I stay between 150-300 nights per year, every year, for the last 7 years in hotels. I've tried all the chains.

I have to say that Hyatt Gold Passport is the best for award nights and value. The only problem is the limited number of hotels. When they have have a hotel in a location, it is usually one of the best if not the best in the city. Park Hyatt Tokyo, Park Hyatt Paris, Park Hyatt Chicago, Grand Hyatt Kauai, Park Hyatt Washington DC, Hotel Victor (south beach) are awesome. Overall I think the Park Hyatt chain is only a slight step down from Four Seasons. The Grand Hyatt Atlanta is comparable to JW Marriott Buckhead for example.

On the other end of the scale, I find the Hyatt Place hotels to be better than the nearby competition like Courtyard, Residence Inn, or Hilton Garden Inn. It just feels a lot more upscale and fresh, for the same cost as the others.

You should really look at the type of hotels you like to stay at. If you like lots of free nights at budget hotels, one program might be better than others. For us using Hyatt points, allowed us to stay at places we would normally never pay for. Five nights at the PH paris would run you around $8,000 USD for their cheapest room.

Hyatt's highest status is easy to get. Only 13 stays required when they run their promos Jan-March. They've done this for the last 2-3 years.

Add Faster Free Nights into the mix and you can not go wrong. As diamonds, they allow you to reserve awards using points far in advance and convert them to Faster Free Nights during the promo periods. This has saved me many hundreds of thousands points and guaranteed we were able to get a free night when we want them.

Lately I've been traveling on Priceline rates since I own my own business. Where other brands sometimes deny elite status benefits, Hyatt always gives you full benefits no matter what rate you're paying or who you booked it with. I think that speaks a lot about them.

I have Hyatt as my first choice, Starwood second, Marriott third.