Seeing more high category hotels moving down rather than up in 2010 is a sigh of relief.
My analyses of hotel category placement still has Marriott offering far lower category levels for comparable hotels to Hilton.
If you have a HHonors earning preference for Points & Points the programs work out similarly for earning points and redeeming for award stays. But if you go with Hilton Points & Miles, then Marriott is the better value for earning points for comparable reward stays in most cities.
I predicted in October 2008 Marriott would move categories up in a massive devaluation to better align with Hilton. Marriott proved me wrong and instead Hilton HHonors went with the systemwide points devaluation by shifting most properties to higher points reward categories in 2010.
Kudos to Marriott for retaining strong value in their Marriott Rewards program.