What you have clearly MISSED is, there are decades apart from the early generations to the latest generations.

If you stay in an RI, say, at Santa Fe, that is built in 1980's. and nothing else, then your opinion on RI would be quite poor and rightful so.
If you stay in an RI, say, at Pompano Beach (the town, not the actual beach, in South FL) that is less than 2 years old, built in a mix usage business park and residential neighborhood surrounding a rather big size man-made lake. Even though the property is right next by the freeway, there is no easy access from the freeway but one needs to wind thru the neighborhood streets along the lake to get to the property. That property is better than some old full service Marriott / Renaissance in the local area, such as the North Ft. Lauderdale Marriott, or the Renaissance near the cruise port.

Apart from the brand names, WHEN the property is built makes a huge difference. I personally find it very silly to just pick properties by their brands without actually look into the reality.

I still feel the newest generation of the RI, SH & in some case FF with the Suites in their names, compete directly with Hyatt Place and Hyatt House. Trip Advisor Reviews usually would have this information as well as the quality of the property. In fact I have eliminated several full service Marriott properties which originally are considered to have the the 7 nights travel package certs attached due to Trip Advisor reviews (we do want to use the certs.)

The breakfast options, the hot items are not good, bit the cold items are all quite good - with Greek Yogurt, Digestive Yogurt and ordinary Yogurt, fresh blue berries / strawberries at the RI Pompano Beach, all have whole fruits - apple, orange, banana. The orange actually is of decent quality - I am surprise we even found orange based on current price level the orange is sold at grocery stores. There are oatmeal and cereals which always has one to two non-sugary option.
All of them has fresh nuts (half WalNut, Almond sliver), 2 kinds of raisin, dried cranberries and at one property also dried blue berries, as the topping for your oatmeal / cereal.
All of them has Fresh Spinach Leaves that is put in an area together with Salsa and Shredded Cheese, presumably for using to make breakfast burritos? I have found the Spinach leaves are of high quality and better than the salad bowls offered in lounges of some full service properties.
As for the usual Carb - there are whole grain bread slices you can choose versus the plain one. There are "healthier" muffins. So you do not need to eat the unhealthy carb if you still want some carb.

They all provide very good customer services, far more friendlier than some full services properties I have experienced.

New generation properties all have nice lobby with big sitting areas in groups. You can actually sit at a quiet corner to enjoy a newspaper with a complementary coffee that is offered at the lobby, usually near the breakfast area. I dont find this is possible in many full service properties.

The best part? They cost less. AAA rate been below $90 a night versus the full service in the area are 20% or higher.

To be honest, I dont really understand the purpose of this thread? What is the big deal in the brand of a property? It is the combination of Quality of the room, Services and other Amenities, together with the price point, that really matter. At least that is to me. I could not care whether it is a Ren or a SH, but I do care what my actual experience would be.