Hello Asia experts..
Novice wannabe traveller to Asia would like to use points for this hotel stay so I'd prefer to stay 5 nights at one of these Marriott properties.
Location is important (we are not avid shoppers so will be sightseeing mostly and good transport links would be ideal).

I think the choice is really between
1. JWMarriott Hong Kong (Queensway) 120,000pts
and
2.Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View 100,000pts

there are 2 others but maybe not so good location wise?
3. Hong Kong Sky City (Lantau) 80,000 pts
4. JW Marriott Shenzhen 40,000 pts

Unfortunately the Courtyard only allows 2 guests per room and we're travelling with DD (aged 13).

3 and 4 are not good locations for you. 3 is on Lantau, near the airport but inconvenient to everything else. Shenzhen would be very inconvenient location-wise, as well as requiring a multi-entry visa to China (about US$140 per person). You really don't want to have to do a border crossing every time to go into Hong Kong!

If you could get a Harborview room at the Renaissance for 100,000 points that would be great. If not, you are probably better off on the Hong Kong side, meaning the JW.

Stayed at the JW Marriott with my husband and two kids in 2008. The hotel was great, nice pool and easy transport links. If you have gold or platinum status the executive lounge is the nicest one I have ever been in. We were upgraded to a corner room (all windows) facing the harbor.

Kathie - the Renaissance Harbour View is the one at the Convention Center, on HK Island, which is not convenient.

Take the JWM over it definitely.

The Renaissance Harbour View IS on the Hong Kong side. I think Kathie may be referring to the Renaissance Kowloon, which closed at the end of last year.

The JW Marriott is a nicer hotel than the Renaissance Harbour View, as the rooms have been redone in the last year, which is not the case with most of the Renaissance rooms. The location is also much better for walking or taking buses, trams, etc to various parts of Hong Kong. You can walk to the Peak Tram, and the hotel is next to the very nice Hong Kong Park. It also sits on top of an MTR station, which IMO is not a big deal as the MTR is not as useful as it does not go to many parts of Hong Kong Island, and those it does go to can just as easily (and more scenically) be reached by ferry, bus, tram, a cheap taxi or on foot.

The Lantau Marriott is really a lovely brand-new hotel with some terrific water and mountain views, but is handicapped by its remote location. Good for easy access to the airport and if you wanted to go to the Buddha and spend time on the beaches or hiking in Lantau (perhaps you do if you are not shoppers. Lantau offers some excellent hiking opportunities and has some lovely small villages like Tai O.). It also has a 9-hole golf course next door which you can play on. It’s about 40 minutes all in to the city parts of Hong Kong, so I am not sure I would recommend it for first-time visitors.

I love, love the location of the Courtyard and it's quite a nice hotel too. The most interesting neighborhood of all the hotels, IMO. Any way you can use points and pay to upgrade to allow 3 people? On the other hand, most of the rooms I have seen are on the small side (other than corner suites) so perhaps trying to fit in 3 people for 5 nights may not be a great idea.

If the Courtyard is not a possibility, then I would take the JW Marriott. They have rooms with 2 double beds that are a good size, I would go for those. If you can get a harbour view, so much the better, but for 5 days and with 3 people I would take the largest room they offer.

There are some religious festivals celebrated in Hong Kong in April (in addition to Easter). What dates are you here?

Thanks for the detailed advice!
Well, Shenzhen is out! DH would have been very impressed if we had to get multi entry visas! I apologize for not looking more closely at the map.

Narrowed choices to
JW Marriott (with harbour view for extra points 145,000)
or
Sky City Marriott on Lantau (80,000)

We could get 2 rooms for 120,000 pts at the Courtyard Marriott but I'd probably have to share DD's room.
The website has conflicting information regarding 3 in a room (a rollaway bed is allowed in a suite but the max number of guests is still 2..??)

Cicerone,
I'm tempted by Lantau
>>>Good for easy access to the airport and if you wanted to go to the Buddha and spend time on the beaches or hiking in Lantau (perhaps you do if you are not shoppers. Lantau offers some excellent hiking opportunities and has some lovely small villages like Tai O.<<
Yes, all these things interest us. I'd planned to visit the Buddha, take the cable car and visit a beach here. We enjoy hiking.
DD would also like to go to Disney which I know is nearby.
Plus we also have 5 nights in Tokyo after Hong Kong and so maybe some time away from the city would be good.

I'll have to think about this!

Oh, we'll be in HK from April 14th-19th.

Yes, what I was thinking this afternoon was that as you have 5 nights, you could actually <i>move</i> hotels and spend 3-4 nights at the JW and the last 1-2 nights the Sky City Marriott and see the Big Buddha. (Or vice versa.) That would save you 65,000-130,000 points and also make certain things easier, like getting to the airport the morning of your flight to Japan, and no need to trek back to Hong Kong after seeing the Buddha. You could spend the afternoon and have dinner on the beach on Lantau and watch the sun set, then head back to the hotel at the end of the day. (I have numerous suggestions for Lantau depending on your interests, it’s probably my favourite countryside area in Hong Kong. There are several easy walks down from the Buddha which you might enjoy if you don’t want to do more challenging walks/hikes. There is also a flat walk along the sea and through some abandoned villages to or from Tai O, but you need to commit about 5 hours to do it. See more below)

Going to Disney is sort of a toss-up for me. Remember that it is quite small compared to the parks in the US, it is basically Fantasy land, Tomorrow land, Adventure land, and Main Street. All are pretty much identical to the ones in the US. I would not go on a Sunday. If you really feel the need to go to an amusement part, I would suggest you think about Ocean Park, as it is different from Disney and offers animal shows, rides, water slides/pools, and a fun cable car ride to get to it, see http://www.oceanpark.com.hk/f_index.html (they have pandas as well). Ocean Park is on Hong Kong Island and can easily be combined with a trip to Aberdeen, and with good planning, a trip to Stanley or other activities on the Southside. (You can even walk down to near it from the Peak via a nice path.) If you need Disney, you could go to Tokyo Disney, which may be a better use of time there as you have 5 days, and I believe it is significantly larger, check websites to compare what each has.

You also might want to devote a day to going to Macau, although with a 13-year old that may not be as much fun, unless he/she really likes Portuguese colonial architecture. Children aren’t allowed in the casinos. But rather than Macau, there is plenty to do in Hong Kong, like taking boat trips to see pink dolphins (see http://www.hkdolphinwatch.com, you can also do this from the village of Tai O on Lantau, although it is less organized.)

If you decide to stay at the Sky City Marriott, then all you need to do is take the Airport Express Train to the Airport and hop the hotel’s shuttle to the Sky City Marriott. (You could also just take a taxi from the JW to Sky City for about HK$400. You could also take the MTR/subway to Tung Chung and a taxi from there, which is a much cheaper fare (HK$36) than the Airport Express Train, although getting down to the subway with luggage may not be as much fun. But the station is beneath the JW Marriott, so certainly convenient. A taxi from the Tung Chung station to the Sky City Marriott would cost HK$20 at most, more likely about HK$15. However, if you buy a Tourist Octopus Card you get round trip transfers on the Airport Express so you may as well use them. There are also family discounts for the Airport Express Train.)

It won’t save a whole lot of time to go to Disney from the Sky City Marriott versus the JW Marriott (despite what the Sky City Marriott website seems to imply), so moving for Disney is not really necessary, although it makes sense for some other parts of your itin.

If you are going to the Buddha on a Saturday or esp Sunday and want to take the cable car up, you should absolutely make a reservation for the cable car, see http://www.np360.com.hk/html/eng. I would consider doing it even if you are going on a weekday just in case. However, the bus ride up or down is extremely scenic, and as I mentioned above there are several walks you can take to or from the Buddha. (One of which follows the path of the cable car and has you at eye level and even slightly above the cable car at points, and offers the same view as the cable car, but for free.) There is also a nice circular walk in the area of the Buddha that is not difficult and takes about 1-2 hours depending on which loop you decide to take. I can send details for various walks and some photos if you want to e-mail me at [email protected]

One other thing I thought I should mention about the Courtyard is that it does not have a pool. In April and with a 13-year old you may want a pool.

Your dates don’t coincide with any festivals. Too late for Ching Ming and too early for Easter.

Cicerone, you're a star! Thanks for the great advice. Scratch Disney (Ha, that was an easy decision! Maybe we will try to visit Mickey in Tokyo).

Will book JW (3 nights)and Sky City Marriott (2 nights). Yes, pool is definitely a plus! So we will have Sunday and Monday nights on Lantau. We have an afternoon flight to Tokyo (3pm).

I did read about the pink dolphins and we will probably all enjoy the boat trip.

Thanks again and I will email you for hike details.

oops, Ray and Cicerone, you are both right - I'd confused the two Renaissance Hotels. I should have remebered that the one on Kowloon closed.

Hotels booked
Saved 10,000 pts ...didn't get the free night as we would have to stay all 5 nights in one place but I have booked a harbour view room at the JW.

Thanks all, I will need to take a break from planning the details of this trip but we're getting there.