Three things jumped out at me:
Originally Posted by
Red259
The breakfasts were good. I have only stayed at Hamptons so far with some HGI stays planned.
The comparable brands with Marriott are Fairfield Inn and Courtyard, respectively. You'll find that the Fairfield breakfast is roughly comparable to Hampton but that there is NO free breakfast at most Courtyards. Overall, in that demographic Hilton tends to win on the in-hotel experience and benefits.
However:
The drawback with Hilton seems to be the devaluation so my points do not appear that they would go as far as my girlfriend's does with marriott and her plat elite status.
That can be a HUGE difference. It's important to think about the actual stays you'll have and compare redemption values. Many of us find it takes 2-4x the points in the Hilton program, easily.
I have a stay pattern that tends to be similar to yours and I'm sticking with Marriott. The redemption value has won out over the in-hotel experience. (Of which I remind myself, every time I'm buying a breakfast in a hotel lobby or nearby diner.)
Next year I am looking at travelling to Asia and Europe, so I am trying to put myself in a good position to be able to redeem miles/points for that trip, so that is one of my main goals.
Compare Hilton's AXON awards to Marriott's Travel Packages, for the specific hotels you're considering. That's probably the best way to think about this specific situation. (Also compare the Marriott MegaBonus promotions to the bonus promotions Hilton has been running lately.)