counterpart, branded residences often offer residents access to onsite facilities and even supply exclusive resident-only services. The most luxurious examples offer the ultimate branded experience with amenities such as concierge, butler service and chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce car fleets to name but a few.
The average buyer of a branded residence is HNWI – a high net worth individual with an estimated wealth of around £1 million. These buyers are often cashed rich but time poor, which makes branded residences particularly attractive as they can be managed and run on their behalf. In addition, they offer a strong rental yield of between 3 and 5% depending on when and how much the property is used.
Hotels
Marriott offers a few ways to save points on hotel redemptions including their pointSavers awards which cost 20% less than a normal award. Another option is to use their hotel search tool by brand and category to find hotels that are available for a particular number of points. The tool also allows you to filter for off peak, standard, and peak dates which helps with planning a trip to get the most value from your Marriott Bonvoy points.
Marriott recently suspended verified reviews for some properties during the Covid-19 pandemic but has since reactivated them. We don’t know why they stopped allowing verified reviews but it might have something to do with the fact that hotels don’t want bad reviews posted. However a good review is still possible provided you follow some simple guidelines for writing a great Marriott hotel review.