Hmmm...this now has me thinking...

Ranking midscale brands is tough because so many of them are now approaching 15-20 years old. Offhand, I'd like to rank Residence Inn very high, but too many of them are becoming worn out and in bad need of a retrofit. Same goes for Hilton's Embassy brand: I've been in a couple of worn-out ones in the past few years.

Anyway, assuming I'm in a new or renovated property in each case, I'd rank 'em as follows:

(1) Homewood Suites (Why? King-sized beds and full HH earning. Marriott, are you listening?)
(2) HGI
(3) Aloft
(4) Residence Inn (Again, I'm talking about clean, newer ones. The 50% points penalty and queen-sized beds are drawbacks.)
(5) SHS (the new ones only)
(6) Embassy Suites
(7) Hyatt Place
(8) Courtyard (A few exceptions would rank higher, but the near-full-service CY's are generally urban and priced at Marriott/Renaissance levels.)
(9) Radisson
(10) The old Doubletrees - their suburban midscale hotels (e.g. North Tampa. Yes, I realize DT has some nice urban flagship properties. But they also have these gross semirenovated HoJo type places that really shouldn't wear the DT brand.)


In the lower category - the Interstate roadtrip motels - Hampton crushes Fairfield IMHO. I would also pick it over Four Points, Ramada, Sleep Inn, or Holiday Inn in most cases.