Confirmed: St. Regis Princeville Kauai Leaving Marriott Rewards
The 251-room St. Regis Princeville, situated on the north side of Kauai, is a crown jewel in the Starwood, now Marriott, portfolio. It is a property that many families have been eyeing for an (affordable-ish) award booking at just 60,000 Marriott Rewards points per night via the combined SPG and Marriott award chart. However, those who have been saving up their points and counting down to when they had enough to book rooms for 60,000 points per night will be very disappointed to learn that the property is leaving SPG/Marriott effective Nov. 16, 2018. On that date the St. Regis Princeville will depart the SPG/Marriott program and become the Princeville Resort.
Thanks to an email forwarded from a TPG reader with an award reservation at the property, we know that all existing cash and award bookings at the St. Regis Princeville will be honored. However, Marriott elite status benefits will not be honored after the Nov. 16 change in the hotel's status. Additionally, you will not earn Marriott Rewards points on your paid stays once it is no longer a Marriott/SPG flagged property.
In my test searches, there are some dates available using 60,000 Marriott Rewards points per night until Nov. 16, but I was not able to find any available dates available on points after the change is scheduled to occur.
The departure of the St. Regis Princeville from the Starwood/Marriott program is very bad news for award travelers who want to stay in a $500+ per night room on the lush northern shore of Kauai using their Marriott points. That said, the property will benefit greatly from an upgrade as it was starting to show its age in some respects.
While the details surrounding the departure from Marriott Rewards have not been confirmed. There have been rumors swirling since the summer that the hotel is being sold to Starwood Capital (which is not the same as Starwood Preferred Guest). The hotel is currently owned by the LACERA (the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association) and rumors that are Starwood Capital plans to purchase the property and spend $80 million to renovate and rebrand the St. Regis Princeville under the 1 Hotels brand. 1 Hotels currently operates properties in New York City and Miami, with other destinations scheduled to come online within the next year.
TPG has reached out to both Starwood Capital and Marriott for comment and will update the story as appropriate.
