Two points: The DC area is one of the more expensive ones in terms of higher prices stretching way out into the suburbs. Hamptons NATIONWIDE are more often found in cheaper suburban locations while Hiltons NATIONWIDE are more often found in more expensive locations close to or in the city. I just paid $50/night for a Hampton in Las Cruces, $59/night in El Paso, and $44.10 in Phoenix (it's SO hot there I guess it's ultraoff seaoson [g]). I doubt there's even a Hilton in Las Cruces, and I doubt any of the Hiltons are $44.10 including breakfast in Phoenix.

Meanwhile, downtown NYC is even more expensive than DC, and you'll find NO Hamptons there, while I'm sure at some price there's a Hilton. Chicago is the only one of the huge cities I can think of where there's a Hampton downtown.

Second point: Count value, not price. Hamptons give you free phone calls, while too many Hiltons don't. Hamptons give everyone free breakfast, Hilton may give 1 or all ONLY if you're Gold or better. Hamptons virtually always have free parking, not necessarily the case with Hiltons.

So obviously it depends whether you're Gold, whether you'd eat the free breakfast in one case but pay for breakfast in another, whether you'd use free parking in one case but pay for parking in another, etc, what you have to add to the hotel price before you can compare the value.