You can now redeem Marriott points for private-island retreat in the Seychelles
Back in November, we learned that an incredibly-exclusive resort — the North Island Resort in the Seychelles — would be joining the Marriott Bonvoy program under the Luxury Collection brand. This private-island paradise consists of just 11 villas, and with room rates of $6,000+ per night, there was rampant speculation of how this would fit into Marriott's award chart — especially when language was added to the program's terms and conditions that indicated it would be higher than the current top rate (100,000 points per peak night at Category 8 locations).
Well now we have our answer. As of today, you can now book award rooms at this incredible property, though it'll cost you. Each night will set you back 365,000 Marriott points, worth $2,920 based on TPG's most recent valuations — and that's before taking into account the required helicopter transfer to and from the resort, which will set you back another 1,628 Euros (~$1,760).
A Marriott spokesperson confirmed this information in an email to TPG this morning:
"We are excited to announce that North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort in the Seychelles will start participating in Marriott Bonvoy later today. As you know, this exclusive, 11 villa private island resort commands a very high average daily rate far in excess of all other participating properties. As a result, the nightly award rate will be 365,000 points per night ...The redemption rate includes breakfast, complimentary use of an island buggy, morning yoga, kids activities and more."
He went on to point out that this was just a starting price, and if the average daily rate changes "significantly" in the future, the rate may be recalibrated. However, he also stressed that this "would not be done dynamically," and after following up, he confirmed the property would have peak and off-peak dates, just like the rest of the Marriott portfolio. However, those rates are calibrated monthly as opposed to dynamically, but given the already-high award rate plus the required out-of-pocket cost for transfers, one would hope there wouldn't be notable increases.
He also stated the property will not participate in Points + Cash, nor would it be available as a PointSavers redemption.
There's no debating that this is a lot of Marriott points to spend on a single night. However, with base rates that start at 5,225 Euros (~$5,650 based on current exchange rates), it's nowhere near as bad as it could've been.
In searching availability online, it appears that award availability is now loaded, and I even see some dates falling slightly below the stated price.
Unfortunately, it appears that Marriott's fifth-night free benefit doesn't fully apply, as a five-night stay is pricing at 1,705,000 points — or an average of 341,000 points per night.
The rate details show you're technically still getting a benefit of 85,000 points off — which happens to be Marriott's standard nightly pricing for a Category 8 property. However, if you were hoping that a full night would be taken off, you're out of luck.
Finally, I haven't been able to get the flexible search feature on Marriott's site to display award availability, so there's no easy way to quickly see award prices across dates at this point.
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