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When you redeem Marriott rewards points, it is important to understand Marriott hotel categories and tiers. Marriott hotels are grouped by hotel categories, identified numerically 1 through 9 based on the brand, location, and type of property. The Ritz-Carlton hotels are ranked by tiers (1-5), which is similar to categories, but with a different numeric range.
Marriott hotel categories and tiers help determine how many points are required for a free night. The general relationship is that higher categories/tiers represent higher quality hotels. However, a Residence Inn in one neighborhood might be a Category 1 while in another region it is Category 3, and determinants could be anything from the size of the facilities, neighborhood safety, age of buildings, etc. Although the category of a hotel can give you a general idea of the quality of the hotel brand, it is always best to research into the specific hotel you wish to stay at.
To see how many points are needed to redeem one free night, and how many Marriott hotels are grouped into the category globally, you can refer to the rewards chart below. You may notice from the chart that categories 2-5 have the highest selection of hotels globally.
Points Reward for 1 Night Stay:
| Hotel Category (Marriott hotels) | Hotel Reward | PointSavers Reward | Number of Hotels Globally |
| 1 | 7,500 | 6,000 | 227 |
| 2 | 10,000 | 7,500 | 739 |
| 3 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 948 |
| 4 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 686 |
| 5 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 518 |
| 6 | 30,000 | 25,000 | 338 |
| 7 | 35,000 | 30,000 | 399 |
| 8 | 40,000 | 35,000 | 205 |
| 9 | 45,000 | 40,000 | 55 |
| Hotel Tier (The Ritz-Carlton) | Hotel Reward | PointSavers Reward | Number of Hotels Globally |
| 1 | 30,000 | 20,000 | 15 |
| 2 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 20 |
| 3 | 50,000 | 40,000 | 27 |
| 4 | 60,000 | 50,000 | 15 |
| 5 | 70,000 | 60,000 | 14 |
To view hotels in a specific category or tier, go to the bottom of the right sidebar on the hotel search page to select hotel rewards categories. Some hotels’ category levels change from year to year; Click here to review the category changes that occurred between 2014 and 2015.
To start earning and spending points, join Marriott Rewards today.
