Rewards: Which is better Marriott or Hilton
Sep 19, 2005, 6:03 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: AA - Exec Plat, Marriott Platinum Premiere; Lifetime Platinum;
Posts: 484
Originally Posted by AX9465
Completely agree. Sometimes, people just forget that they live on the road substantually longer than they are on holidays and I always found out proposition to struggle miserably for 100 days to have 5 days free of charge not appealing. Therefore some time ago I decided to stay in best available properties within corporate hotel policy (please note that best does not equal most expensive). I have gold status with both SPG and Marriott and silver with Hilton (not to mention Plat with Priority Club) and plan to keep it this way. I understand that this way I don't get platinum desk access, (some) upgrades and not much points but when you "live" in hotels they better be good.
AX
AX
Sep 19, 2005, 9:39 pm
#17
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Boston, MA
Programs: AA, Jetblue (love it for the transcons), Northwest, HHonors, Marriott Rewards, Avis PS, UCLA fan!
Posts: 97
I rarely travel to the same place and I agree that Fairfield Inns are terrible. Hampton Inns are so much better.
Sep 19, 2005, 10:26 pm
#18
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Southern California
Programs: DL: 3.8 MM, Marriott: Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 24,575
Originally Posted by bruingirl
I rarely travel to the same place and I agree that Fairfield Inns are terrible. Hampton Inns are so much better.
I've stayed in plenty of both and have equal pro and con stories about both Hampton and Fairfields.
Sep 20, 2005, 7:17 am
#19
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Programs: MR LT Titanium, IHG Plat.,UA Premier Silver, & PA/OH Turnpike Million Miler
Posts: 2,315
Count me in as another person who hasn't had much luck with Fairfield Inn's. Going forward, I have modified my strategy when considering staying at a FI. I will only look at the newer design ones with all interior corridors. I haven’t stayed at a FI since making this strategy decision though I am considering doing so for a couple of upcoming stays. We'll see how the new strategy turns out.
On the Hampton Inn front, it has been a while since I stayed in one (approx. 3 years). In general I have had better experiences with Hampton Inn's than Fairfield Inn's. Can't recall a single Hampton Inn I thought was real bad. All of them were in the good to very good range. Perhaps just due to luck of the draw though my sample set size is similar for both HI and FI.
Since I am a Marriott junky now, I no longer stay at any Hilton products unless there isn't a Marriott in the area. So far that hasn't happened. At the low end it is still tempting to defect to Hampton Inn's or even to Hilton Garden Inn's (middle). To be competitive at the low end, I think Marriott needs to do an extreme makeover on the FI brand. Also I'd like to see the number of SHS properties greatly increased. I stay at all Marriott levels (well most, haven't don't any JW's yet) depending on business need/budget or leisure need/budget. So it is very helpful to have good options at all levels. I am not defecting anytime soon, but I continue to monitor the quality at low-end properties. Eventually I might move to a dual strategy, HI for lower to middle end (HI and HGI) and Marriott for the middle to upper end (CY, SHS, MAR, REN, etc.).
--Jon
P.S. So far I have been hoarding Marriott points, so I don’t have much redemption experience yet. However, when I have checked via the Web it doesn’t look like it will be a problem when I am ready to redeem. Hopefully next year, we will go to Europe with lodging at a Cat. 7 and air courtesy of MR. At the rate I am accumulating points, by next spring I’ll have almost enough for two travel package rewards.
On the Hampton Inn front, it has been a while since I stayed in one (approx. 3 years). In general I have had better experiences with Hampton Inn's than Fairfield Inn's. Can't recall a single Hampton Inn I thought was real bad. All of them were in the good to very good range. Perhaps just due to luck of the draw though my sample set size is similar for both HI and FI.
Since I am a Marriott junky now, I no longer stay at any Hilton products unless there isn't a Marriott in the area. So far that hasn't happened. At the low end it is still tempting to defect to Hampton Inn's or even to Hilton Garden Inn's (middle). To be competitive at the low end, I think Marriott needs to do an extreme makeover on the FI brand. Also I'd like to see the number of SHS properties greatly increased. I stay at all Marriott levels (well most, haven't don't any JW's yet) depending on business need/budget or leisure need/budget. So it is very helpful to have good options at all levels. I am not defecting anytime soon, but I continue to monitor the quality at low-end properties. Eventually I might move to a dual strategy, HI for lower to middle end (HI and HGI) and Marriott for the middle to upper end (CY, SHS, MAR, REN, etc.).
--Jon
P.S. So far I have been hoarding Marriott points, so I don’t have much redemption experience yet. However, when I have checked via the Web it doesn’t look like it will be a problem when I am ready to redeem. Hopefully next year, we will go to Europe with lodging at a Cat. 7 and air courtesy of MR. At the rate I am accumulating points, by next spring I’ll have almost enough for two travel package rewards.
Sep 20, 2005, 7:36 am
#20
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,570
Marriott vs. Hilton...my preferences based solely on brand quality.
Hampton over Fairfield, by a mile. With both brands, of course you always look for the newer ones. The difference is that there are some really, really nice Hamptons out there that go above and beyond the standard roadside motel model. All FI's are roadside motels.
HGI over Courtyard. HGI is a newer brand in general, so the hotels are more consistent. I've stayed in CY's where I couldn't even get a dial tone.
Residence Inn over Homewood. There simply aren't Homewoods where I want them. There are always RI's. As we are discussing on a separate RI thread, a lot of RI's have been beaten up over the years and the brand seems to be undergoing major renovations right now. The last 3-4 I've stayed in either just finished renovations (and were quite nice) or were in the midst of them (which is a bit inconvenient, but they need the renovation!). A clean, quiet Residence Inn is one of my favorite things about the Marriott brands.
Full-service Marriott over Hilton or Doubletree. This is where Marriott really wins out over Hilton for me. Consistency. I know if I go to a strange city, the Marriott won't suck. The Hilton might be fantastic, or it might be a complete dump. They might upgrade me to a great suite or they might pretend like they have never seen a Gold card before. I know Marriott will always do their best to make the stay pleasant - they'll get bed/smoke right and not argue with me about a key to the C-lounge. And the hotel itself will be up to the Marriott standard.
Hampton over Fairfield, by a mile. With both brands, of course you always look for the newer ones. The difference is that there are some really, really nice Hamptons out there that go above and beyond the standard roadside motel model. All FI's are roadside motels.
HGI over Courtyard. HGI is a newer brand in general, so the hotels are more consistent. I've stayed in CY's where I couldn't even get a dial tone.
Residence Inn over Homewood. There simply aren't Homewoods where I want them. There are always RI's. As we are discussing on a separate RI thread, a lot of RI's have been beaten up over the years and the brand seems to be undergoing major renovations right now. The last 3-4 I've stayed in either just finished renovations (and were quite nice) or were in the midst of them (which is a bit inconvenient, but they need the renovation!). A clean, quiet Residence Inn is one of my favorite things about the Marriott brands.
Full-service Marriott over Hilton or Doubletree. This is where Marriott really wins out over Hilton for me. Consistency. I know if I go to a strange city, the Marriott won't suck. The Hilton might be fantastic, or it might be a complete dump. They might upgrade me to a great suite or they might pretend like they have never seen a Gold card before. I know Marriott will always do their best to make the stay pleasant - they'll get bed/smoke right and not argue with me about a key to the C-lounge. And the hotel itself will be up to the Marriott standard.
Sep 20, 2005, 8:22 pm
#21
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: AA - Exec Plat, Marriott Platinum Premiere; Lifetime Platinum;
Posts: 484
Originally Posted by pinniped
Marriott vs. Hilton...my preferences based solely on brand quality.
Hampton over Fairfield, by a mile. With both brands, of course you always look for the newer ones. The difference is that there are some really, really nice Hamptons out there that go above and beyond the standard roadside motel model. All FI's are roadside motels.
HGI over Courtyard. HGI is a newer brand in general, so the hotels are more consistent. I've stayed in CY's where I couldn't even get a dial tone.
Residence Inn over Homewood. There simply aren't Homewoods where I want them. There are always RI's. As we are discussing on a separate RI thread, a lot of RI's have been beaten up over the years and the brand seems to be undergoing major renovations right now. The last 3-4 I've stayed in either just finished renovations (and were quite nice) or were in the midst of them (which is a bit inconvenient, but they need the renovation!). A clean, quiet Residence Inn is one of my favorite things about the Marriott brands.
Full-service Marriott over Hilton or Doubletree. This is where Marriott really wins out over Hilton for me. Consistency. I know if I go to a strange city, the Marriott won't suck. The Hilton might be fantastic, or it might be a complete dump. They might upgrade me to a great suite or they might pretend like they have never seen a Gold card before. I know Marriott will always do their best to make the stay pleasant - they'll get bed/smoke right and not argue with me about a key to the C-lounge. And the hotel itself will be up to the Marriott standard.
Hampton over Fairfield, by a mile. With both brands, of course you always look for the newer ones. The difference is that there are some really, really nice Hamptons out there that go above and beyond the standard roadside motel model. All FI's are roadside motels.
HGI over Courtyard. HGI is a newer brand in general, so the hotels are more consistent. I've stayed in CY's where I couldn't even get a dial tone.
Residence Inn over Homewood. There simply aren't Homewoods where I want them. There are always RI's. As we are discussing on a separate RI thread, a lot of RI's have been beaten up over the years and the brand seems to be undergoing major renovations right now. The last 3-4 I've stayed in either just finished renovations (and were quite nice) or were in the midst of them (which is a bit inconvenient, but they need the renovation!). A clean, quiet Residence Inn is one of my favorite things about the Marriott brands.
Full-service Marriott over Hilton or Doubletree. This is where Marriott really wins out over Hilton for me. Consistency. I know if I go to a strange city, the Marriott won't suck. The Hilton might be fantastic, or it might be a complete dump. They might upgrade me to a great suite or they might pretend like they have never seen a Gold card before. I know Marriott will always do their best to make the stay pleasant - they'll get bed/smoke right and not argue with me about a key to the C-lounge. And the hotel itself will be up to the Marriott standard.