I thought I’d never open a Marriott card…but never say never. When Capital One announced changes to their Venture X lounge access in mid-2025, I knew we had to initiate the year-long process to obtain a Ritz-Carlton card to secure lounge access for our family. My P2 dutifully opened the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless card, and shortly thereafter, we found ourselves in possession of five Marriott 50K free night certificates (FNCs).

Hyatt has a very weak footprint along the coast here in the South; Wild Dunes in the Charleston area is the only oceanfront Hyatt property in the Carolinas. These Marriott certificates presented an opportunity to explore a different oceanfront property, closer to home: the Courtyard Carolina Beach Oceanfront near Wilmington, NC.

We stayed two nights over Labor Day weekend booked only one month in advance, using two 50K FNCs and 24,000 Marriott points. We had 12,000 Marriott points from meeting the spend on the Boundless, and transferred the reamining points from Chase with a 50% bonus. In effect, topping off our certificates only cost us 8,000 transferrable points. This net us a stay with a retail price of $1,241–not too bad for a Marriott redemption! 

Frequent Miler values these 50K Marriott FNCs at $304 each, and Marriott points at .76 cents per point. According to these values, our two FNCs and 24,000 Marriott points should have been worth about $800, so it feels like we got unusually good value on this trip.

In short, this property provided excellent value for our FNCs, with many elements and amenities that work well for families. The quality of the property itself and the service fell far short of what we experienced at Wild Dunes just a few weeks prior, but overall, this property could be a good fit for families who prioritize affordability and convenience over luxury. Read on for more specifics about the pros and cons of this property.

Pros

Affordability: Though I don’t have a lot of experience with the Marriott program, this property feels like a hidden gem in terms of pricing. You can use either a 35K or 50K Marriott free night certificate to stay here almost any day of the year, including peak season. We were not charged any resort fees, and parking is a reasonable $12 per day.

Location: As the name suggests, this property is oceanfront; the only thing between you and the beach is the boardwalk. It’s hard to overstate the convenience of this when you’re a parent traveling with young children. The hotel is structured such that every single room has an ocean view. There are many shops and restaurants within walking distance; we didn’t use our car at all during our stay here. There’s also a medium-sized amusement park directly next to the hotel, which is a nice amenity for families.

Pools and beach: There’s something for every type of swimmer–the beach, an outdoor pool, and a small indoor pool.

Family oriented: The property really caters to families. There’s a child-sized table with blocks in the lobby to occupy kids while parents check in. My kids were invited to choose a toy from the “treasure chest” when we arrived.

Elite recognition: P2 holds Marriott silver status by virtue of having the Boundless card, which is the very lowest level of Marriott status and doesn’t really mean much in terms of elite benefits. Nonetheless, we were granted a 1pm late checkout upon request, and all of our room charges, including parking and some snacks purchased in the hotel sundries market, were wiped from our bill.

Cons

Service: The service at this property really paled in comparison to our stay at Wild Dunes just a few weeks prior. The pool bar was staffed intermittently, the towel stations at the pools were sometimes empty, and our room was not serviced at all during our stay. When we requested fresh towels from the front desk, the ones we received were musty; we wound up taking pool towels back to our room instead. None of this was insurmountable, but manage your expectations.

Dated rooms: There’s a certain level of wear and tear that one expects at a beach hotel, but really, this whole property just needs a refresh. Our room was adequately clean, but the bathroom just felt old.

Noise: Because this property is so close to the boardwalk, amusement park, and beachfront bars and restaurants, there’s a good deal of noise at night. Bring earplugs and/or white noise.

Beach: This isn’t the nicest stretch of beach in the Carolinas; the beach itself is quite short, and crowded as a result. The water gets deep quickly, and the sand is a bit coarser than you might find other places. My kids enjoyed it all the same!

Hot tub: There isn’t one. Womp womp.

Our Tips

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Courtyard Carolina Beach Oceanfront enough that we’re burning the rest of our certificates there next summer. Here are my tips to make the most of your stay at this property:

• If you have an Amex card with quarterly Hilton credits, you can walk next door to the Hampton Inn and use them at the tiki bar.
• The pizza place across the parking lot is convenient and good. The pancake place across the street is not. 
• Bring cash, as many local businesses charge a credit card fee ranging from annoying to exorbitant. (I’m looking at you, amusement park–$3 credit card fee PER TRANSACTION.)
• Stock up on snacks and drinks at Trader Joe’s on the way in; our room had a mini-fridge, and there’s a microwave in the hotel market.

Although I don’t see myself switching my loyalty from Hyatt to Marriott anytime soon, this trip helped me appreciate that you can, in fact, get value out of the Marriott program, under the right circumstances. Grab the Boundless now to get three of these surprisingly valuable Marriott free night certificates!