Now Earn and Redeem Marriott Rewards Points at All Protea Hotels Properties

A ccording to an e-mail message I received earlier today, you can now earn and redeem Marriott Rewards frequent guest loyalty program points — as well as supposedly enjoy full elite level status benefits — at any of the greater than 100 Protea Hotels properties in South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.

Here is the content of that e-mail message in its entirety:

Exciting news for all our Protea Hotels GUESTS!

Dear Mr B Cohen,

As one of our valued GUESTS, we at Protea Hotels want to let you know that Protea Hotels is a proud member of Marriott, a leading global hotel family of 19 brands, with more than 4,300 properties across 81 countries!

Whether it’s London or Dubai, New York or the Bahamas, Marriott offers choices from luxurious resorts to urban retreats, bold boutiques to spacious suites. No matter what you are looking for, you will find a hotel brand that meets your needs.

You can now take advantage of all that Marriott has to offer, including the award-winning Marriott Rewards® loyalty program, providing you with the opportunity to earn and redeem rewards worldwide.

As always, you will continue to enjoy the same personal service and exceptional stay experience that you always have. We’ll continue to put your convenience first, thanks to our modern designs and amenities, while you enjoy complete confidence in our unique blend of global standards.

Here’s to making the most of every stay with Marriott — here in South Africa and beyond!

Mark Satterfield
Chief Operating Officer
Marriott International, Middle East & Africa

Back on Friday, December 19, 2014, I reported that you can earn, redeem and enjoy full elite level status benefits at only an initial 26 participating Protea Hotel properties, Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! and African Pride Hotel properties in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban in South Africa effective as of Monday, February 23, 2015 — with dozens of other Protea hotel properties to join the Marriott Rewards frequent guest loyalty program in late 2015.

It appears that “late 2015” has arrived.

Back on November 12, 2013, I wrote in this article that Marriott International, Inc. will nearly double its number of hotel rooms in Africa with its acquisition of the brands and operations of Protea Hotels Group; with the transaction resulting in a total of greater than 23,000 hotel rooms in Africa — and with the completion of its acquisition of Protea Hotels, Marriott International became the largest hotel company in Africa with approximately 14,000 rooms at 125 hotel properties in ten countries.

I stayed at the Protea Hotel Samrand in South Africa earlier this year; and here is my review.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.