Best place to use an "up to 40,000 points certificate" in California

[Ann in CA]

We have one MR "40,000 point certificate" (one night) to use by 12/31/19. Had thought we'd use it when we were at Newport Coast Villas, but had to race home to evacuate Healdsburg due to the fire. Now we are trying to catch up. We live in the SF Bay Area, but will be in Southern CA, Carlsbad at Four Seasons Aviara, for a week in mid December. What is the best way to search for a 40,000 night, now that with flexible pricing we cannot just go by category? Was going to call Marriott Rewards for some help, but many Tuggers are more knowledgeable about hotels ambiance, etc. than the reps. If any one knows of a great "40,000 point a night" hotel within decent driving distance we'd love to try to add it in either Southern or Northern CA.
Thanks!
Ann

 

[mjm1]

We have one MR "40,000 point certificate" (one night) to use by 12/31/19. Had thought we'd use it when we were at Newport Coast Villas, but had to race home to evacuate Healdsburg due to the fire. Now we are trying to catch up. We live in the SF Bay Area, but will be in Southern CA, Carlsbad at Four Seasons Aviara, for a week in mid December. What is the best way to search for a 40,000 night, now that with flexible pricing we cannot just go by category? Was going to call Marriott Rewards for some help, but many Tuggers are more knowledgeable about hotels ambiance, etc. than the reps. If any one knows of a great "40,000 point a night" hotel within decent driving distance we'd love to try to add it in either Southern or Northern CA.
Thanks!
Ann

Depending on whether you want to drive to or from on Highway 5 or 101, you could consider finding a hotel en route. We stayed at a Residence Inn in Oxnard (near the river) using a category 5 certificate. That would put you north of LA and make either your drive to SoCal or back to NorCal shorter. I usually just look on the hotel site to find a room we want. Have a great trip.

Best regards.

Mike

 

[BigMac]

If you are going Mid December the chances are you will be able to get an off-peak rate. Cat 6 hotels off peak rate is 40,000 points. So go to the Marriott Hotel website. Put in something like San Diego or Orange counties. Use the filter at the top to pick cat 6 hotels and Brands. Put in the date range and that you want to use points. You should be able to find some really nice hotels such as The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, The Lido House in Newport Beach or the Laguna Cliffs Marriott at Dana Point

 

[Ann in CA]

If you are going Mid December the chances are you will be able to get an off-peak rate. Cat 6 hotels off peak rate is 40,000 points. So go to the Marriott Hotel website. Put in something like San Diego or Orange counties. Use the filter at the top to pick cat 6 hotels and Brands. Put in the date range and that you want to use points. You should be able to find some really nice hotels such as The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, The Lido House in Newport Beach or the Laguna Cliffs Marriott at Dana Point

If you are going Mid December the chances are you will be able to get an off-peak rate. Cat 6 hotels off peak rate is 40,000 points. So go to the Marriott Hotel website. Put in something like San Diego or Orange counties. Use the filter at the top to pick cat 6 hotels and Brands. Put in the date range and that you want to use points. You should be able to find some really nice hotels such as The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, The Lido House in Newport Beach or the Laguna Cliffs Marriott at Dana Point

Depending on whether you want to drive to or from on Highway 5 or 101, you could consider finding a hotel en route. We stayed at a Residence Inn in Oxnard (near the river) using a category 5 certificate. That would put you north of LA and make either your drive to SoCal or back to NorCal shorter. I usually just look on the hotel site to find a room we want. Have a great trip.

Best regards.

Mike

Thanks! I'll start checking those out, and looking around online. Love driving up the coast, where the choices are more interesting, but weather this time of year makes 5 our usual route.
Ann

 

[tahoe]

Santa Barbara or Monterey might be a nice stop. Ritz Carlton in Santa Barbara shows up at 50k if you can somehow add to your 40k.

 

[VacationForever]

I am curious how did you get your 40K certificate. We get the 35K ones from the AmEx and Visa cards and 50K for the Brilliant ($450) card.

 

[frank808]

I am curious how did you get your 40K certificate. We get the 35K ones from the AmEx and Visa cards and 50K for the Brilliant ($450) card.

You can choose free night when you hit 75 nights in calendar year staying at Marriott resorts. It is not an annual free night certificate from credit cards.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

 

[VacationForever]

You can choose free night when you hit 75 nights in calendar year staying at Marriott resorts. It is not an annual free night certificate from credit cards.

Sent from my SM-T377P using Tapatalk

Gotcha. Thanks.

 

[Xpat]

We have one MR "40,000 point certificate" (one night) to use by 12/31/19. Had thought we'd use it when we were at Newport Coast Villas, but had to race home to evacuate Healdsburg due to the fire. Now we are trying to catch up. We live in the SF Bay Area, but will be in Southern CA, Carlsbad at Four Seasons Aviara, for a week in mid December. What is the best way to search for a 40,000 night, now that with flexible pricing we cannot just go by category? Was going to call Marriott Rewards for some help, but many Tuggers are more knowledgeable about hotels ambiance, etc. than the reps. If any one knows of a great "40,000 point a night" hotel within decent driving distance we'd love to try to add it in either Southern or Northern CA.
Thanks!
Ann

I have the same “problem”. I’ve booked one night at the Ritz Carlton Marina del Rey which was 40k points for my dates. Not sure if it’s the best use for my certificate but the room rate is $400+

 

[Ann in CA]

I am curious how did you get your 40K certificate. We get the 35K ones from the AmEx and Visa cards and 50K for the Brilliant ($450) card.

Frank is right. It was from going above the 75 nights last year. The problem is matching up with our other reservation, but looks like The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe (40,000 points) should work for our last night in Southern California and get us home before Christmas. We are close this year, but we had two Ritz Carlton stays which did not count for nights credit, and I can't see just adding nights at somewhere we don't really want to be, combined with the difficulty of booking around Christmas and New Years. If we had points I had to use or lose, maybe, but we're OK this year.

 

[Ann in CA]

If you are going Mid December the chances are you will be able to get an off-peak rate. Cat 6 hotels off peak rate is 40,000 points. So go to the Marriott Hotel website. Put in something like San Diego or Orange counties. Use the filter at the top to pick cat 6 hotels and Brands. Put in the date range and that you want to use points. You should be able to find some really nice hotels such as The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, The Lido House in Newport Beach or the Laguna Cliffs Marriott at Dana Point

Thanks. Looks like The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe (40,000 points) will work for our last night in Southern California!

 

[Ann in CA]

I have the same “problem”. I’ve booked one night at the Ritz Carlton Marina del Rey which was 40k points for my dates. Not sure if it’s the best use for my certificate but the room rate is $400+

Good luck! You got better value for your points. Think The Inn at Santa Fe is only $260 or ? Will have to check when I actually book.

 

[Ann in CA]

Santa Barbara or Monterey might be a nice stop. Ritz Carlton in Santa Barbara shows up at 50k if you can somehow add to your 40k.

We love that area, but since we are on flood watch now outside Healdsburg due to the burned hills, my husband wants to just streak down 5 and not chance any mudslides on the highway. We should have used that certificate earlier!

 

[Big Matt]

Take a look at the Lido Hotel in Newport Beach. Some of the rates show off season of 40k in December. Cool Autograph Collection property. Also, look at the Hotel Paradox in Santa Cruz, another AC property. You could get upgraded to a suite there also.

 

[VacationForever]

Take a look at the Lido Hotel in Newport Beach. Some of the rates show off season of 40k in December. Cool Autograph Collection property. Also, look at the Hotel Paradox in Santa Cruz, another AC property. You could get upgraded to a suite there also.

I stayed at Lido House in July. It is an awful property. Do not stay there.

It is popular with the younger drunk crowd. The property is built with paper thin walls and late at night we heard goups of young people shouting at the top of their voices along the hallway and some banging on doors. At the roof top is a nightclub where loud music and low bass go on until 1am or so. Per the front desk person we were given one of the most desirable rooms with our SNA upgrade and far away away from the roof top nightclub. We were on the 2nd floor of a 4 story building.

Parking fee was outrageous. There is another daily mandatory resort/amenities fees. Between the parking fee and resort fees, you are out another $80 per night.

As Titanium elite, we get something like $18 per person credit for breakfast. The food was awful and overpriced. After having breakfast there on the first morning, we elected to have 750 Bonvoy points credit for the following mornings.

We checked out after 4 nights of our 5 nights stay as we could not bear another night in this awful hotel.

 

[Big Matt]

Wow, I didn't have the same experience at the Lido. I thought it was incredibly cool and reminded me of a New England beach resort. I thought the rooftop bar was a blast. I also stayed in a cottage room, so maybe a little better. I wasn't expecting a beach resort though.

 

[VacationForever]

Wow, I didn't have the same experience at the Lido. I thought it was incredibly cool and reminded me of a New England beach resort. I thought the rooftop bar was a blast. I also stayed in a cottage room, so maybe a little better. I wasn't expecting a beach resort though.

We are very familiar with the area as we go to Marriott's Newport Coast resort every year. We knew this is not a beach resort. We had an extra 5-night certifcate which we wanted to use up when we picked this resort. We are not bar/nightclub people and prefer a quiet room more than anything else. This place is catered to the younger Newport Beach demographics.