Hilton Honors versus Marriott Rewards

I'm currently a Gold HHonors member. I've missed out on Gold status the past two years by just a few stays. Can anyone tell me who is a member of both programs which one they prefer. I may switch to Marriot as they have more convenient locations to most of my travel destinations. Thanks.

Todd

I am Silver with Marriott and Hilton. I have been staying in the HOliday Inn too much this year. The best Marriott's property is of course Residence Inn, but I think Hilton's chain are more consistant.

I prefer Hiton. But I love Residence Inn.

Pretty tough call between the two. For my two cents worth, I used to really prefer the Residence Inns back when I drove all over AZ and NM. Reasons being that they were by far the best that I could swing, and it was nice being able to bring some food items with me for the kitchenttes.

Now that I fly over the country, I will give the slight nudge to Hilton. Reason being that we get to double dip with the points AND the miles. Also, with gold status you have an outside shot at an upgraded room.

The HHonors points just slowly add up, but if you take a look at their website, after several years you can get some really sweet trips in exchange for the HH points.

BB,

Thanks for the comments. I travel mainly in Southern California and Bay area. I could stay at a Marriot or residence in within just a few miles of offices or do the 12-15 mile commute which isn't all that bad.

I have only stayed in a few Marriots back east and they seem to be on par with Hilton I just wasn't sure about the point earning potentials with Marriot compared to HHonors. I've really started racking up the points with Hilton since getting the Amex Card. Wish I had gotten one sooner

It really depends on what you want to do with your points.

Hilton is the only program to offer the double dip and now offers it on most rates. However, it requires more points to earn a free night. So even though they give you points and miles, the points are worth less.

Marriott forces you to choose between points or miles, but they give you more of the currency you choose (although miles at Courtyard are not as rich). For example, I have over 100K points with Hilton, but that will only get me 3 nights at their top properties vs 5 or 7 nights at Marriott.

But Hilton also has some good promotions, like the United offer that gives you points when you fly.

So it really depends on each individual person and your ability to take advantage of the various promotions.

Hawkeye,

Good point. I've got over 130,000 points with Hilton. Looking at Marriot's website it also looks like it is harder to get to each elite level. I do like the double dip.

If you are VIP member of Hilton - only four stays in a year to get silver VIP you can take advantage of some of Hilton's promos like 6 free nights at one of HIlton's resorts in Hawaii for only 100,000 points.

I think I'll stick with Hilton since I've gone through all the effort the past few years to get the points.

I am Gold Marriott and Diamond Hilton.
I prefer the Hilton program because of how they treat me overseas as a Diamond member. Nice upgrades and the Double Dip.
With all the other hotels in Hilton program (Hampton, Doubletree etc) I think it makes the program even better.

Hello,

I'm a Marriott Platinum member who got renewed till 02/02 so I decided to give Hilton a shot a couple of times this year. I'm looking for ANY Hilton Honors hotel (ie Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, etc) in several cities.

From what I can tell I have to search every individual brand's website -- unlike Marriott where I can pull up a list of all hotels in a city. Is there any place online I can type in a city and get every Hilton HHonors property?

I am not impressed with the website, btw. It's so slow and there are bad links everywhere! My only experiences at Hilton have all been average.. I hope my future stays are a little bit better. I have been comped Hilton Gold also... so far it's gotten me nothing.

I am a HH Diamond memeber and have had nothing but grief from Hiltons. I still only get upgraded rarely in the US even though their policy says always upgrade, not upgrade if available as it says for gold.

Agreed that HH treatment overseas is very good and always get upgraded there with Diamond. Also HH always make award avail for Diamond.

I converted to Marriott properties and have been much happier. I think the MC domestically are much more consistent with their management. There are great HH properties (Conrad Hong Kong) and _miserable_ ones (College Station TX). At one point I wrote several letters to HH and got no responses. I find that MC ones average a much higher quality although they are in the same league. I have had nothing bad to say about the MC properies I've stayed at.

The HH points system is more generous than MC but not a reason to become a prisoner of bad service.

This is a little off the topic; however, I just thought that I would mention it. I have recently stayed at the new hilton chain ... Hilton Garden Inn ... as was rather disappointed as they really have a "generic" feel to them. Marriott Cout Yards are definately nicer.

But, after 7 years of frequent business travel I must admit ...Embassy Suites is by far my most favorite!

Sadly to say, I have never been to Embassy Suites, i am sure i'll love it if i get to stay there.

Residence Inn is the best in my book so far.

Marriott has one of the best awards for 200K going.

2 RT Coach Air Tix to anywhere in the world where there is a Marriott,
7 nights in any Marriott hotel
100 minutes free long distance calling card w ATT and
25% off a Hertz rental car -- it used to be free for 7 days :-(

For 200K this is quite a great deal. I stuck with Marriott long enough to build up the MR points for this reward!

I switched to HH once I got 200K MR pts because of the new properties (Embassy, Doubletree, etc.) and the Doublie Dip.

PaulSea1,

I haven't been gold long enough to experience the problems with being upgraded.

I just stayed at the Huntington Beach, Ca. Hilton. (2nd time this year, 1st as gold). I was treated very nicely and though they could not upgrade to a suite, they did put me on the 11th floor and gave me access to the lounge.

From a service perspective I have not had any problems with Hilton. From the points perspective, I have been able to earn points relatively easy. I plan on staying with Hilton unless things take a turn for the worse.

I think the earning potential is higher at Marriott (10 pts per $ + elite bonus + 3 pts per $ with the Marriott Visa card).

As Hawkeye noted above, the redemption with Marriott is much better - i.e less points needed for free nights.

Marriott's all inclusive awards can't be beat, IMO. Their 200,000 pt award is awesome.

I have always been upgraded to the concierge level. However, the rooms seem to be the same as the non concierge floors with the exception of the free bottles of water.

I'm Silver in both, and prefer Hilton. The biggest thing I don't like about Marriott is that you get substantially fewer points for staying at a Residence Inn vs. a mainline Marriott. And MR hasn't been the same since Ritz-Carlton left.