Originally Posted by hhoope01

My thoughts in choosing between Hilton and Marriott would be dependent on what type/level of hotels I would be staying at (and where I might be traveling to both in earning points and in redeeming them.)

Gold/Plat Marriott elite status has the most benefits at their FS hotels (i.e. CL access, actual rooms to upgrade someone to.) Note that everyone gets free breakfasts at most of Marriott's non-FS hotels (except CYs of course where even Gold/Plats don't.) Add to this that Marriott's FS hotels across the board tend to be less "variable" in quality than Hilton's FS hotels. (I've been to some very nice Hiltons, but I've also seen a number of not so nice FS Hiltons, more so than I have seen not so nice Marriotts.)

So if I were staying at mostly FS and higher end hotels, I'd be more likely to pick Marriott.

I like Hilton's non-FS options better than I do Marriott's and it seems that elite status at those hotels may mean more at Hilton than it will at Marriott (i.e. Plat status at an FFI doesn't really get you much of anything.)

So if I were staying at mostly non-FS hotels, I might look more strongly at Hilton.