Dave at Miles Talk has come across some interesting new Marriott Bonvoy opportunities in Barbados. They’ve added seven Elegant Hotels properties, six of which are all-inclusive and all of which are bookable on points.
The seven properties are:
- Colony Club (not all-inclusive)
- The House (adults only)
- Crystal Cove
- Treasure Beach (adults only)
- Waves Hotel & Spa
- Turtle Beach
- Tamarind
All of these properties are category 8 which means they’re priced in the following way:
- Off-peak = 70,000 points
- Standard = 85,000 points
- Peak = 100,000 points
That’s a hefty number of points, but the fact that these are all-inclusive resorts means there’s the potential for award stays to be good redemptions. As always though, it’s worth doing the math because in many cases it’s a poor redemption option.
For example, in July and August Treasure Beach can be booked for only $367 per night. For those same dates you’d be looking at redeeming 70,000 or 85,000 points per night. The 85,000 point level offers a redemption value of 0.43cpp which is very poor for Marriott Bonvoy points. Even at the 70,000 point rate you’re looking at a 0.52cpp redemption.
It seems like The House is the most expensive of the six all-inclusive properties. Award availability there doesn’t seem to be quite as good, but the higher cost means the redemption level is more like 0.66cpp for the dates I checked. Again, that’s not great, but it’s not as painful as redeeming for well under half a cent per point.
An added benefit of the six all-inclusive properties is that they’ve all been included under Marriott’s Autograph Collection brand. For those with elite status, free breakfast will be a moot point seeing as they’re all-inclusive. However, it does mean that you’d be eligible for room upgrades. Update: Marriott tells us that these properties will actually remain unbranded, which one would assume means that they will not be recognizing elite benefits.
When checking room types at The House, award stays can book straight in to a Luxury Garden View or Ocean View room. There are other room types though, such as a Junior Suite and 1 Bedroom Suite, both of which have ocean views, so hopefully they’re generous with room upgrades.
Despite not being an all-inclusive resort, Colony Club might be worth considering nonetheless due to the room types available. That’s because when booking with points you can book straight in to a Luxury Swim Up room.
For anyone looking for a kid-free experience from both your own kids and other people’s, The House and Treasure Beach are adults-only resorts.
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you got me all excited until I read they are cat 8