In many business cities Marriott owns apartment-like hotels, often booked for longer periods of time. Although they are Marriott owned they come with considerably less perks for reward members. Therefore, if you are booking longer stays you have to choose between an apartment-like room, complete with kitchen and a washing machine or the perks you get as a rewards member.
A room at the Mayfair Executive Suites in Bangkok is commonly priced $110-200 for a basic room. When you consider the size of the room and the fact that it has a kitchen, you’ll think that it’s a much better deal than the slightly more expensive Renaissance or JW Marriott close by. To me the bigger room makes up for the slightly outdated decor and slightly out-of-the-way location. It also didn’t hurt that we got upgraded to a much larger two bedroom/two bathroom suite. There was a giant flat screen T.V. in both bedrooms and the living room. We would sit in the living room just so we didn’t feel like we were wasting the gift.
I found out the hard way that they don’t accept Marriott Gift Cards at Executive Suites. They gave me the option to cancel but I figured that if I’m going to be a good Marriott Platinum member, I should at least test out this type of property. So we stayed but the disconnect from the rewards program is going to keep me from returning. (Find out how to get free Marriott Platinum Status).
Instead of earning 10 points per dollar, at Marriott’s Executive Suites you only earn 2.5 points per dollar. And instead of earning 1 stay and 1 elite qualifying night, I earned 1/3 of a stay/night. Not at all helpful. If I had stayed at one of the other hotels in the area I could have earned enough points with the current promotions to more than make up for the price difference.
Yes, the suites have a kitchen, but the Renaissance and JW have great club lounges. But it seems to me that the type of person who is willing to stay at the Mayfair for a week or more, is the type of person that could easily earn Platinum Membership. So let me lay it out there. Would you rather: pay for your own groceries, cook in your room and do your dishes OR; eat at the luxurious club lounge for free?
To me it’s a no brainer. In the areas you think you would save by staying at the suites, you could actually have free benefits at the 5 star partners. And the slightly cheaper upfront cost is more than made up for by their current promotions. I currently earn nearly 6,000 points per stay at the partners and with this quarters Megabonus promo, after two nights I earn a free night certificate.
The Mayfair and other Executive suites have their appeal, for certain. But still, I can’t neglect a good loyalty program. Their points can be redeemed at some really nice hotels including Ritz Carlton brand hotels. If you found this post on google in consideration of a stay at an Executive Suites first do some research about their current promotions. If they have no promotions tempting you then it’s basically suite vs club lounge. If they do have a good promo running, stay at a normal hotel and rack up those points. After all, isn’t a Ritz Carlton nicer than the Mayfair?
