Marriott Hotels in Hawaii have come up with a charitable promotion for tourists and locals staying in their five Hawaii resorts. A minimum 5-night stay is required. The last night of your stay will be donated to charity. Enter Promotion Code P74 in Corporate/Promotional Code box on reservations page.
Marriott Hawaii “Giving With Aloha” Press Release
The promotional code P74 is the same code used for Marriott’s Hawaii Paradise Plus promotion. Paradise Plus rates give you the choice between free breakfast for two daily or a Hertz rental car.
The primary difference between these special offers is a 5-night minimum requirement for the “Giving with Aloha” charity package. If your stay will be four nights or less you can still get the Paradise Plus package.
Charity donations are down significantly in 2009. The room rate for your last night’s Marriott stay will be donated to one of three charities of your choice:
1. American Heart Association, Hawaii chapter;
2. Kapiolani Children’s Miracle Network; or
3. American Red Cross, Hawaii chapter.
Marriott Hotels in Hawaii participating in Giving with Aloha charity promotion
1. JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa – Oahu
2. Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa – Oahu
3. Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club – Kauai
4. Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa – Maui
5. Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa – Island of Hawaii.
This offer is an altruistic gesture as long as Marriott is not adjusting the nightly rate to mean the hotel is passing the total cost of the donation directly to the hotel guest in the form of higher room rates.
Total Rate Comparisons after tax:
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, November 7-12, 2009; 5-night stay
$1,688.80 Escape Package Ocean View Room with $50 daily resort credit for food and services.
$2,089.80 AAA rate Ocean View room. No additional amenities.
$2,084.15 Giving with Aloha package Mountain View room (lower room category). Breakfast for two daily and one night’s room charges will be donated to Hawaii charity.
$2,366.55 Paradise Plus package Ocean View room.
Rate offers choice of daily breakfast for two or Hertz rental car. (This would be comparable “Giving with Aloha” rate if that rate were available for ocean view rooms. $677.75 extra than the lowest available rate with more flexible resort credit.)
Loyalty Traveler Conclusion: Marriott has a charitable offer, but the charitable portion is being fully funded, or perhaps over-funded by the resort guest.
Loyalty Traveler Advice to Marriott – add higher category rooms to the Giving with Aloha offer. Every participating Marriott resort only shows “Giving with Aloha” rate for the lowest category hotel rooms. No ocean view rooms were found in a check of all 5 particpating Marriott Resorts for November 7-12, 2009.
Reluctantly, Loyalty Traveler gives the “Giving with Aloha” promotion 3 keys out of 5 keys and that is only for charity.
Loyalty Traveler Marriott “Giving with Aloha” room rate analysis in hotel detail.
Out-of-state guest package includes 5 nights in deluxe accommodations with daily breakfast
Hawaii Residents package includes 4 nights in deluxe accommodations; no breakfast.
Sample Hotel Rates at JW Ihilani Resort & Spa, 5-night stay
November 7-12, 2009
P74 Giving with Aloha Package (Room rate for 5th night is donated to charity)
$369 per night Mountain View (640 Square feet, sofa, chair, flat screen tv)
$416.83 per night after tax
“Giving with Aloha” package was not shown for higher category room types on these dates. The following rooms were available as “Paradise Plus” package in website search.
Paradise Plus package with either breakfast for two or Hertz rental car.
$419 per night Ocean view (640 Square feet, sofa, chair, flat screen tv)
$473.31 per night after tax.
$469 Deluxe Ocean View (640 Square feet, sofa, chair, flat screen tv)
Cancellation rules: Cancel at no charge up to 3 days before arrival.
AAA rate 5-night stay, Nov. 7-12, 2009 No breakfast.
$322 per night Mountain View
$370 per night Ocean view Final Price $417.96 per night
$417 Deluxe Ocean View
Setting search parameters to show all rates revealed the best deal for this 5-night stay.
Escape $50 Resort credit per night was lowest available rate Loyalty Traveler found for 5-night stay Nov 7-12.
$299 per night Ocean View (rate includes $50 daily resort credit valid for resort restaurants, resort market, room service, internet, parking, spa, gift shops.)
$337.76 per night after tax with $50 in added-value daily credit for meals, market, gifts, etc.
Hawaii hotels are a rate comparison nightmare. Most resorts have a dozen or more special offer rates. Fortunately Marriott is a fairly user-friendly site for searching rate types.
Preliminary analysis indicated this was a reasonable deal for the hotel consumer who could get a nice hotel room including daily breakfast while contributing to a worthy cause. Upon closer examination, I was surprised to find the availability of the “Giving with Aloha” package restricted to the lowest category hotel rooms while the comparably priced Paradise Plus package that offers the hotel guest the same benefits for the same price includes higher category rooms – but Paradise Plus rates do not include a charitable donation from Marriott to a Hawaiian non-profit.
It seems odd that the Giving with Aloha rate is not available for higher category rooms when the identically priced Paradise Plus rate is offered for better room types.
Marriott is to be congratulated for making a charitable gesture by teaming up with Hawaii non-profits. Too bad my sample rate analysis using Nov 7-12 dates for the JW Ihilani shows the “Giving with Aloha” offer will cost the guest $400 more for a lower category mountain view room than another rate offer charges for an ocean view room.
The lowest available rate found for the November 7-12 dates offers the guest a better category ocean view room at a lower price with more flexible resort credit in $250 to spend at restaurants, gift shops, parking, and in-room services rather than just the complimentary breakfast offer of “Giving with Aloha”.
Na Pali Coast, Kauai
