We spread our travel between Marriott and Hilton and have a credit card for each. Those carry fees but provide Silver Elite level. My husband is retired but I travel on business regularly and usually end up in one or the other, and when we're traveling on our own we usually find a Courtyard, Fairfield, Hampton Inn, etc.

Like the previous posters, we've found good and bad properties in both chains. Reward redemption has been reasonable and we accumulate a lot of points because we charge things like college tuition and home improvements on the credit cards (then pay them off immediately). I'd give the slight edge to Hilton because of their occasional promotions to instant Gold status. People who actually stay that many nights may complain (justifiably) that it dilutes the value of their status, but we love having lounge access and a few extra perks when we travel.