Marriott Rewards: Pros and Cons

(Copied from a friend’s website)

Pros:

  1. They have a lot of properties in North America. If you are a business traveler, when you travel to some remote areas where there’s no full service hotel around, Marriott chains may still be available.
  2. Consistency: all their rooms are very similar to each other and offer consistent service.
  3. Relatively lower requirement for redemption at its “high-end” Cat. 7 properties.

Cons:

  1. Bad elite recognition at its own properties and hard to achieve elite status. As a GOLD elite (50 nights) or PLAT elite (75 nights), you will only get upgraded to lounge floor with access to lounge or breakfast coupons. No late checkout or suite upgrade like what SPG offers. You only get one category upgrade as a PLAT member at some resort properties.
  2. All their properties look similar; you cannot find any luxury properties other than the Ritz-Carlton hotels. In contrast, other chains typically come with some super luxury hotels. Even worse, you cannot accumulate points while staying at Ritz-Carlton, so probably it should not be considered as part of hotel chain.
  3. Award rooms are typically capacity controlled; you will need to double your points if there is no award room available. In contrast, SPG and Hilton have no capacity for standard room redemption, as long as they have a standard room for sale, you can redeem it.
April 30, 2008 | Filed Under Reviews | Leave a Comment 

Good luck is on my back

The Chinese character on the bag, Fu, means “good luck”. In China, it is common to see the Fu character in spring, esp. during the Chinese New Year.

April 12, 2008 | Filed Under Photography | Leave a Comment