When my mother, sister, daughter, and I were planning our trip to England for March 2002, we included an overnight stay in London at the beginning of our holiday. We wanted something near the city center that would be handy to transportation and, thanks to my husband's willingness to contribute his Marriott points to our cause, we wanted a Marriott hotel. More specifically, we wanted a room suitable for four adult travelers. The nearest match to our requirements and the availability of a room through the Marriott Rewards program was a room at the Marriott Regents Park.

For 30,000 points and a Category 6 redemption certificate, we expected a small suite or a large room. Instead, we were lodged in a "quality room" that contained two double beds. With its two beds, the room was small and grudgingly adequate--but it certainly wasn't a suite. My hunch is that it had originally been intended to hold two single beds. The room included all the usual accommodations for the business traveler: two phone lines, voice mail, desk, iron and hair dryer, television with cable access, daily newspapers, and complimentary coffee and tea station. Indeed, it would have been comfortable and even roomy for a single business traveler or suitable for a couple. But for four people (four women, no less), it was cramped--especially so after we opened our luggage.

Irritants associated with claiming our room using Marriott points included what seemed an unnecessarily lengthy check-in process and an expensive confusion over whether breakfast was included under our Rewards redemption. (See previous opinion on the Marriott Rewards program.)

On the brighter side, the room was clean and the staff at the Marriott Regents Park was delightful. Just like at home, we sometimes had difficulty understanding the English-as-an-acquired-language spoken by a high percentage of the staff. On the whole, our encounters with hotel personnel were always pleasant, and everyone worked to find a path of common understanding despite any attendant language deficiencies.

In the final analysis, I might choose the Marriott Regents Park again, but I would carry with me many lessons learned. Given reasonable alternatives, I would patronize the hotel only in the off season and I would not use Marriott Rewards points as payment for lodging. If I return, it will be because the staff was so courteous and helpful. Given those reasonable alternatives, however, I would likely go elsewhere--perhaps to a small hotel that is not part of a global chain or even to a bed and breakfast. Our stay at the Marriott Regents Park was not horrible, but especially in terms of the room itself, it did not live up to the expectations built by the Marriott Rewards program.