Which hotel chain do you all prefer? I have been switching back and forth on these two for the last two years.

My new favorite hotel brand are the Hilton Garden Inns. For the money I think they are the best value. Also, I have stayed in a few Homewood Suites lately and been pretty happy with the quality and service.

Although, I do think the full service Marriotts are better than a full service Hilton. I think Embassy Suites and Residence Inns are pretty equal. Hampton Inns are definately better than Fairfeld. And Hiltons new line Garden Inns blow Courtyards away.

What do you all think. All in all I stay at Hilton Garden Inns whenever possible.

You've answered your own question. If you value staying at a place you generally dig, you've indicated that you like HGI. If on the other hand you would like to redeem your points at the hotels you seem to like above all else, stay at the Marriott and redeem your points at their higher-end hotels.

Welcome to FT, CVGFlyer01!

IMHO: You should decide whether you want to stick with a chain where you are comfortable with trips you must take, or tolerate a chain that may not be as good for required trips but you believe has better potential for reward trips. And stick with that decision.

For me, I'd stick with Hilton. Get to Gold Level with HHonors and you'll get breakfast, upgrade rooms, sometimes comp beverages @ Hilton Garden. HHonors has a wide variety of point redemption options and hotels. You may find yourself using points at Hilton Garden for that fun vacation. Besides Hilton, you can use points @ Doubletree, which is also full-service.

IMHO: The quality of a full service Marriott varies nearly as much as full service Hiltons. I can name a dozen Marriotts that are not as good as nearby Hiltons. It depends on the city, e.g. where you want to go on point-redeeming trips.



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On the road, In the air,
I enjoy travel, From here to there.

Check out these threads in the Hilton forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/004745.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/006506.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/006632.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/007132.html

And these in the Marriott forum:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum63/HTML/002161.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum63/HTML/002405.html

Some of these threads also offer comparisons of elite level benefits, which is important to consider in your choice.
My travel pattern and experiences make me a Hilton fan, however everybody has different travel patterns and/or expectations from a program, so you might be better of elsewhere. Nobody can answer your question for you...

BTW: did you consider Starwood? Many comparison threads on Starwood vs. Hilton or Marriott can be found on the respective fora.

Welcome to Flyertalk!



[This message has been edited by ql2112 (edited 04-11-2003).]