Nice post and I'm glad everything worked out (for you and kmersh's wife!). I wish more people kept calm and managed their experience as well as you.
In my experience (usually on flights to EZE or SCL out of DFW) cabin and status make a difference. I've been put up at the Grand Hyatt at DFW when in J or F while other pax have been shuttled to an offsite hotel, and over the last two or three years, I've had proactive compensation miles deposited for every significantly delayed or canceled flight, as you say you did. I've heard that the number of miles changes based on certain criteria, but I have no proof of that. My colleagues all earn kilometers on LATAM, so there was no way for them to receive miles, and they all told me that there was nothing else offered them as compensation.