Earlier today we brought you the details on the Starwood Preferred Guest hotel category changes and as mentioned we’d bring you the Marriott Rewards category changes as well! The news, well changes from Marriott is worse than we saw with SPG. As of March 6th a total of 1,331 Marriott hotels will be changing categories. Of those, 1,083 are moving up while only 248 are moving down in categories. Of all the Marriott hotels globally the hotels increasing represents 21% of their entire portfolio while those going down only represents 5%. Overall this can be seen as a devaluation as nearly a quarter of their hotels now require more points or higher category free night certificates.
Here in Canada, the changes in Canada affect approximately 42% of their entire portfolio here with 46 hotels going up in category (roughly 30% of their hotels in Canada) but surprisingly only 5 are moving from Category 5 to 6. Granted there are only 19 Category 5 hotels in Canada currently so this a quarter of them. But why is this a surprise? There is going to be an influx of people who will be receiving Cat 1-5 certificates from the end of the Chase Marriott Premier Visa Card on March 15th which means that many more free nights to be used at those hotels. Not all to be used in Canada but I gather a large proportion are redeemed within our borders. Overall with these changes it will leave us with roughly 100 hotels in Canada where you can use that certificate.
These are the hotels moving up in categories this year in Canada:
Hotel |
2017Category or Tier |
2018Category or Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Courtyard Halifax Downtown |
5 |
6 |
| Courtyard Hamilton |
3 |
4 |
| Courtyard Montreal Airport |
4 |
5 |
| Courtyard Montreal Downtown |
7 |
8 |
| Courtyard Toronto Airport |
3 |
4 |
| Courtyard Toronto Brampton |
2 |
3 |
| Courtyard Toronto Downtown |
5 |
6 |
| Courtyard Toronto Northeast/Markham |
3 |
4 |
| Courtyard Toronto Vaughan |
3 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Fredericton |
3 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Guelph Conference Centre |
3 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Kingston Waterfront |
6 |
7 |
| Delta Hotels Prince Edward |
6 |
7 |
| Delta Hotels Toronto |
6 |
7 |
| Delta Hotels Toronto Airport & Conference Centre |
4 |
5 |
| Delta Hotels Vancouver Downtown Suites |
7 |
8 |
| Delta Hotels Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort |
7 |
8 |
| Delta Hotels Waterloo |
3 |
4 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Guelph |
2 |
3 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Kamloops |
3 |
4 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Kelowna |
4 |
5 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Moncton |
3 |
4 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Montreal Airport |
3 |
4 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Ottawa Kanata |
2 |
3 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Toronto Airport |
3 |
4 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Winnipeg |
1 |
2 |
| Niagara Falls Marriott Fallsview Hotel & Spa |
8 |
9 |
| Renaissance Montreal Downtown Hotel |
7 |
8 |
| Residence Inn Halifax Downtown |
4 |
5 |
| Residence Inn Kingston Water’s Edge |
5 |
6 |
| Residence Inn Mississauga-Airport Corporate Centre West |
3 |
4 |
| Residence Inn Montreal Airport |
5 |
6 |
| Residence Inn Montreal Downtown |
6 |
7 |
| Residence Inn Toronto Downtown/Entertainment District |
7 |
8 |
| Residence Inn Toronto Markham |
3 |
4 |
| Residence Inn Toronto Vaughan |
4 |
5 |
| SpringHill Suites Old Montreal |
7 |
8 |
| SpringHill Suites Toronto Vaughan |
4 |
5 |
| The Algonquin Resort St. Andrews by-the-Sea, Autograph Collection |
5 |
6 |
| Toronto Marriott Markham |
4 |
5 |
| TownePlace Suites Kincardine |
2 |
3 |
| TownePlace Suites London |
1 |
2 |
| TownePlace Suites Ottawa Kanata |
2 |
3 |
| TownePlace Suites Sudbury |
4 |
5 |
| TownePlace Suites Toronto Northeast/Markham |
3 |
4 |
| Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Hotel |
7 |
8 |
On the flip side, 18 hotels are going down in Category. (represents about 12% of hotels in Canada) Of note The Hotel Saskatchewan goes down to Category 3 which makes it a really good deal. I’m also glad to see the Delta Hotels Kananaskis Lodge go down a category although in my opinion Category 6 is still high for the quality of this hotel. You really are paying for the location in the mountains.
|
Hotel |
2017Category or Tier |
2018Category or Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Courtyard Calgary South |
4 |
3 |
| Courtyard Edmonton West |
3 |
2 |
| Courtyard Saskatoon Airport |
2 |
1 |
| Delta Hotels Beausejour |
5 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Bessborough |
7 |
6 |
| Delta Hotels Calgary Airport In-Terminal |
5 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Calgary Downtown |
5 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Edmonton Centre Suites |
5 |
4 |
| Delta Hotels Edmonton South Conference Centre |
4 |
3 |
| Delta Hotels Kananaskis Lodge |
7 |
6 |
| Delta Hotels Regina |
4 |
3 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Edmonton North |
3 |
2 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites Regina |
2 |
1 |
| Fairfield Inn & Suites St. John’s Newfoundland |
5 |
4 |
| Residence Inn Calgary South |
4 |
3 |
| The Hotel Saskatchewan, Autograph Collection |
4 |
3 |
| TownePlace Suites Saskatoon |
2 |
1 |
As is always the case with these annual category changes we recommend trying to book before March 6th if you have had your eyes on a redemption at any of the locations moving up a category and if at all possible wait to book for a free night if that location is going down.
You can find the complete list of the hotels changing categories here.