Earlier this year, Marriott announced they would be venturing into the home rental market by offering 2,000 premium home rentals in over 100 destinations.
HOME AND VILLAS BY MARRIOTT
It’s interesting to see how the hotel industry is adapting to the ever-changing lodging landscape. Similar to how the taxi industry has faced a lot of competition from ride-sharing services, the lodging industry has faced a lot of competition from home sharing services.
I had largely forgotten about this announcement until recently when I began searching for a hotel near Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and saw this in my search results:
HOW TO BOOK HOME & VILLAS BY MARRIOTT
Booking Homes and Villas by Marriott is fairly simple. You can book properties directly through their website (homesandvillasbymarriott.com) or you can book properties through Marriott’s website. However, in either case, you can only book an accommodation when searching for three or more nights in locations with home inventory.
Marriott launched this initiative with select property management companies that were already managing these homes (e.g. TurnKey Vacation Rentals, LaCure, Veeve, London Residents Club, etc.)
Again, Homes & Villas by Marriott offers more than 2,000 premium and luxury homes located in over 100 destinations throughout the US, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America and allows Marriott Bonvoy members to earn and redeem points for a wider variety of accommodation options.
LIST OF ALL HOMES AND VILLAS BY MARRIOTT LOCATIONS
EARNING MARRIOTT BONVOY POINTS
If you’re booking a stay at one of these properties through Marriott you’ll earn:
- 5x Bonvoy points per dollar spent (the same you’d earn at Marriott’s extended stay properties, though half of what you earn at most properties)
- Elite members receive their usual points bonuses for these stays
- Bonvoy members earn one (1) elite night for every night booked
- Points only post three to six weeks after an eligible stay
- Elite members will receive an elite welcome gift or a special amenity or points
REDEEMING MARRIOTT BONVOY POINTS
Yes, you can earn Bonvoy points for your stay but a better question is “what do award redemptions look like with Homes & Villas? From my calculations, it appears that you can redeem Marriott Bonvoy points towards the cost of a home or villa rental at the rate of 0.7 cents per point. For example, THIS LAKE TAHOE BEAUTY…
Obviously, there are A LOT of cheaper options than the example above but I found there to be a stagnant rate of 0.7 cents per point (which isn’t bad) regardless of the price.
FINAL STAMP
- A four-bedroom cottage on six private acres of California wine country
- A six bedroom villa in Sorrento, Italy with an infinity pool overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and a wood-fire pizza oven
- An oceanfront villa in Anguilla with private beach and a personal butler and house staff
- A 18th century Irish Castle that sleeps 17 and features a private lake for boating and fishing
- A six-bedroom townhouse in London with a children’s playroom and climbing wall
They all sound amazing, yeah?
I’m not sure of Marriott’s ultimate strategy here. Yes, it opens additional options for Bonvoy members to redeem their points, but this is hardly anything to get excited about. Marriott doesn’t own the properties and its nothing more than marketing partnership for existing home rentals.
I do not utilize Airbnb or other similar services often so this does not appeal to me, however, I do see some potential and amazing options if I were in the market for a family vacation “home” in a location that does not have many options for lodging. Many of the properties are quite expensive, so I don’t think this will appeal to the same demographic that Airbnb has but time will tell.
Anyone plan to utilize Homes & Villas by Marriott? If so, what location?
1TattedPassport 