At this point, Marriott and Hilton are totally interchangeable to me. I'm Titanium and Diamond - neither mean anything at any property - and all of my post-pandemic hotel stays have been with such completely barebones services and surly staff that the flag outside the building really doesn't matter.

I haven't had any truly *bad* stays. The bed is fine, the shower works, the toilet flushes. Those are pretty much the only variables in any of these brands anymore. So I just search all hotels and pick the cheapest property that fits my needs, giving maybe a few bucks "credit" to a brand where I have elite status so they don't stick me with the worst room in the building.

I think the best stay I had recently was a Holiday Inn Express, simply because the pool wasn't out-of-order and they actually had their normal breakfast service running. Yay. An HIX breakfast! A hotel that actually functions correctly enough to get bagels and eggs right.