Marriott recently updated the Terms:
Select properties may have redemption rates in excess of the Category 8 Redemption Rates.
Previously, Cat 8 hotels had the following base room award rates:
- 70,000 (off peak) per night
- 85,000 (standard) per night
- 100,000 (peak) per night
This is very much a “frequent flyer program” kind of change. Hilton has done this too, directly creating two hotels that redeem for 120,000 points each (the official base room cap is 95,000). See this 101 update.
I couldn’t afford Marriott Cat 8 properties to begin with, so I believe this probably doesn’t have much impact for most people either.