Sounds more like my wife's travel patterns. She would probably argue that a Hyatt, Westin, or Omni are much more exciting (more interesting infrastructure, friendlier staff, better redemption opportunities) than your average FS Hilton.

But I'll leave that argument to her. She's more qualified to assess the high end.

I did have a multi-day FS Hilton stay and a multi-day Doubletree stay last year myself. The service quality was excellent at both. So perhaps if I could consistently stay at the top end, I'd think differently. Reality being what it is, I stay a lot more often at the lower end due to location and price, and the value is better for me at IHG.