MVCI Mayflower Hotel, D.C. - bait & switch?!

[BocaBoy]

I too welcome city locations but I suspect, if there is a majority who do, then like me they would look for these to offer rather more than basic box like hotel rooms.
Otherwise they might just as well be make them available through the Explorer Collection.

Excellent point. The option could be there through the Explorer Collection without cheapening the MVCI brand. MVCI city locations should be a cut above the norm, like Custom House or nice hotel suites, not basic hotel rooms.

 

[Werner Weiss]

Excellent point. The option could be there through the Explorer Collection without cheapening the MVCI brand. MVCI city locations should be a cut above the norm, like Custom House or nice hotel suites, not basic hotel rooms.

The Explorer Collection involves a fundamentally different business process. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has to monetize the points it collects from a member by trying to rent out corresponding Marriott vacation Club inventory through Marriott.com or through II Getaways. Then it has to pay money to a third party hotel for a hotel room. That introduces significant "shrinkage."

As a result, a single night in a standard hotel room through through the Explorer Collection typically costs around 1000 points, making it 4000 points for four nights. When you consider the maintenance cost per point (regardless of whether those are owned points or elected points), the math almost never works out.

In comparison, Pulse uses the timeshare buisness model, or at least the asset-light variation on the timeshare model now practiced by Marriott Vacations Worldwide.

I'm getting four nights in a 1-bedroom, 2-bathroom suite at Pulse at The Mayflower for around 1200 points total. The math works out pretty well. (Of course, in both cases, the season and day of the week come play to determine actual point amounts.)

Marriott Vacations Worldwide created its Pulse brand (before the tragic Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando) to differentiate its urban hotel locations from traditional MVCI properties. On the Pulse logo, "Marriott Vacation Club" is in tiny letters, while "Pulse" is in big letters. Clearly, the idea is to create a different expectation than for traditional MVC properties. You can already consider Pulse to be an option for points usage, "without cheapening the MVCI brand."

I have not yet stayed at the MVC Pulse property in San Diego. That hotel was originally a Marriott Suites hotel (then Sheraton Suites, then Declan Suites). The rooms are all identically-sized "cookie-cutter" 1-bedroom mini-suites (with some double-size suites involving two mini-suites connected through an internal door). That's much better than the Pulse at The Mayflower room described by the OP. The San Diego property won't satisfy somebody who is looking for a beachfront Southern California resort with spacious grounds and sparkling outdoor swimming pools, but it should be better than a standard hotel room, especially once the rooms all have their new interiors.

 

[JIMinNC]

Excellent point. The option could be there through the Explorer Collection without cheapening the MVCI brand. MVCI city locations should be a cut above the norm, like Custom House or nice hotel suites, not basic hotel rooms.

While I agree with you, Fasttr, bazzap, etc. that more space is better than less for the same amount of points, Marriott Vacations Worldwide is limited by the hotels that they can strike the proper deals with to acquire the inventory for the Marriott Vacation Club. Like Werner Weiss, I'm not a fan of the Explorer hotel options since, generally, the point requirements for hotels in the Explorer Collection are much higher than the per night point requirements for MVC Pulse locations (since the Explorer locations aren't owned/controlled by MVW). I don't think I've ever seen one that seemed like a good value. So while more suite-like accommodations would obviously be better than small hotel rooms, when possible, I would rather have the option of a regular hotel room in places like DC and Manhattan than nothing at all. Since DC points usually seem to offer a better cost per night than Rewards points, I like having the option to use my DC points in these urban locations instead of having only the option of cash or Rewards points. I would not hesitate to use my DC points for any of the Pulse locations. That has always been one of the frustrations of timesharing - the locations are almost always in resort areas, not in cities.

I think it would be great if Marriott would expand the Pulse locations to major international cities like London, Paris, Rome, etc. Once we retire, my wife wants to visit Europe, but we really can't use our Marriott ownership to do so (other than buying a travel package, but those eat up MR points really quickly, so once they're gone, they're gone). The timeshares in Europe are, like here in the US, mainly in resort areas, and as a U.S. tourist they really don't help us visit the sights we want to see.

They way I look at it, having the Pulse options only adds value to our ownership. I want as many ways as I can have to use the points I own.

 

[SueDonJ]

Isn't MVW's intent, though, to eventually refurb the Pulse units that they convey to the DC Trust? Maybe the problem is that in the interim they're allowing the units to be booked/used as is, which certainly defies owners' expectations that are based on the numerous official statements that MVW execs have made since the DC inception.

I'm okay with the Explorer Club collection offerings to be and remain Marriott, Int'l. hotel rooms but for MVW-branded properties I expect a certain standard that's lacking in hotel rooms. Even the tiniest Pulse-branded studio units can be refurbed/outfitted to differentiate them from hotel rooms; until that's the case MVW should make it perfectly clear to DC Members that the product is inferior to expectations.

 

[dioxide45]

Isn't MVW's intent, though, to eventually refurb the Pulse units that they convey to the DC Trust? Maybe the problem is that in the interim they're allowing the units to be booked/used as is, which certainly defies owners' expectations that are based on the numerous official statements that MVW execs have made since the DC inception.

I'm okay with the Explorer Club collection offerings to be and remain Marriott, Int'l. hotel rooms but for MVW-branded properties I expect a certain standard that's lacking in hotel rooms. Even the tiniest Pulse-branded studio units can be refurbed/outfitted to differentiate them from hotel rooms; until that's the case MVW should make it perfectly clear to DC Members that the product is inferior to expectations.

I do think so and I mentioned earlier that I think it is their plan to renovate out these smaller units. They have already conveyed inventory to the trust from the Pulse Washington DC property.

 

[Fasttr]

It was my understanding and I recall reading early on that MVW plans to renovate out the small Guest King Room. So long term I don't think these units will remain at The Mayflower.

I do think so and I mentioned earlier that I think it is their plan to renovate out these smaller units. They have already conveyed inventory to the trust from the Pulse Washington DC property.

But if they have conveyed the total rooms they have into the Trust....how can they change the number of rooms, presumably via combining a couple tiny rooms together (??) and still have the conveyed points work out? Do you see them re-configuring the point requirements overall when this refurb has been completed?

 

[JIMinNC]

Isn't MVW's intent, though, to eventually refurb the Pulse units that they convey to the DC Trust? Maybe the problem is that in the interim they're allowing the units to be booked/used as is, which certainly defies owners' expectations that are based on the numerous official statements that MVW execs have made since the DC inception.

I'm okay with the Explorer Club collection offerings to be and remain Marriott, Int'l. hotel rooms but for MVW-branded properties I expect a certain standard that's lacking in hotel rooms. Even the tiniest Pulse-branded studio units can be refurbed/outfitted to differentiate them from hotel rooms; until that's the case MVW should make it perfectly clear to DC Members that the product is inferior to expectations.

I think it's reasonable to expect that they would at least replace furnishings, renovate and upgrade bathrooms, etc., but in many of these locations I think it will be difficult to change the size of the rooms. Unless they do major renovations, such as using two small rooms to create one two-room suite (similar to the other MVC hotel conversions to timeshare), I find it hard to imagine how a standard guest room could be made larger in any cost effective manner.

Furthermore, since the point requirements for a standard or deluxe hotel room are less than the suites, I would hope they keep the more traditional rooms and don't convert everything to the higher point suites. While for a longer stay, it would be nice to have a suite, for a long weekend in NYC or DC, a lower-point cost hotel room would work just fine. Helps stretch my points and get more bang for my buck - just like staying at Harbour Point in Hilton Head for a week for less than the cost of a weekend night at Grande Ocean or Barony. Yes, GO and Barony offer more, but sometimes we might not need or want that, depending on the trip.

 

[BocaBoy]

My analogy: We go to Nordstom's for some things and Target for others. Nordstrom's doesn't have to be both, and would be hurt if it tried. We rather enjoy going to Target, but that does not mean we want it to be part of Nordstrom's. Much of the discussions here on TUG seem to assume that the only thing available to travelers is MVCI properties. I know I am in the minority on TUG, but I just don't get it.

I want to emphasize that I am a huge fan of the concept of city locations, but the accommodations should be better than the norm, not inferior. Think Custom House and likely actual suites at some of the other Pulse locations.

 

[Fasttr]

I want to emphasize that I am a huge fan of the concept of city locations, but the accommodations should be better than the norm, not inferior. Think Custom House and likely actual suites at some of the other Pulse locations.

Agreed....we don't need MVC Hostal options rolling out any time soon. ;-)

 

[JIMinNC]

My analogy: We go to Nordstom's for some things and Target for others. Nordstrom's doesn't have to be both, and would be hurt if it tried. We rather enjoy going to Target, but that does not mean we want it to be part of Nordstrom's. Much of the discussions here on TUG seem to assume that the only thing available to travelers is MVCI properties. I know I am in the minority on TUG, but I just don't get it.

I want to emphasize that I am a huge fan of the concept of city locations, but the accommodations should be better than the norm, not inferior. Think Custom House and likely actual suites at some of the other Pulse locations.

I like the Nordstrom/Target analogy - but the way I look at it, that is exactly why they came up with the Pulse brand: to differentiate the city locations from regular MVC properties and to set different expectations. I agree, it would be nice if every location could be configured to be actual suites like Custom House, but when you are dealing with the need to acquire existing locations to renovate, sometimes physical limitations restrict how a location can be reconfigured at a reasonable cost. Clearly, in the case of MVC Pulse at the Mayflower and even more so at MVC Pulse New York City, they made the decision that the location was more important than waiting until they could find something that would easily reconfigure to suites. Mayflower does have some suites, of course, but NYC appears to be all Guest Rooms. San Diego seems to be all suites and South Beach appears to have everything from a Guest Room all the way up to 2-BR suites. And as I said earlier in this thread, it's also nice to have the option for just a Guest Room in some of these locations, since sometimes that's all we really need and helps stretch our points some.

I agree that there are many lodging options other than MVC Pulse locations, but they all require a different currency than DC Points - usually cash. I like that MVC now has options in these locations that allow me to use my already paid for DC points, instead of having to fork out incremental cash for lodging. If the MVC Pulse locations don't meet my needs for some reason (for example, a desire for more space or maybe traveling with our dog), we still have the option to spend incremental cash, but I like that there are now new options that allow me to use my paid for DC points, if those accommodations meet our needs.

It is noteworthy that every Pulse location except for Mayflower and Custom House has a warning about construction underway, so Marriott is clearly upgrading the accomodations.

 

[GreenTea]

For the woman's march on 1/21 I checked prices for the night before. A hotel room there was $599 I think. The MVC room was $3400. What the heck!

 

[Katfan]

I was going to post earlier the importance of checking MR and regular rates, especially if you know your dates and can take advantage of advance purchase specials. We had a wedding in DC area Labor Day weekend 2014. $97/night advance purchase at the Mayflower. With that rate grabbed 2 rooms and invited our son and his girlfriend along for a great long weekend in DC. Quite a difference from $3400! We love D.C. and have stayed at many Marriotts over the years but love the Mayflower when rates are good. If you don't need to be in DC proper the Renaissance Arlington Capitol View is another favorite.