Today, Gary Leff reported that the famous North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort, Seychelles, is now bookable with points. It’s a private island with just 11 villas and the most expensive property that is participating in Marriott’s Bonvoy program.
I’ve long been curious what Marriott would do with this resort from a category perspective. After all, with nightly room rates starting around 5,500 Euro + fees (or around $6,823) a night, it couldn’t possibly be a Category 8, could it?
In this article
Still, one could hope. When I first clicked on the booking page, I got excited:
But no, it’s not….
The resort is pricing out at 358,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night. The good news? it’s only 1,705,000 Bonvoy points if you book 5 nights, because the 5th night is half-free. Wait – HALF FREE? Yeah – wait until the cash vs. point section below.
What’s Included?
Not drinks, nor drinks nor lunch or dinner. Actually, only the paid rates specifically include breakfast. It’s not 100% clear if breakfast is included on points, yet if you are using this many points, you are probably Platinum or higher anyway and will get free breakfast anyway.
The booking page also states: Mahe to North Island helicopter transfer is required, EUR 814 per way. I’m not clear if that is per person or if that covers everyone in your room. I sure hope that’s for your room at that price!
This is what is also included in a paid booking, though omitted from a points booking (I’m still giving the benefit of the doubt here that these are all included on points bookings).
- Enjoy a sumptuous island a la carte daily breakfast at Laid Back restaurant. Book complimentary guided hikes, daily morning yoga classes or snorkeling equipment.
- Complimentary use of kids club, child facilities on the island including our program for children aged five years and above with our child activities minder.
- Private island buggy 1 per Villa
- Complimentary wireless internet.
- Complimentary use of all non-motorized equipments stand up paddle, kayaks, bikes and the fully equipped gym.
Let’s compare cash vs points for this once in a lifetime resort using points opportunity:
Here’s the cash rate:
Here’s the rate with points:
This comes in right around 1.9 cents per Marriott Bonvoy point. That’s a solid value for a points currency generally valued between 0.5 and 0.7 cents a point if you’ve got a grand stockpile of points.
Now what about 5th Night Free?
The pricing at this property is not just unique for the 358,000 points a night, but also for how they do fifth night “free.” Here’s what you’d see:
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1 room(s) for 5 night(s)
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Saturday, February 29, 2020
- FREE night 273,000 Points (for upgrade)
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Sunday, March 1, 2020
- 358,000 Points
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Monday, March 2, 2020
- 358,000 Points
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Tuesday, March 3, 2020
- 358,000 Points
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Wednesday, March 4, 2020
- 358,000 Points
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-
Total for Stay1,705,000 Points
So it seems that you are paying for half of the 5th night in the form of an upgrade.
The end result is that the cents-per-point doesn’t budge much. 5 nights at would be $34,115 on the dates I checked. Divided by 1,705,000 points you get 2 cents a point. It’s better than the individual nights, but that “half night” charge definitely takes a dent out.
In the end…
If you have the points, this certainly stacks up as one of the most expensive redemptions that you can have with points in the world, but for me, I think at this points price-point, I’d be more inclined to spend 25 nights at the St Regis Maldives than 5 nights here.
But if you have millions and millions of Bonvoy points, it’s certainly an unusually opulent way to spend them!
Would you book this?
Let me know me here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
