Marriott Rewards, Ritz Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest are finally making the move to one rewards program in August 2018! Along with that, comes a new award chart for free nights. There has been some talk of a potential booking sweet spot with SPG and Ritz properties but what about properties that are in the top tiers of the current Marriott Rewards program?
Current vs. New Award Chart
Under the current award chart, Marriott hotels are all fit into categories 1-9. When redeeming points for a free night award, the largest number of points you’ll spend per night is 45,000 points for a category 9 property. See the chart above or go here for all of the categories and their standard redemption rates.
Under the new reward chart, the new Marriot/Ritz/SPG program, all hotels will fall into categories 1-7 starting in August 2018. Category 8 will be coming in 2019. The most you can spend for a standard free night award between August 2018 and the end of the year will be 60,000.
What Happens to Marriott Properties Come August?
Add this question to the list of things we don’t know about the new program! At this point, we have no idea which hotels will end up in which categories. In an article from the New York Times, David Flueck (Marriott’s SVP of Global Loyalty)made the point that, “There are more properties where standard award pricing will fall than there are where they will rise.” This sounds promising but we will have to keep watching as more information comes out.
Marriott Properties to Watch
I’ve compiled a short list of properties that might be worth booking now if you have had your eye on them for future stays. Many of these properties are currently a category 8 or 9 which means you can book for 40,000-45,000 points per night. Under the new program, those properties would have to be a category 5 (35,000 points per night) or 6 (50,000 points per night) to stay roughly the same price.
Category 9 Properties
- Niagara Falls Marriott Fallsview Hotel & Spa
- Aruba Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino
- French Leave Resort, Autograph Collection (Bahamas)
- Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort
- Paris Marriott Champs Elysees Hotel
- Cotton House Hotel, Autograph Collection (Barcelona, Spain)
- Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora
- JW Marriott Cancun Resort & Spa
- Hotel Park City, Autograph Collection
- Courtyard Key West Waterfront
- The Algonquin Hotel Times Square, Autograph Collection
- Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Autograph Collection
Category 8 Properties
- JW Marriott Phuket Resort & Spa
- Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel
- Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay
- Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay
- Residence Inn Mont Tremblant Manoir Labelle (Quebec)
- Niagara Falls Marriott on the Falls
- Renaissance St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort & Spa
- Hotel Punta Islita, Autograph Collection (Costa Rica)
- Berlin Marriott Hotel
- The Hotel Lucerne, Autograph Collection
- Prague Marriott Hotel
- JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort & Spa
- Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites
- JW Marriott El Convento Cusco
- JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes
- Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa (California)
- Koloa Landing Resort at Poipu, Autograph Collection (Hawaii)
This list is not comprehensive and I would highly suggest poking around here to see if there are any other Marriott hotels that you might be interested in.
Are you worried about a Marriott devaluation with the new program? Which property would you want to lock in at current rates? Let us know in the comments!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Marriott Marquis New York City now category 9
Renaissance Hotel TelAviv now category 8 or 9
Given Marriott’s history of bad faith and devaluations, I’d say your concerns are pretty valid. There’s a lot to worry about, but the three tier system for every hotel is likely a bad sign of things to come. Marriott is certainly on a mission.
Looks like another reason to burn points and eventually drop them rom my travel.