IMHO hotels view themselves as being part of the hospitality industry, and have a totally different perspective on customer service and experience than airlines, who see themselves as transportation companies.

For that matter, hotels also generate significant revenue from breakage. If you have a meeting at a hotel and block a number of rooms, you pay for them whether you use them or not. If you host a banquet, you have to guarantee the number of meals to be served. If you order 1000 meals and only consume 900, the hotel pockets the difference. Even better, the hotel can theoretically resell the unused rooms and food again and again.

Airline seats and hotel rooms are both perishable products. So, it's not really all that egregious that airlines place expiration dates on miles.