Yep. And both the Courtyard issue and Ritz issue are well documented on this board.

There are times that I'm also unhappy with Marriott, but my gripe goes toward upgrades and suites. I find the best way to break out of that gripe is to take a mini vacation to The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance. No free breakfast (it's a resort), but each time I've stayed there, the room upgrade has been awesome.
I'll have to add the Vegas JW and Eden Roc to the list of places I'll go when I'm frustrated with upgrades. I haven't been to Eden Roc yet, but the Vegas JW gave us a beautiful 2 bedroom suite for New Years. No free breakfast at Vegas JW either, but free while free breakfast is nice, it's not a dealbreaker for me.
If free breakfast is the #1 priority, stil with HHonors. If suite upgrades are the #1 priority, stick with Starwood and stay at Westins/Ws.
All around, Marriott has been my best choice.

I just retired from my job in the AF Reserves and can now coast to lifetime status. In the last four years, the AF had me in hotels so much that I was able to rack up enough nights to be within 13 nights and 200K points of lifetime status. I'll have no problem getting both of those over the next three years (I've only been in the program for 9 years) with the MR Premier Visa. Well, I'll have to watch the points; I will likely need to work on that just a bit.
Since I won't be traveling nearly as much, it's really nice that I'll be able to maintain Plat status for the rest of my life.

Worst elite program? Hardly.