, which manages the Annapolis-area homes and apartments for the hotel chain. However, with the curated collections, you don’t have to slog through pages of duds to find the aces; the hotels perform the grunt work for you. “There is so much out there — thousands of homes, shared rooms and basements,” said Jennifer Hsieh, vice president of Homes & Villas by Marriott International, referring to the less discerning rental sites. “There is no quality filter.
Similar to hotel room bookings, Bonvoy-ites can pay for their rental with points or a combination of points and cash. They can also earn points and even pocket enough rewards to fund a future vacation. Scott Mayerowitz, executive editor of the Points Guy, accumulated $1,220.75 worth of Bonvoy points on a five-night condo rental in Vail, Colo. He chronicled this impressive feat in his, “How I triple stacked and earned 210,000 points and miles on an epic Marriott Homes & Villas booking.
“Marriott providing a rental experience and its loyalty program is huge,” Blancaflor said. “But it won’t make sense for every traveler. People need to do the math.” For my maiden rental, I tapped Marriott because of its extensive regional options and less stratospheric rates. Its search tool produced 30 options for the Annapolis area, which I winnowed down to three. Then two, after I determined that a mid-century ranch house named Admiral’s Retreat was too far from the water. Then one, after my preferred dates for Eastport Easy, a townhouse with a neighborly front porch, disappeared.
I returned home relaxed and enlightened. Going forward, I will use my membership number on future Marriott stays, so I can one day rent a private vacation home courtesy of the hotel chain.Potential travelers should take local and national public health directives regarding the pandemic into consideration before planning any trips.