Marriott Points?

[tantoria2]

My husband just started traveling with work and stays at Marriotts often. We are new to the Marriott Point system. Has anyone stayed close to Disney at one of the Marriotts using points? Any tips? We are clueless how this works with all of the different Marriott properties in Orlando… Wanting the most bang for our buck

 

[kamik86]

I have stayed at Mariott's on points. Never Orlando area ones though.

There are two ways I have done free stays:
Free stay certificates generally from some special promotion
Free stay on points

Either way you have to go to Mariott's websites and look up the hotels in the area you want to stay. When you search be sure to click the "Use reward points" box. This will give you a number of points needed for the stay and also list the category for the hotel.

If you want to use points you just pay the points per night when you book. If you have a certificate from a promo for a free night they are often only for some categories (5 and below is common) so you have to find a hotel of the right category.

 

[JaxDad]

I concur with kamik86

I haven't done it in a while, but if you use points to cover only part of a stay (say 2 nights out of 4), it used to be difficult to complete it under one reservation. I always followed-up with the hotel front-desk to make sure it was understood. Maybe their system works better now. It was never a problem, since it is generally good to follow-up anyway.

There are lots of great Marriott properties in Orlando.

 

[minniebeth]

Don't forget that the Gaylord Palms Orlando is part of the Marriott chain now. Very close to Disney property and a nice place to stay~ it is a convention resort, so be aware of that, but no different from a couple of the other Marriott convention properties in the area.

 

[staceyrhood]

The Bohemian hotel in Celebration is owned by Marriott also.

 

[BadgerGirl84]

I've used Marriott points to stay at several hotels near WDW.

I looked for ones that got me the most "bang for my buck" so while their timeshare properties are available for point rental, they take up a lot of points so I didn't book those.

Residence Inn Lake Buena Vista is my favorite.

I've also stayed at Fairfield in Marriott Village and the Fairfield on Canada Dr near Universal. Residence Inns have much nicer breakfasts, but both are nice.

Make sure you check out Point Savers for your dates when you book--I've gotten some crazy deals using those in the past. There are no dates for Orlando area hotels right now, but there may be in the future.

If your husband gets to pay for travel on a personal credit card and then get expensed back, I highly recommend getting the Marriott Visa--the black one where you pay an annual fee. It's worth it for all the extra points and the free night stay cert each year.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/marriottRewardsPointSavers.mi