Last updated on March 7th, 2024 at 03:29 pm
Last year, MGM ditched Hyatt for Marriott. Since the initial announcement, though, things have been far from smooth. However, some MGM properties are now live with Marriott, albeit with dubious benefits for members of both programs.
The Marriott-MGM partnership was supposed to launch in October 2023. That didn’t happen, and the new target became “early 2024.” When exactly? No one knew. However, last month, we did learn what the benefits of the new partnership would bring. To say they were a letdown would be a massive understatement.
I won’t cover them here – you can see my previous post for the details – but there are no status matches, and Marriott Bonvoy members receive significantly watered-down benefits when staying at MGM properties. Points conversions will also be available at some date in the future, which also means that MGM Rewards and MGM’s standalone booking portals will remain. I’m willing to bet, then, that MGM will give better prices via its own channels.
With such weak benefits-sharing, it would seem that the only benefit of the relationship to Bonvoy members, then, is the ability to redeem points for stays. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been possible until now, as some MGM properties are now live with Marriott.
Some MGM Properties Are Now Live With Marriott
Ok, before someone comes at me, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has always been live with Marriott, as it’s been a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel since its inception. Its status under the brand came into question once MGM bought the property, but once they broke up with Hyatt and shacked up with Marriott, it was assumed that things would remain as they were at the Cosmo, and they have.
No, when I say that some MGM properties are now live with Marriott, I mean others in MGM’s portfolio. Specifically, you can book the following properties via Marriott today:
- The Signature at MGM Grand
- MGM Grand
- New York-New York
- Excalibur
Further, Marriott’s booking system notes that the following will become available in March 2024:
- Bellagio
- Vdara
- Aria
- Park MGM
- Luxor
- Mandalay Bay
Unfortunately, there’s no word on when the remaining properties will be bookable via Marriott. Those properties include:
- NoMad Las Vegas
- Borgata (Atlantic City)
- Beau Rivage (Biloxi)
- MGM Grand Detroit
- MGM Grand National Harbor (Maryland)
- MGM Springfield (Massachusetts)
Comparing Rates
Since we have some properties on Marriott’s site now, let’s take a look at how much the rates differ between there and MGM’s own site. Here’s a sampling for mid-week nights on April 16-18, 2024.
- Cosmo
- Marriott: $278/night
- Cosmo: $385/night
- Signature
- Marriott: $227/night
- MGM: $212/night
- MGM Grand
- Marriott: $209/night
- MGM: $209/night
- New York-New York
- Marriott: $187/night
- MGM: $187/night
- Excalibur
- Marriott: $97/night
- MGM: $114/night
Wow, ok, I wasn’t expecting that. In some cases, Marriott’s rate is significantly cheaper. However, it’s worth noting that all of the above rates include resort fees, which MGM Rewards Gold, Platinum, and Noir members don’t pay. Resort fees at Excalibur are $37, $42 at Signature and New York-New York, $45 at MGM Grand, and $50 at Cosmo. So, if you have Gold status or higher with MGM, it’s still cheaper for you to book directly. Mostly.
Things get even more wild when I push the dates out about a month and hit Memorial Day Weekend – traditionally some of the busiest travel dates in the nation.
- Cosmo
- Marriott: $625/night
- Cosmo: $625/night
- Signature
- Marriott: $323/night
- MGM: $323/night
- MGM Grand
- Marriott: $344/night
- MGM: $1,245/night
- New York-New York
- Marriott: $321/night
- MGM: $321/night
- Excalibur
- Marriott: $221/night
- MGM: $214/night
No, that MGM rate isn’t a typo; it really is $1,245/night. However, it seems like the hotel is sold out of standard rooms that weekend (only suites are left), with the Friday before pricing in at $257/night. But that aside, Marriott’s and MGM’s rates are very similar for the holiday weekend.
Pushing out even further, I wanted to see what rates looked like in early 2025. Marriott’s system extends out to mid-February, but MGM’s goes only as far as late January, so I chose the first full week in January to make my final comparison.
- Cosmo
- Marriott: $571/night
- Cosmo: $572/night
- Signature
- Marriott: $280/night
- MGM: $295/night
- MGM Grand
- Marriott: $295/night
- MGM: $280/night
- New York-New York
- Marriott: $226/night
- MGM: $239/night
- Excalibur
- Marriott: $208/night
- MGM: $224/night
Here, we get another mixed bag, though rates are close enough that it still makes more sense to book directly with MGM if you have Gold status or higher.
Redemption Rates
Of course, now that some MGM properties are now live with Marriott, I have to look at redemption rates. Using the same dates above, this is what I get:
- April 16-18, 2024
- Cosmo: 132,000 total (66,000/night)
- Signature: 72,000 total (36,000/night)
- MGM Grand: 47,000 total (23,500/night)
- New York-New York: 50,000 total (25,000/night)
- Excalibur: 10,000 total (5,000/night)
- May 25-27, 2024
- Cosmo: 152,000 total (76,000/night)
- Signature: 119,000 total (59,500/night)
- MGM Grand: 131,000 total (65,500/night)
- New York-New York: 108,000 total (54,000/night)
- Excalibur: 102,000 total (52,000/night)
Unfortunately, the January dates didn’t show any points available, aside from at Cosmo. However, what we are seeing is a real mixed bag again. Who the hell would pay more points to stay at the New York-New York versus the MGM Grand?!
That said, if we use the generally accepted value of $0.008 per point for Marriott Bonvoy, we can see that the April MGM Grand stay will cost you $376 worth of points, whereas the cash rate would cost you $646. That’s a great value, though you will still have to pay the MGM Grand’s $45/night resort fee.
The value proposition gets a bit murkier during peak periods. Take the Cosmo, for example, which will set you back $1,250 for a Memorial Day Weekend stay. That same stay will cost you $1,216 worth of Bonvoy points plus $100 in resort fees, for a total of $1,316. If you must be in Vegas for these dates and stay at this property and can swing the cash rate, it makes more sense to pay cash than redeem points.
Some MGM Properties Are Now Live With Marriott, Final Thoughts
Honestly, since some MGM properties are now live with Marriott and we’re able to compare rates, they’re not quite as different as I’d thought they’d be. Sure, these figures don’t take into account promotions MGM may provide to its members. But I think it’s safe to say that for those who have MGM Rewards Gold status or higher, it’s often best for you to book directly with MGM. For everyone else? Do your homework, but Marriott sometimes ends up being the cheaper option.
That said, it’s very costly to maintain status in MGM Rewards nowadays, with Gold requiring you to spend $18,750 per year or lose $9,375 annually in the casino. As such, I’m grateful that some MGM Properties are now life with Marriott, allowing us to redeem Bonvoy points for stays, with more hotels scheduled to join soon. But, again, do your homework. The value proposition doesn’t always pan out.