What Is Marriott Homes and Villas, Marriott's Vacation Rental Program?

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Airbnb is arguably the best-known vacation rental platform. Despite being the best-known rental platform, Airbnb was far from the first. Before Airbnb, there was Vacation Rental By Owner, now known as VRBO. Now, following the success of Airbnb, there are dozens of Airbnb alternatives for vacation rentals. One of these platforms is Marriott Homes and Villas.

Launched in 2019, Marriott Homes and Villas is Marriott’s answer to home-sharing and vacation rentals. While the program pushes its luxurious beachfront vacation properties, the platform now features over 140,000 listings across the globe. Many of these listings are on the premium side of rentals. However, there is also a growing number of more affordable and practical accommodations available through Marriott’s vacation rental platform.

If you’re a big proponent of Airbnb or another vacation rental platform you might be wondering what the benefits of booking Marriott Homes and Villas are. For Marriott Bonvoy members, this platform offers the ability to earn points and elite status nights. But the program offers more than just a link to the Marriott Bonvoy program.

Here is what you need to know about Marriott Homes and Villas.

Table of Contents

What is Marriott Homes and Villas?

In short, Marriott Homes and Villas is a vacation home rental platform launched by Marriott. The program is focused on premium and luxury vacation homes and rentals though, features a wide range of rentals. When the platform launched in 2019, it featured just 2,000 listings mainly in the US and the Caribbean. Now, as previously mentioned, the platform features over 140,000 listings.

Like with other vacation rental programs, most of the listings are not directly associated with Marriott. Each property is independently owned, operated, and maintained. Like Airbnb, many of these properties are managed and maintained directly by the owner. Unlike Airbnb, the Marriott Homes and Villas program also features a number of rooms and listings at major vacation rental complexes or timeshares.

Despite focusing on luxury vacation properties, the program has added more economical options. In some markets, Marriott’s platform can even be a substitute for Airbnb.

What are the Benefits of Marriott Homes and Villas?

A major selling point of Marriott’s platform is the more rigid selection process of listings. Pretty much anyone with an extra bedroom or fold-out couch can list on Airbnb. This is not the case with Marriott Homes and Villas. As a result, you are less likely to encounter annoying hosts when you book through the Homes and Villas platform. On the downside, because of the rigid selection process and higher standards, you will often find that Marriott’s platform features listings that are more expensive than VRBO or Airbnb.

With Marriott’s higher standards for listings on its vacation rental platform, the hotel chain claims guests will enjoy a greater level of service, cleanliness, and security compared to other platforms. This is often the case but since nearly all listings are unaffiliated with Marriott, you can still run into the same issues you might experience when booking an Airbnb.

Marriott does ensure that all listings are overseen by professional property managers and that all listings are maintained to a certain standard. This is not the case with Airbnb with the level of service and quality at the host’s discretion. It also promotes its “24/7 customer service” though this is a similar benefit offered by any reputable vacation rental platform, including Airbnb.

A photo of a luxury house featuring a pool

Marriott Homes & Villas works with reputable property managers to offer a more reliable and consistent experience. (Image via Marriott Homes & Villas)

Earn Marriott Bonvoy Points and Elite Nights with Marriott Homes and Villas

The best and most noteworthy benefit of booking with Marriot Homes and Villas is the ability to earn both points and elite qualifying nights with Marriott Bonvoy. One of my least favorite aspects of Airbnb is the inability to earn any rewards through the platform. You could book an Airbnb for all 365 days of the year and the only rewards or points earned would come from whatever credit card you used to book your stays. This isn’t the case with Marriott Homes and Villas.

How Are Bonvoy Points and Elite Nights Earned?

Earning points and elite nights on bookings made with Homes and Villas is quite similar to when booking a traditional Marriott hotel. You will earn a base rate of 5 points per dollar spent. Bonvoy members with elite status will also earn a bonus.

Standard Bonvoy Members: Base Rate: Earn 5 points per dollar spent
Silver Elite Members: Base Rate + 10% bonus
Gold Elite Members: Base Rate + 25% bonus
Platinum Elite Members: Base Rate + 50% bonus
Titanium Elite Members: Base Rate + 75% bonus
Ambassador Elite Members: Base Rate + 75% bonus

Select Bonvoy elite members will also earn a welcome gift they do when staying at traditional Marriott hotels. Gold Elites receive a 500-point welcome gift while Platinum Elites and above receive 1,000 points.

Marriott Homes and Villas is also treated the same as Marriott hotels for Bonvoy credit card holders. So, if you hold the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express Card, you will also earn 6x points on stays booked with Homes & Villas.

Elite nights are earned in a similar manner to standard Marriott hotels. For each night you stay at a Homes & Villas property, you will earn 1 elite night. The platform also participates in most Bonvoy promotions so, if double elite nights are offered as part of a promotion, that promotion would apply to stays with Homes & Villas.

a luxury building with palm trees and a pool

One of the best features of Marriot Homes & Villas is the ability to earn Bonvoy Points and Elite Night Credits. (Image via Marriott Hotels & Villas)

Redeem Marriott Bonvoy Points at Marriott Homes and Villas

Not only can you earn points with Homes & Villas, but you can also redeem your points for stays. If you’ve ever booked a Marriott hotel with points, you know that the cash rate doesn’t directly correspond to the number of points needed. With Homes & Villas, there does appear to be a more direct link to the cash rate. Unfortunately, you get very little value when you use your points to book a stay with Homes & Villas.

Here’s an example of some bookings you could make using cash or Bonvoy points:

Cash Rate: $136, Points: 24,000
Cash Rate: $120, Points: 37,000
Cash Rate: $1490, Points: 266,000
Cash Rate: $2670, Points: 477,000

On average, if you use your points to book a stay with Homes & Villas, you will receive $0.005 in value per point. That’s less than a cent per point! AwardWallet’s latest points valuations put the average value of a Bonvoy point to be $0.0094. So, you’re getting significantly less value from your points when you redeem them for vacation rentals than a traditional hotel booking.

Here’s an example of some bookings you can make with traditional Marriott hotels using points or cash:

Cash Rate: $224, Points: 23,500
Cash Rate: $226, Points: 20,500
Cash Rate: $303, Points: 25,500
Cash Rate: $660, Points: 57,000

Of course, the value of your points when booking a Marriott hotel varies significantly. However, you will still, on average, get significantly more from your points when booking hotels compared to vacation rentals. In those examples, the lowest per-point value is 0.96 cents with the highest being 1.22 cents. Now, compare 1.22 cents to the average 0.50 offered by Homes & Villas bookings. The bottom line is you shouldn’t redeem Bonvoy points to book Marriott vacation rentals.

It’s also important to note that there are some features of the Bonvoy program in which the Homes & Villas program does not participate. Here are some of the more notable features not available when booking with Homes & Villas:

Free Night Awards
Cash + Points Redemptions
PointSavers Awards
Earn Airline Miles
Same Day Cancellation for Select Members

Related: Guide to Buying Hotel Points

What Properties Can I Book On Marriott Homes and Villas?

There is a growing number of listings offered through the Homes & Villas platform with over 140,000 currently available to book. These properties are found on all 6 inhabited continents though, many of these listings are found in North America and Europe.

The type of properties available on the platform is dependent on the destination you want to book. For example, if I wanted to book a rental in St. Louis, MO, there are plenty of modest apartment and home rentals in addition to more upscale properties. However, if I wanted to book something in Grand Cayman, most of my options are going to be larger and more luxurious beachfront villas.

In the case of St. Louis and many other US cities, you can often substitute Airbnb with Marriott Homes and Villas as you will find similar options at similar price points. At top vacation destinations like Cabo San Lucas or Aspen, CO, Homes & Villas functions more as a premium vacation rental platform. That being said, as a whole, Marriott’s rental platform offers a wide range of options.

Here are a few of the different types of rentals you can book on Marriott Homes and Villas over the next few months:

Explore Chicago in a newly renovated apartment in the West Loop neighborhood