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Marriott Rewards has introduced an offer for members taking a weekend break in Paris this fall. Although you have to be a Marriott Rewards member to book this offer, membership of Marriott Rewards is free so, in reality, the offer is open to all.
The offer runs for stays between 16 October 2015 and 7 January 2016 and bookings must be made by 31 December 2015 – nothing particularly onerous there.
The Offer:
Stay in one of 13 participating Marriott Paris properties, on Friday-Sunday nights, during the promotional period (Friday or Saturday stay required) and receive the following:
- 10%, 15% or 20% discount depending on hotel and room category booked.
- Bonus 2,000 Marriott Rewards points per stay.
- Breakfast for two.
- Free WiFi
The “free WiFi” part of the offer is somewhat pointless as all Marriott Rewards members have been entitled to free WiFi since 15 January this year (providing they book their stay directly with Marriott). Per Marriott.com:
All Marriott Rewards® or The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® members (“Rewards members”) who book on a Marriott® direct booking channel will receive free standard/“essential” in-room Wi-Fi at participating hotels worldwide beginning on January 15, 2015. Marriott direct booking channels are defined as our worldwide reservations centers, a Marriott hotel or an official Marriott website.
The 2,000 bonus Marriott Rewards points isn’t strictly accurate either but for once the inaccuracy is in the consumer’s favour – some hotels are offering larger bonuses (up to 10,000 MRPs) as you’ll see further in this article.
Terms and Conditions:
The full terms and conditions can be found on the promotion page, but here are the highlights:
- Use promotion code MRP to book
- Back-to-back stays are considered 1 stay
- Members who have elected to earn miles are not eligible
- Rates & discounts can only be applied to one regular room per stay per member
- Offer not available to groups of 10 or more rooms
Once again there’s an inaccuracy in the T&Cs. The T&Cs say that the offer only applies to a “regular room” booking but I found at least one example of a hotel offering a Junior Suite in the offer – see later in this article.
Participating Hotels:
AC Hotel Paris Le Bourget Airport
Courtyard Paris La Defense West – Colombes
Paris Marriott Champs Elysees Hotel
Paris Marriott Charles de Gaulle Airport Hotel
Paris Marriott Rive Gauche Hotel & Conference Center
Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe Hotel
Renaissance Paris Hippodrome de St. Cloud Hotel
Renaissance Paris La Defense Hotel
Renaissance Paris Le Parc Trocadero Hotel
Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel
Exclusions:
- Paris Marriott Champs Elysees Hotel is not available from 16 October – 1 November 2015.
- Renaissance Paris Vendome is not available from 24 December 2015 – 24 January 2016.
The dates on the last exclusion appear a little strange considering the promotion ends on 7 January 2016….but never mind!
Non-Participating Hotels
Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel
Courtyard Paris Boulogne
Marriott’s Village d’Ile-de-France
So, is the offer any good?
When offers like this come around it’s always good to check how the “offer rates” and the “regular rates” stack up. I’ve found, on more than one occasion, that the offers aren’t quite so good when you take a good look at what you’re getting (see this post for an example of what I mean).
In this case, however, things look promising.
I picked a random weekend during the promotion period (6 – 8 November) and priced up the Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel. First I checked to see what the “best available” rates were:
And then I took a look to see what the rates looked like, on the same dates, when I added the promotion code (MRP):
On the “Superior” room that’s a 15.5% saving and, on the “Prestige” room, there’s a 6% saving despite the fact that the T&Cs specifically say that the promotion is only valid for “a regular room”.
Add to this the fact that you’re also getting a bonus of 5,000 MRPs (not 2,000 as the T&Cs suggest) and breakfast for two and you can start to see that this isn’t a bad offer.
But the offer is actually even better.
A quick look at the rate details for the Superior room shows that the promotional rate is flexible, so you can cancel the reservation, with no penalty, up to 1 day before arrival – that’s fantastic.
I took a look at the “flexible rates” that are being changed (without adding the promotion code) and this is what came up:
So, if we’re compare the promotional rates to the “best flexible rate” (which, remember, doesn’t include breakfast or the bonus MRPs) we see that the discount on the Superior room is actually 24.6% and the discount on the Prestige room is 15%.
By booking the Superior room you’re actually getting a bigger discount than the promotion suggests!
I also checked the Paris Marriott Champs Elysees and found that you could earn up to 10,000 MRPs depending on what room you booked……
……and you could also save between 10% and 20% compared to the best flexible rates.
While the offers at the above hotels are definitely worth considering if (a) you want to visit Paris and (b) they’re in a price range you’re happy with, it’s not all good news.
Despite the T&Cs clearly stating that the offer is only valid on “regular rooms”, It looks like some hotels are only offering premium rooms with the discount.
The Renaissance Paris Arc de Triomphe only offered a Junior Suite and a “Paris Sky View” room when I picked a random weekend in December….
……but, when I removed the promotional code, I was given a lot more choice and at lower rates:
Granted the Junior Suite is discounted by 15% and you also get a bonus 5,000 MRPs, but you can book a regular room for 12% less. Even if you want breakfast thrown in, the regular room would still save you 5.5% (although I’d suggest getting out of the hotel and having a cheaper, more authentic breakfast somewhere in Paris).
Put simply, if you don’t actually need a Junior Suite this isn’t a fantastic offer. If you’d like to try a Junior Suite then this is a good way to get a cheap upgrade.
Conclusion
The offer is definitely worth considering if you’re thinking about visiting Paris. Not all the hotels are offering the same rooms in the promotion as they’re offering at regular rates so make sure you check both options before you book.
I value Marriott Reward points at around the 0.7 cents mark so the bonus points are nice but hardly life changing (or enough to sway my decision). If, after you’ve compared the room rates, you’re still on the fence about booking then don’t let a few MRPs sway your decision – they’re not that valuable.
(HT: John at Loyalty Lobby for highlighting this offer)
Featured image: Joe deSousa via Flickr
