The marine habitats at Atlantis resort Paradise Island, Bahamas are the unique feature that sets this resort in a higher tier from your typical beach resort filled with water activities, sand and dining. Atlantis has the largest marine exhibits in the Caribbean with 14 lagoons and more than eight million gallons of saltwater. There are over 250 species of marine life and over 50,000 animals spread across the resort grounds.

The first experience I had with the aquatic life was entering the Royal Towers lobby. After passing underneath the rotunda at the hotel entrance, the lower floor is accessible by two staircases and the lower floor has a wall of  glass revealing a massive aquarium.

The Ruins Lagoon appears as the ruins of Atlantis underwater with fish, large stingrays and sharks inhabiting the marine ruins.

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The most significant issue affecting Marriott Rewards members when the hotel reward category reassignments happen on March 15, 2012 is the set of hotels moving from Category 4 to Category 5 that will no longer be available for reward nights with the free night certificates earned in the past two Marriott MegaBonus promotions.

The free night certificates received for MegaBonus and the enrollment free night certificate for Marriott Visa cardmembers are limited to category 1-4 hotels. Nearly 100 hotels are rising from category 4 to category 5 and will not be available for reward nights using these certificates after March 15.

Marriott Rewards members sitting on reward night certificates may want to closely examine the list of hotels in this post rising from category 4 to category 5 on March 15, 2012 and decide to redeem certificates for hotel stays prior to March 15. You can book a stay using the certificate for dates past March 15 as long as you make the reservation before the hotel rises to category 5.

Marriott Visa Premier cardmembers receive a certificate good for category 5 hotels with renewal membership. Check out this list of category 5 hotels moving to category 6 to see if there may be a current category 5 property to book your reward night before the hotel rises to category 6 on March 15.

Next weekend is the first full weekend for March and that means Priority Club 50% discount Last Minute Reward Nights  are back for 84 hotels globally. These half price reward nights are only available for Friday, March 2, Saturday March 3 and Sunday March 4. Bookings must be completed by Thursday March 1.

Two properties that catch my attention are the InterContinental Chicago and InterContinental Park Lane London each at 25,000 points per night.

Holiday Inn CHIANGMAI

5,000 pts.

Holiday Inn Express GUADALAJARA EXPO

5,000 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites AKRON REGIONAL AIRPORT AREA

5,000 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites CHESTERFIELD – SELFRIDGE AREA

5,000 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites CLAYPOOL HILL (RICHLANDS AREA)

5,000 pts.

Candlewood Suites CHICAGO-WAUKEGAN

7,500 pts.

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Here is the list of Marriott brand hotels moving up one category to Category 6, 7 and 8 on March 15, 2012 and organized geographically. The basic trend is easy to see with major international cities around the globe rising one category level for high-end Marriott brand hotels. In the USA the major cities and resort locations see rises.

Florida, Hawaii, Boston, Chicago and New Orleans are locations that stand with numerous properties rising. London, Amsterdam and Paris have multiple hotels rising.

The fact that 132 hotels rise to be in category 6-8 leaves the majority of upward changes in Marriott Rewards, nearly 400 hotels, rising one level from their current category 1-4 level. I will post those changes by geographic location in separate posts.

[click on image to see full size version]

Related Posts:

Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes March 15, 2012

Marriott Rewards Hotels with Category Drop on March 15, 2012 (table showing list geographically)

Marriott Rewards posted its hotel category reassignments for 2012. While my primary complaint about reward nights hotel category transparency for consumers has been addressed with a complete list of hotels going up and down being posted, my other pet peeve is posting a list by hotel brand rather than geographic location.

Here is a geographic quiz to illustrate the issue with no city, state and country being used to organize the Marriott brand hotels for the reward category changes. The answers are at the end of this post.

1. What state has the Courtyard Tyler?

2. What state has the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe?

3. Where will you fly to stay at the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino?

4. Is Courtyard Panama City Metro Mall within a day’s drive of Atlanta?

5. Where will I find the Denia Marriott La Sella Golf Resort & Spa?

Here is a table of the Marriott properties going down in category organized by geographic location. There are five times as many hotels going up than down. The other list will take a little longer for me to organize.

There do not seem to be many patterns or trends to point out except that the Caribbean appears to be dropping. The most overpriced hotel region of the world five years ago seems to be suffering some travel reward drops. The four Aruba hotels are currently already listed at the lower reward category level. These hotels were the same ones that rose to category 8 in March 2011. That level did not last too long.

There are no other hotels in the top four categories dropping a level.

Japan and Egypt are probably a symptom of disaster and revolution that keeps many people from wanting to redeem points for travel in those countries over the past year.

Answers to Marriott Rewards geoquiz:

1. What state has the Courtyard Tyler?  Texas.

2. What state has the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe? New Jersey.

3. Where will you fly to stay at the Renaissance Jaragua Hotel & Casino? Dominican Republic.

4. Is Courtyard Panama City Metro Mall within a day’s drive of Atlanta? Panama City in Panama is longer than a day’s drive and you will might want a vehicle with a winch. That Darien Gap is a tough haul if you want to go past Panama on the Pan-American Highway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dari%C3%A9n_Gap

5. Where will I find the Denia Marriott La Sella Golf Resort & Spa? Spain.

Marriott Rewards this morning released the full list of hotel category reassignments effective Thursday, March 15, 2012.

• 100 hotels are decreasing by one category (3% of Marriott brand hotels globally).
• 526 hotels are increasing by one category (15% of Marriott brand hotels globally).

Reservations can be made using the current reward category rates until March 14, 2012. Reward reservations you already have at a hotel that will be dropping in category can be adjusted downward after March 15 to the lower rate by calling Marriott Rewards Customer Support at 801-468-4000.

The full list of hotel category changes with explanations and a category distribution graphic is available through the link in this FlyerTalk post. The hotel reward category distribution shows a competitive edge for Marriott Rewards with the high proportion of hotels in the lower four of eight reward categories.

On a personal note:

The past three years I have mounted social media attacks primarily on Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors each February and March when the announcement was made that hotel reward categories were being changed, yet these programs refused to release the full list of hotels changing categories prior to the changes taking effect.

Big thumbs up to Marriott Rewards for changing to a fully transparent announcement. Many of us using hotel loyalty programs take our loyalty as a serious investment in our travel budgeting for hotel stays. This is a consumer friendly move by Marriott Rewards. Thank you.

I will follow up this post in the next day or two with a detailed analysis of the Marriott Rewards hotel category reassignment changes.

March 15, 2012 will be the last day to earn miles for Hyatt stays or redeem Gold Passport points for miles in four airline programs including Air Canada Aeroplan, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, Frontier EarlyReturns and US Airways Dividend Miles.

Hyatt Gold Passport announcement link.

There seems to be a trend in the hotel loyalty world of dropping North American airline partners while foreign carriers are added to hotel partnerships. Perhaps this has something to do with the focus on international development of hotel brands while the USA sits on the economic backburner for the time being. Hyatt announced that 170 new hotels in the pipeline will be 70% outside North America.

Marriott Rewards dropped American Airlines as an airline partner in 2011 and recently added Russia’s Aeroflot.

Hilton HHonors dropped Southwest Airlines for 2012, but Latin American travelers have the choice of Avianca/Taca LifeMiles.

The good news is there are still 30 airline partners with Hyatt Gold Passport. In my opinion, when it comes to points-to-miles exchanges, the value of Hyatt Gold Passport points is more than airline miles and I would not trade points for miles without an instant redemption opportunity for a high priced airline reward.

The real opportunity for me of the Hyatt Gold Passport airline partnerships are the occassional high value miles bonuses for hotel stays. And over the past couple of years Hyatt Gold Passport has allowed members to earn both points and miles on several of the bonus promotions.

Reggae music blaring from loudspeakers was a constant  during the 9am to 5pm hours at Atlantis pools. The music I heard from my room in Royal Towers came from the Grotto Pool at Aquaventure water park. Slides, pools, water rides and cafes fill the 141-acre park beside the Atlantis Royal Towers.

Aquaventure rides are complimentary for guests at Atlantis hotels. Thousands of people visit Nassau everyday on cruise ships and a limited number of day passes are available at rates around $120/adult and $80 for children up to 12 years.

The Grotto Pool is one of perhaps four pools that featured a live dj playing reggae tunes with upbeat rhythms and frequent Bob Marley oldies blasting out across the resort.

This balcony sits between the two towers of Royal Towers and stairways lead to the Royal Pool.

Pools off to the sides were filled with stingrays.

Here is the same walkway viewed from my room balcony.

Staff were continually at work maintaining the pool marine life exhibits.

The Royal Pool.

Aquaventure

The Mayan Temple caught my attention where I could see the sharks swimming in the pool at night from my room balcony. One of my best memories of being at Atlantis was sitting out on the balcony in the warm breeze in the quiet hours after midnight watching the animals swim in the lighted pools.

View of Royal Towers standing at the shark pool of the Mayan Temple. A slide tube runs through the pool and riders emerge out in another pool below.

Teenagers, children and adults were loving the water slides of the Mayan Temple.

This photo was taken just after 5pm when the Aquaventure pools and most other pools around Atlantis closed during the week of my stay. I have read the hours are extended in spring and summer.

A children’s water big toy is near the Mayan Temple.

This water feature was wild with little kids during the day with screaming children and exhausted looking parents.

There are snack bars around the pools with burgers, sandwiches, drinks and ice cream.

Sample snack bar prices:

• French Fries $3.75
• Ice Cream $7.00
• Hot Dog $6.50
• Hamburger $8.50
• Pesto pasta salad $10.00
• Roast beef sandwich $13.00
• Drinks ? – prices were not listed on menu in my photo.

Power Tower is one of the other slide features at Aquaventure.

There are a lot of stairs to walk for these slide rides.

Mayan Temple and Power Tower each list four types of slides.

Lazy River Ride and The Current were two rides where an intertube carries you around the park. Two person intertubes are required for smaller children who must be accompanied by an adult.

One of the safety features I liked was the presence of numerous lifeguards and spotters around the rides.

Mayan Temple Pools leading to the Grotto Pool.

The Grotto Pool.

The large Paradise Lagoon was another area of Atlantis with water activities.

These are the Coral Towers hotel buildings in background. The Lagoon Bar & Grill is the shell covered feature. Beneath the Lagoon Bar & Grill are many of the aquarium exhibits at Atlantis including the clear underwater tunnel.

My next post on Atlantis Resort Paradise Island will describe some of the marine life exhibits around Atlantis.

Atlantis Resort is nicknamed “Vegas-by-the-sea” and located on the privately owned Paradise Island 5.5 miles long and less than one mile across just north of the city of Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. A toll bridge across Nassau Harbour connects Paradise Island to New Providence island, 21 miles by 7 miles. The airport is a $32 taxi ride to the western side of New Providence Island. Cruise ships at Nassau port dock in the harbour near Paradise Island. The taxi cost is $4.00 to go to/from downtown Nassau or the Prince George Dock for cruise ships with an $11.00 minimum fare.

Atlantis developed over the past two decades and consists of six different hotels at the resort. Royal Towers is the iconic feature most recognizable as Atlantis.

My room in Royal Towers was the top floor, third window in on right end. The central bridge is a nearly 5,000 square feet, ten room Bridge Suite that was ranked one of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world by Forbes magazine in 2003 at $25,000 per night.

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The Autograph Collection of Marriott is one of the most exciting concepts to come out of a major hotel loyalty program. In the past two years since the launch of this Marriott brand to market independent luxury and boutique hotels, the collection has grown to 32 hotels with the recent addition of two Miami South Beach properties: Winter Haven and Blue Moon. These properties have decent reviews on TripAdvisor. The cost of Miami Beach hotels is astronomical and the ability to use Marriott Rewards points is one way to save on room expenses for this hot spot for hotels.

Winter Haven and Blue Moon are both Marriott Rewards category 7 hotels at 35,000 points per night and 5th night free on award stays.

I have to say that I am not thrilled about the functionality of the Autograph Hotels website. I simply wanted to see what reward category the two Miami Beach hotels are assigned to and I couldn’t easily get from the Autograph Collection home page to the hotel page. It was far easier to just Google the hotel name and go directly to the website.

The Saint Hotel New Orleans is also a new addition to Autograph Collection and is a category 6 hotel reward at 30,000 points per night.

Marriott anticipates having 60 hotels in Autograph Collection by the end of 2012.

Here is the Marriott press release with more details about the three Autograph Collection hotels mentioned here.

Sheraton has a special offer for 1,000 Starpoints when you book a Club Lounge room for stays from February 21 through May 31 and pay with any American Express card.

This deal is not geared for SPG Platinum members who will likely have access to the Club Lounge anyway without booking a higher rate room.

From Milepoint.com:

Bookings made online at Sheraton.com/club or through Starwood’s Customer Contact Centers are eligible. If booking online, look for rate plans DAILYFS or SICLUB to auto-populate. If booking through the Customer Contact Centers, please ask for Promotion Code CL1.

Deal Analysis

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