Ridiculousness of Pulse as a value proposition.

[Venter]

I was looking for accommodation in NY for March, Friday - Monday.
With my 35% off the NY Pulse cash option it is $770. The points cost is 2425. Considering that MFs on Trust points are 79cents/point that equates to $1915 when using trust points and that is for a hotel room (230sqft) with two double beds and a tiny bathroom. That is the same price as a Marvelous Suite (625sqft) at the W New York - Times Square.

I know which reservation process I will not be using. It seems pulse locations are poor value considering you could probably get bigger rooms for the same or better price by just reserving in a hotel system.

People who regularly want to stay in NY are much better off buying resale HGVC than Marriott from what I can gather over at the Hilton forum.

 

[Fasttr]

The issue is that occupancy at most hotels in most city locations is driven by business travelers, so Sun-Thur costs tend to be higher, and Fri-Sat costs tend to be lower, as demand is much lower. The MVC model is a flip of that, with Fri-Sat rates being the highest. The pricing models collide, and provide whacky comparisons like yours above when comparing weekend nights. Like you did, always best to compare and go with what makes the most sense.

 

[goodbadugly]

That's why we are "all" excited on the point formula that will be introduced to use MVC points for Marriott hotels!!!!

 

[ljmiii]

I posted this a few weeks ago in the discussion about the Savannah Pulse. As @Fasttr wrote, weekend prices at Pulses suffer by comparison but even on weekends all but the NYC and SF Pulses are good deals...

Pulse prices for a medium villa on good but not peak dates presented in rough order of appearance in MVC DP/Abound program follow. Cash prices use the 2024 Abound Point MFs of $0.78748/point.

Boston Pulse 325/775 (1BR) - $255.93/$610.30
Washington DC - 525/400 (Deluxe DB) - $413.43/$314.99
South Beach - 475/650 (King Studio) - $374.05/$511.86
SF RCC (for comparison) - 525/875 (1BR) - $413.43/$689.05
NYC 625/900 (King w/ Street View) - $492.18/$708.73
San Diego - 300/375 (King w/city view) - $236.24/$295.31
San Francisco - 300/700 (Urban view) - $236.24/$551.24

All except the weekend prices at the NY and SF Pulses are somewhere between dirt cheap (I'm looking at you Boston) and pretty reasonable compared to hotel rates. The Boston Pulse and SF RCC weekend point prices are high compared to their weekday prices...but not compared to the price of a 1BR suite at a nice hotel.

 

[ljmiii]

People who regularly want to stay in NY are much better off buying resale HGVC than Marriott from what I can gather over at the Hilton forum.

Very much so. But that is true for almost any location because HGVC gives booking priority to owners at a resort over everyone else. The only exception is buying a MVC resale week at a location at which the competition to book a week isn't terrible - MVC resale weeks are in general less expensive because they don't come with the ability to elect into points.

 

[Eric B]

People who regularly want to stay in NY are much better off buying resale HGVC than Marriott from what I can gather over at the Hilton forum.

Very much so. But that is true for almost any location because HGVC gives booking priority to owners at a resort over everyone else. The only exception is buying a MVC resale week at a location at which the competition to book a week isn't terrible - MVC resale weeks are in general less expensive because they don't come with the ability to elect into points.

I would qualify this as people who regularly want to stay in NYC being best off buying resale HGVC at one of the NYC resorts because those resorts provide owners access to the owners lounge for a breakfast buffet and evening canapes with beer and wine. That's true even for resale owners. There are several NYC options available in HGVC and they are in good locations.

There's also a Club Wyndham that is ok in a pinch and has kitchens in some of the units, but the HGVC ones are on par with Marriott resorts - IMHO they come out ahead in NYC.