No wonder hotels and resorts have made the lives of travelers easy and comfortable. Over some past decades, the hotel industry has been touching new milestones where it is always striving to offer the best luxurious stays and hospitality to travelers. Also, staying in a hotel is no longer meant for the privileged upper classes. With the change in the hotel industry, an average person can also indulge in a luxurious and comfortable hotel stay to some extent.

No doubt, every traveler has unique expectations when it comes to booking a hotel for their stay. However, Marriott is one hotel brand that has been helping travelers to connect, experience, as well as expand their world since 1927. It is taking care of people and their well-being in the most beautiful way, which is the reason behind its amazing growth and consistency.

About Marriott

Marriott is a hotel brand that is best known for operating, franchises, and licensing lodging that includes hotel, residential, as well as timeshare properties. The brand started with an A&W root beer stand which was founded by J. Willard Marriott and his wife, Alice. But later, in the year 1957, they made a massive shift into the hotel business and opened the first motor hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Over the years, Marriott became a global enterprise. In the year 1969, it opened its first and foremost international hotel in Acapulco, Mexico.

Now, Marriott is highly known as the largest hotel chain in the whole world. It has around 30 brands and more than 8000 properties in more than 139 countries and territories that are helping to connect people and experience great comfort. However, out of its 8000 properties, around 2149 are operated by Marriott, and the rest, 5493 are known to be operated by others pursuant to franchise agreements. It is also known to operate around 20 hotel reservation centers.

PROS

• Various properties
• Variety of brands
• Uniformity
• Four status levels
• Guaranteed elite
• Discounts programs
• Great rates guaranteed
• Lifetime status change
• Various airline partners
• Gift cards
• Promotions are predictable

CONS

• Boring brands
• Properties are aging
• Expensive rewards
• Lounges don’t open during weekends
• Unsatisfactory customer service
• Misleading points, as well as cash awards

What Does Marriot Offer?

The brand is known to offer a lot of exciting things to people that can help in making their stay beautiful and memorable. Here is what Marriott offers:

• Special offers

The brand offers special offers where you can get exciting deals like a dining package, save up to 20% on resorts, and gift cards, shop with Marriott, and shop Westin.

• Vacation options

There is also an option of vacations where you can explore the destinations, homes and villas, residences, Marriott vacation club, all-inclusive vacations, car, tours, and activities, dine and drink option, The Ritz- Carlton Yacht collection, and much more.

• Other brands

You can also explore other Marriott brands like St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin, Courtyard, Edition, Springhill Suites, and much more. Plus, you can also reserve them according to your convenience and location.

• Credit cards

There is also a chance to get Marriott credit cards and get maximum rewards and other exciting deals. You can go for four personal cards or one business card.

• Reward programs

The brand also offers a rewards program which is also known as Marriott Bonvoy. It is free to sign up and allows the members to earn points and redeem them for their hotel stays and a lot more. Plus, you can also get to enjoy other perks like free Wi-Fi, multiple airline transfer partners, etc.

How to book Marriott?

It is easy to book with Marriott. The process is pretty straightforward, and there is nothing much that you need to do. Follow these steps:

• First things first, go to the homepage of the Marriott website.
• At the top of the site, you will see the option destination and dates.
• In that section, you need to fill in your next location and dates.
• After selecting the location and dates, you get the option to select the preferable room and guests. Plus, you can select the rates options like lowest regular rates, AAA/CAA, senior discount, government and military, or Corp/promo code.
• You can even use your points or certificates if you have any.
• Then the site will offer you the best Marriott hotel options, which you can select and view rates to make the booking.

Know Marriott Rewards Program

There is a Marriott Rewards Program for the people who are ready to commit to its hotel chains. This program is also known as Marriott Bonvoy. Signing up for this program is free. Here is what you need to know more about it:

• You can earn redeemable points by signing up for this program for hotel stays and a lot more.
• You can get access to various benefits like free Wi-Fi, etc.
• It allows you to earn points for around 30 hotel brands at 7000 plus properties like The Ritz-Carlton New York, St. Regis, etc.
• You can earn Marriott points from other sources like American Express Membership Program or Chase Ultimate Rewards. In other words, the points from these programs can be converted into Marriott Rewards Program points.
• With Marriott credit cards, you can also collect Marriott Bonvoy points.
• With this program, you can also get the lowest point-value night free.
• The points from this program can also be transferred to 40-plus airline partners.

Membership Levels

The Marriot Bonvoy program offers 6 membership levels, including:

• Basic

It is free of cost and open for everyone. The basic level gives you an instant access to cheaper hotel prices, instant check in from mobile and a complimentary internet in a room. Members will get 10 base points against every $1 spend on any Marriot hotel.

• Silver Elite

Here, members can earn 11 points against every $1 spend along with an extra 10% bonus on the earned points. It also gives you a privilege to check out late. To get this membership level, one must have stayed atleast 10 nights in Marriot hotels in a year.

Otherwise, you can get this level by opening a credit card, the Marriot Bonvoy Boundless or Marriot Bonvoy Bold.

• Gold Elite

In this level, members can earn 12.5 points on every dollar spent at Marriot along with 25% bonus on the points. Along with all the Silver Elite perks, one also gets an eligibility for room upgrade, a welcome gift of over 500 points at the time of check in to any Marriot hotel, late checkouts, etc.

To qualify for Gold Elite membership level, one has to stay for at least 25 nights at the brand’s hotel in a calendar year.

• Platinum Elite

Here one can earn 15 points on every dollar spend at Marriot along with 50% bonus on the earned points. Along with Gold Elite perks, one also gets a lounge access to some Marriot hotels , late checkout till 4pm, a room upgrade to selected suites, a welcome gift such as breakfast, points, or over $100 as a reward.

• Titanium Elite & Ambassador Elite

These two are the highest levels that bring 17.5 points on every dollar spent at Marriot hotels along with 75% bonus on the earned points. The most amazing feature of these two levels is a guaranteed room availability on booking a room 48 hours prior to check in. One also gets an ambassador service, a special perk called Your24 along with all the perks of Platinum Elite.

Marriott – Deals and Promotions

The brand offers amazing deals and promotions to the people, and they are mentioned below:

Latest deals – There are many latest deals that you can enjoy with Marriott like:

• Earn and redeem points on a home rental
• Enjoy 50% off your second room
• Stay longer and save more on multiple locations
• Save on 7+ nights and earn a $25 gift
• Extend your winter travel and save on 5+ nights
• Get away downtown and save on multiple locations
• Courtyard – 2k every day for members
• Dining Package

Credit Cards

The brand offers four personal and one business credit cards. The personal credit cards are:

👉 Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card from Chase –

With this card you can get 3 free nights and maximize your rewards.

👉 Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card from Chase –

With this card you can get 30,000 bonus points and rewards with no annual fee.

👉 Marriott Bonvoy Bevy American Express Card –

With this card, you can get 125,000 bonus points and can get you next trip faster.

👉 Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card –

With this card, you can get 150,000 bonus points and unlock luxury experiences.

Its business credit card is:

👉 Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card –

With this card, you can easily accelerate your rewards. You can earn 6 points for every dollar purchase you make at its hotels.
Also, you can earn 4 points for spending at restaurants worldwide. And you can earn 2 points on every other purchase.
There are many other additional benefits, like a 7% room rate discount, complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status, two free night awards, and 15 elite night credits.

• Reward program – With its reward program, you can enjoy deals like free Wi-Fi, earn points for around 30 hotels, earn points from other sources, and much more.

Why should you Choose Marriott?

The brand is known to have a great reputation worldwide and is known to serve people with utmost dedication and care. Plus, it is not just a hotel brand that has moderate services and deals. To satisfy the customers, it offers various exciting deals and programs that work in favor of people and helps them to save money. Plus, its credit card deals bring in the ultimate benefit of saving money and enjoying luxury to a great extent.

Marriott – Alternatives

There are many alternatives to Marriott:

• Hilton Worldwide –

This is the second largest hotel chain after Marriott and is known to have 6800 properties with 1 million rooms in 122 countries.

• Jin Jiang International Co –

This is a Chinese state-owned company that has around 1.1 million rooms and is globally the third-largest hotel chain.

• IHG hotels and resorts –

This is a British multinational hospitality company that has 6000 hotels in more than 100 countries.

• Wyndham hotel and resorts –

This is the world’s biggest franchising company, with more than 9000 hotels and 22 hotel brands in more than 95 countries on six continents.

Marriott – Cancellation and Refund Policies

Here are the instructions to cancel your hotel reservations with Marriott:

Members canceling the reservation through Marriott’s website –

• After signing in to your Marriott Bonvoy Program, you need to click on the option ‘My Trips’ and locate the reservation.
• Tap on the ‘Details’ options.
• Later click on the ‘Cancel’ option and confirm ‘Yes’.
• You will then get the cancellation number on the next screen.

Members canceling the reservation via Marriott’s Mobile app –

• After signing in to your Marriott Bonvoy Account, you need to click on the ‘Trips’ option.
• Click on the reservation that you need to cancel.
• After clicking on the three dots seen in the right corner, tap on the ‘cancel reservation’ option.
• To confirm, tap the ‘yes’ option.
• Your cancellation number will be provided on the next screen.

Refund policy for Marriott

If you are canceling your reservation that was made via Bonvoy points within the cancellation terms of your reservation, then the points or awards will be returned to your Marriott account. Otherwise, you can contact customer care.

Marriott – Customer care

To get in touch with Marriott customer care in case you have any issues, here is what you need to do:

• You can get customer care service by visiting its site and clicking on the help option at the end of the homepage.
• This will lead to you the customer care option where you can put in your queries to get the solution.
• Or you can always call the customer care team for different countries. The numbers are provided on their official loyalty program page.

Final Thoughts

Marriott is known to be world’s largest hotel chain. It operates and franchises 30 hotel brands, and as of 2021, it is known to generate $20.97 billion in revenue. It has various exciting and beneficial programs for the sake of people. Also, there is no denial in the fact that this brand resonates so well with people in the international market as compared to high-end luxury hotels.

FAQs

• How many hotels participate in their Bonvoy program?

There are around 7000 Marriott Bonvoy hotels participating in their Bonvoy program

• Do the points of Bonvoy expire after some time?

Yes, the points expire after 24 months of their inactivity. The activity is known to include both earning as well as spending of the points. Otherwise, you can always reset their expiration date.

• Is the Marriott Bonvoy program free?

Yes, there is no cost to join this program, but you need to provide your email address to join it.