The Best Marriott hotels in New York City with points

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There are too many Marriott hotels in New York City.

You’ll find over 35 in the Manhattan area alone, over five of which are in Times Square. Among the best hotel credit cards are plenty of large Marriott card offers to help you secure a room for free. If you want to know how to earn Marriott points, this is your answer:

• Marriott Bonvoy Business™ American Express® Card – 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Terms apply.
• Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card – Earn 5 Free Nights after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card – 75,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening. Plus, earn up to $200 in statement credits for eligible purchases at U.S. Restaurants within the first six months of card membership. Terms apply.
• Marriott Bonvoy Bold™ Credit Card – 30,000 bonus points after you spend $1,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.

We’ll guide you through our top five best Marriott hotels in New York City with Marriott points. Be sure to read our full Marriott Bonvoy review as well, to better learn how to use Marriott points.

The Best Marriott hotels in New York City with Marriott points

We’ve got a crazy detailed Marriott points value rundown that you should check out! Team member Alex says that the sweet spots for booking with points in the Marriott Bonvoy program fall within Category 1 and Category 6 hotels. Unfortunately, NYC doesn’t have any Category 1 hotels in Manhattan. There are over 10 Category 6 hotels, however!

The cash value of a hotel room will fluctuate based on holidays, time of year and day of the week. But the point cost remains the same as long as the Category remains the same. For this post, I’ll use a Saturday in September to determine how much Marriott points will save you.

Central Park views

It’s hard to beat Central Park views in Manhattan. The JW Marriott Essex House New York offers some of the best views of the park you can get.

This is a Category 7 hotel, meaning award prices are normally 60,000 points. However, off-peak prices are 50,000 points, and peak prices are 70,000 points. In the example booking I found, nights cost $800 after taxes. If you were to book the room for 60,000 points you’d receive ~1.3 cents per point for this stay.

The hotel is on the Times Square side of Central Park, so it’s easy to go downtown for a show. I personally love how close it is to the Central Park Zoo.

The heart of Times Square

Are you planning to see a Broadway show in New York?

The iconic and newly renovated New York Marriott Marquis is located in the heart of the NYC theater district. So you can walk to dinner at the nearby famous Restaurant Row and watch a play afterwards. The hotel also has a revolving rooftop restaurant called The View, which offers fantastic views of Times Square! Reviews for this hotel note its terrific location for seeing many New York City sights like Radio City Music Hall and the Empire State Building. And the hotel is family friendly.

As this is a Category 6 hotel, award nights cost 50,000 points per night, and includes a $30 fee for cash or award stays which can be used as $30 credit towards certain hotel amenities. During off-peak dates, you’ll pay 40,000 points per night, and during peak dates, you’ll pay 60,000 points. Nights here can cost $650+ per night, meaning you can receive a value of 1.3 cents per point.

The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card offers a free night every anniversary for any hotels costing 50,000 points or lower, which would cover a night at this hotel during regular dates.

Just North of Times Square

The Times Square EDITION is in a great location on the Central Park side of Times Square — you can’t get much closer to Times Square than this amazing five-star hotel. It’s also a short walk from world famous Rockefeller Center.

Award nights cost 60,000 points for this Category 7 hotel. During off-peak dates, you’ll spend 50,000 points, and during peak dates you’ll spend 70,000 points. I found rooms selling for $950 after taxes, meaning a 60,000 point reservation will give you a value of 1.58 cents per point at this hotel.

Cream of the crop

A little off the beaten path compared to the rest, The St. Regis New York is on another level, even by New York standards. Offering unbeatable customer service and rooms to match, you could do far worse with your points.

Award nights are 85,000 points for this Category 8 hotel, with a price of 70,000 points during off-peak dates and 100,000 points during peak dates. This means if you book on less popular dates (decided by Marriott), you could stay a night at this hotel with one credit card welcome bonus. It includes a $50 fee for cash or award stays and can be used as $50 credit towards certain hotel amenities.

This hotel routinely costs $1,000 per night after taxes. This means an 85,000 point reservation should give you a value of 1.17 cents per point.

Grand Central

The Westin New York Grand Central is located near Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building and The Chrysler Building. You could use public transportation to get to the other main attractions, like Times Square, too.

Average cash nights cost around $375 after taxes, but they can soar to as much as $800 depending on the time of year. This could be a great use of points for folks looking to stay in this area. Award nights are 50,000 points for this Category 6 hotel and includes a $25 fee for cash or award stays and can be used as $25 credit towards certain hotel amenities. You’ll pay 40,000 points for off-peak dates and 60,000 points for peak travel dates.

Bottom line

With so many Marriott hotels in NYC, particularly in Manhattan, it can be hard to figure out which is best for your and a good use of your points.

I recommend booking Category 6 hotels or even more prestigious Category 8 Marriott hotel brands, like St. Regis or Ritz Carlton, for great value.

But don’t get too caught up in the amount of value you’re receiving per point. If you need to stay in a specific location, use your points there. Nothing beats an easy walk in Manhattan, and that has a lot of value in itself.

Let us know what Marriott hotels you find offer the best value for your points in the comments below.

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