Elite VIP

Need advice on whether to move forward with Starwood or Marriott. I am currently a member of both and seems like I should choose one or the other to be loyal to for future stays and maximizing chances of maintaining elite membership.

Advice please!!!

GenevaFlyer

Hi Elite VIP,

While I could give you the cookie cutter answer (Marriott because I'm a Marriott member ), I believe it depends on your travel destinations.

For example, for me, the main reason of my elite level membership is that my company's hotel of choice at my two main destinations are Courtyards. Had they been Sheraton's, I'd probably be with Starwood.

The question for you is:
- At your main destinations, is there always an option in choosing between Starwood or Marriott? If not, which one is predominent?

Overall, the advantage of Marriott is the possibility to obtain lifetime elite status and the travel package rewards. That would be the main benefits for me ... but it is a case-by-case decision.

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

AvalancheZ71

Too bad no Marriotts are to be found in GVA.

aaupgrade

If your main reason for choosing one over the other is elite benefits, including access to the concierge lounge, then I agree with the other posters who said pick the chain that best suits your frequently traveled business destinations. If both chains are available at those destinations, then look at destinations you wish to visit for holidays and pick the one that is best for those.

Now if everything else is even, or if your reason for choosing one over the other is wanting to know which program gives you the best award bang for the buck then that is a completely different story and very easy to answer. The table below shows what is earned based on $25,000 spent at each chain, and when redeemed how many award nights you will get at each chain's best hotels for your $25,000. A couple of things about the following table. Bonus points reflect an elite level of Gold in both programs. Credit card points reflect the use of a MR Premier Visa at Marriott and Starwood Amex at Starwood properties. The award redemption # of nights used was the best one offered by the respective program. In the case of the Starwood Cat 7 award points needed, since it is a range, the lowest amount was used.

If web site speed is a factor then definitely go with Marriott as navigating spg.com was painfully slow.

Recreation

If you plan on using the points for personal vacations, check your favorite vacation destination to see what chain has a presence in that area. The only reason that I chose Marriott over Hilton is because the former had hotels in Maui, Aruba, and Hilton Head which were my top 3 vacation destinations.

Cargojon

I went with Marriott over *wood because it seemed that there were Marriott properties everywhere vs. a lack of *wood properties.....for example if I'm cheaping out on personal travel, I can book a CY or Fairfield and still get room night credits....

boberonicus

THAT is a great analysis. What a cool idea to actually quantify the differences between hotel programs. I must admit that my choice of hotel chain was much more subjective and based on first reading both FT forums. But it is cool to know that my choice is actually validated by your hard data.

I think all of your assumptions make sense. Anyone who is trying to decide on a hotel program will be approx "gold" or else, why bother? On redemption choice, I accumulate points so that I can take my spouse to some fairly fab. resort destination, but probably not the very high end, so lower Cat 7 also makes sense. I knew that when I chose a chain, I'd pickup the associated card, so that's well considered on your part.

Nice work! Have you put the same effort into comparing airline/car/other programs?

painintheuk

That's a great analysis! Have you done a similar analysis for other hotel programmes? I'm in the process of choosing, though my analysis may change if my (UK) Amex Plat application goes through and I get Hilton and SPG Gold.

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK.

pinniped

Lots of threads on FT on this topic...definitely search both boards and see some pros/cons for both programs.

My pattern is to stay at Marriott, use SPG Amex as my primary spend card. aaupgrade's example is a good one: you'll get more bang for buck on your revenue stays at Marriott.

The "pros" for Starwood, IMHO, are at the two ends of the Category spectrum. On the luxury end, there are Starwood Cat 7's that Marriott Cat 7 doesn't match. You'd need to redeem your MR points at Ritz, a different award scale, to get something comparable. On the midscale end, you can find nice values for short-weekend getaways to smaller destinations for a few thousand points, whereas you'd probably never redeem at Marriott because the value proposition of the Travel Packages is so powerful.

In the middle - your standard Cat 5 or 6 resort property - the Marriott Travel Packages are a great award. A Marriott 5 would probably align to about a Starwood 4 - still much better redemption value on the Marriott 5.

But it really comes down to: where do you do paid stays? where do you want to redeem? what type of property (extended stay, full service, luxury, etc.) do you prefer? Usually those questions will guide your answer more than anything...

darthbimmer

I agree that Starwood offers good award value at the lower end of the spectrum. aaupgrade's excellent analysis shows that you accumulate points about 3.5x faster with Marriott than Starwood, but Starwood's awards in the 2-3-4k level are 1/5th the cost of comparable Marriott properties. In that range I can find many Four Points hotels, perfectly suitable for trips where I'm more interested in a nearby attraction than whether the hotel is rated 3 or 4 stars. Some of those 4Ps have even been pretty nice.

aaupgrade

I went back to spg.com and looked up a couple hotels as that is all I could do in 1 day. Their web site is really slooooooooowwwwwwwww.

So I looked up Whistler Westin which is a category 4 (but all suite so more points I think but for the purpose of this exercise we will ignore that). I would say it is comparable to the Vail Marriott which is a category 6.

Cayman Westin is a Cat 5 whereas Cayman and Curacao Marriott, and Aruba Renaissance properties are all Category 6. So equating Marriott Cat 6 to Westin Cat 4 is more than fair. Below is a new chart for those who might be interested.

aaupgrade

No I have not. I stayed at Hiltons a couple times and was not impressed. On top of that they don't seem to have hotels at locations that interest me.

Starwood and Marriott do have properties where I frequent. I stay at Marriott mainly due to their MR program. I also stay at Westins and Luxury Collection hotels from time to time and quite often use the 1000 SPG points 50% room rates which are great. That is a big plus of SPG over Marriott; however, you don't need to be elite for them and only need to stay at Starwood hotels every now and then to take advantage of them. And when you do, you usually earn enough points during your stay to make up the 1000 points you burned for the 50% off room rate. My travel patterns allow me to book well in advance which is needed when bookin MR and SPG 50% room rates.

Elite VIP

Interesting analysis and discussion from all posters. My only input here is that the majority are in favor of Marriott over Starwood (duh...this is the Marriott forum!!!). However, I have been quite enlightened with how generous Starwood has been at their properties with upgrades from a "basic" room (as booked) to a "superior deluxe" room due to upgrade as a Platinum member. In fact, I have been astounded at some of the upgrades offered.

I will continue to solicit and consider all input in making my final decision.

THANKS!!!

pinniped

Long ago, I had a huge Excel spreadsheet where I did an analysis of four programs: MR, Hyatt, HHonors, and SPG. I looked at four types of awards: cheap weekend, full-service beach resort, Travel Packages ("Nights & Flights"), and the top-shelf luxury property.

I distinctly recall Starwood winning on cheap weekend, Marriott winning on the beach resort with Hilton nipping at its heels, and Starwood winning on the luxury property because, at the time, they only had 6 categories and the St. Regises were in the system, unlike Ritz which has a separate scale. Marriott also won big with the Travel Packages.

Two limitations at the time were the fact that Hilton doesn't really have a luxury category in the same sense as the St. Regis and Ritz brands. I didn't count Conrad or JW Marriott at that level - those are nice brands but not the same as St. Regis or Ritz.

The second limitation was Hyatt. Since Hyatt doesn't have a credit card, those stays effectively yield a mix of Gold Passport and Starpoints. So that watered down the Hyatt yield, even when I threw in a little 'kicker' for the free SPG nights you get from a high volume of Hyatt stays. If I did this analysis again, I might try to predict the non-points promotions, in which Hyatt would look better thanks to regular FFN promos. (But where do you draw the line? Marriott's Elite Exclusive Offers, Hertz Promotion, and Bonus Bucks are very effective non-points promos.)

I will look for that spreadsheet... I even had the status levels programmed in so it knew when you crossed the various elite levels... (Yes, I'm a geek.)

AA53

I have lifetime status as Marriott Platinum. I called SPG and they comped Platinum status so I have both for over a year. I think SPG only demotes you one level per year since I won't requalify. This strategy gives you the best of both worlds. Marriott wins in my book because of more properties. Wood properties are higher end but limited in number. FYI, my experience as a Platinum Starwood traveler isn't great...few perks that I have seen.