Retirement in The Villages, FL
How We Received Movie Star Treatment at The Marriott
View of The Blue Danube from my Marriott suite after being stranded in Budapest.
I had seen such treatment only in movies or newscasts of famous politicians and athletes. I never thought of myself in that category, with a guaranteed room at any time.
All hotels these days have frequent stay programs — Silver, Gold, Platinum, and higher. For us, our level turned out to be very important last summer. It saved us from being stranded for days.
Hurricane Dorian shut down Orlando, FL airport
The hurricane hit Orlando the night before we were to return home. The tour offered to fly us to Los Angeles, have us sit in the airport overnight, and then fly us to Orlando. We would arrive 24 hours late — if they reopened the airport. Otherwise, we were stuck in the LA airport until the Orlando airport reopened.
The alternative was to return three days later. However, the tour hotel in Budapest, Hungary had room for only one more night due to an athletic event. Where would we stay the next two nights?
Our Titanium level at Marriott guarantees us a room at any Marriott within 48 hours. They did not have a room in the Marriott across the river for the first night, but did have one on the second night.
We expected an ordinary room. The view from our suite was breathtaking and the room's rate was reasonable.
We ate all of our meals in the hotel restaurant, went on two more days of tours, and relaxed in their lounge instead of being stranded for days in an airport somewhere.
The flight home was uneventful.
How we got to Titanium
It’s not easy. We had to sign up for their program and stay a ton of nights. Two-week vacations and ordinary travel didn’t do it. That wouldn’t even get us to Platinum.
The program is worth it, though, just for the points. We have redeemed almost a thousand dollars from points.
Normally, we stay in a one-bedroom suite at Marriott’s Residence Inn, if available, since rooms comes with a refrigerator and a hot breakfast. Two events furnished the extra nights needed to upgrade our status:
- Retirement. We gave our employers in Houston, TX our 3-month retirement notice. Our house sold in three weeks. We had nine weeks to work and no place to live! We considered corporate apartments, but they had a lot of problems. So, we stayed at the Residence Inn between our workplaces for the 9 weeks. There were numerous benefits: Our commutes dropped from 40 minutes each to 5 minutes. Breakfast was included. We had dinner at one of three restaurants across the street, so we didn’t cook much in an unfamiliar kitchen. They cleaned the room daily. We had very few other expenses — no utilities, insurance, or other house expenses. When I ran our expenses through the spreadsheet, the monthly total turned out to be the same as living in the house, with fewer headaches.
- Post-retirement travel. We didn’t know where we wanted to settle, so we traveled for about a month from Houston, through the Midwest, down the East coast to Florida, looking at retirement communities. At most retirement communities, we were the entertainment. We always stayed at Residence Inns. The costs were about the same as living in the house and working. We stayed at the Marriott next to Spanish Springs Town Square in The Villages, FL for three days. A few months later, based on that 3-day stay, we decided The Villages fit our lifestyle perfectly and settled there.
Our house guests
We never know how many guests we will have. It can be one person, a family with four kids, or two families. We do not maintain a guest room in our house. One room has the computers and the other the hobbies.
We put everybody up at the Marriott next to Spanish Springs Town Square, which has one and two bedroom suites that gives everyone more space and their own privacy. They don’t have to stick to our schedule.
My daughter even rents a golf cart for traveling inside The Villages.
Since I reserve and pay for the rooms, I get additional night credits and the points. My guests don’t mind after I explain that for them to stay at the house, I would need to add a room. Based on my calculations, the break-even cost for adding the guest room is 38 motel nights per year.
We don’t have many guests, but if we had not been putting them in the Marriott, we would have been stranded in Budapest or some airport.
Conclusion
Other chains have similar programs, but the Marriott program has been wonderful for us.
They have locations about anywhere we want to go in the world. However, I prefer to plan things in advance. I hope I never again have to request a room within 48 hours.
This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.