Clearly on the Marriott board I prefer them, but as one who also did some research before banking in. Getting a 50% point bonus as a Plat means a lot more to me than the HH option. The "miles or points" doesn't appeal to me b/c the points aren't as good as a 50% bonus and I fly enough DL to earn plenty of miles on them on my own.

Also, for similar properties, Marriott points go a LOT farther. Hilton often charges 35K for a Hampton Inn. Marriott's similar property, the Courtyard, goes for 10K a night. Both programs are 10 points per dollar spent. So I can earn free nights a whole heck of a lot faster on MR than HH.

Like others have said - if you plan to primarily travel internationally on points, another program might be better. MR and HH still predominantly have higher end hotels in major intl cities only. Priority Club has the "lower end", Holiday Inn available in many intl cities saving points for nights when you don't need swank digs.

All said, I stay 10 nights at Hilton per year to keep some status, even though only silver. I stay enough nights (usually with a promo) to keep Gold at SPG, Plat with Priority and Plat with Marriott (yeah, I know, I'm never home!). So I share 'em around but tend to prefer Marriott for rewards redemption in major intl cities.