SacTownGuy

I have had diamond/plat/whatever at Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott and in my experience Hyatt blew Hilton and Marriott away in terms of upgrades, quality of hotels, service, etc... BUT Hyatt just doesn't have a big enough foot print for me. To me, with the Starwood properties Marriott is really the best all-around now. There are just so many properties to choose from in basically any city in the world. No, the experience is not as nice as Hyatt but you need hotels to stay at to enjoy the perks. I was unimpressed with Hilton. I did it as a status match and wasn't impressed with any of my stays at mostly normal Hiltons, Doubletrees and one other name. fwiw.

Adelphos

With 175 nights, the OP could easily maintain Marriott Titanium (75 nights), Hyatt Globalist (60 nights) and Hilton Diamond (credit card) - the OP can then pick and choose hotels throughout the world based on price, particular hotel quality, location, etc and still get elite benefits. Hilton is a good program, but you need zero nights to earn the top tier status as long as you have a credit card, so in reality even casual travelers should engage in the program. Marriott is too big to be ignored, and Hyatt seems to treat the elite customer well. If you can, engage with all three programs.

CPRich

Hyatt's always been the best, IMHO, if your stays fit within their limited coverage. I did Diamond for a year or two way back, but next project came and no Hyatts.

Hilton still stinks, points valuation wise.

Marriott's "devaluation" is in service, not points value. How much the aggravation affects you will determine whether you should switch.

flyou10

I was Hilton diamond for 4+ years. A job changed had me switch to Marriott where I am Titanium now.

Honesty, both programs are hotel programs. They have their plus and minuses. Overall though, I’ve been far more impressed with Marriotts program (not IT). I’ll list a few things I have noted myself.

Late checkout: Marriotts 4pm guaranteed checkout is amazing. Hilton you beg and beg and they grudgingly give you an extra hour. If late checkout is a thing for you at all, don’t leave. It is a deal breaker.

Upgrade: Marriott has upgraded me so many more times than Hilton ever did.

Point earning/redemption: Marriott points go so much further, even after the devaluation. Hilton likes to make it look like you’re rolling in the points. However, you quickly realize they hand out diamond status like candy and it takes a ton of points to get anything.

The app and technology: Hilton. This is where Hilton really shines. Their app is amazing. I do miss it. You can check in online and pick your room, like picking your airplane seat. I loved this! Then when your room is ready, if they had the digital key (prob 90% of properties do), you can go straight to your room without visiting the front desk. Great for long check in lines.

Breakfast and water: Hilton. Their breakfast benefit is a legit benefit that is easy to figure out. They also give you 2 waters at check in that I always appreciated.

Lounges (domestic): Marriott. Their lounges are more numerous and better than Hilton. Hilton’s lounges are small and rarely offer anything of substance. Also, it appears Hilton is closing their lounges at an alarming rate. Where as Marriott seams to be focusing on their lounge, especially with the new “M Lounges” that are super nice and resembles more of an airport lounge.

Fees & reward stays: This is probably my biggest Marriott gripe and it really gets under my skin a little. At Hilton parking & resort/destination fees also earn you points, unlike Marriott. This drives me crazy because this is not a tax. In fact if I’m willing to pay more for a property charging me a resort fee, give me more credit for staying there. Then it goes a step further.. when you book using a reward stay for Hilton that has a resort fee, you don’t get charged it. However, good ole Marriott will take your points & charge you a resort fee. So they stick it to you on both ends. They make you pay for the resort fee on rewards stays AND don’t give you point credit for paying that fee. Hilton gives you the best of both.

All in all I have been more than happy at Marriott vs Hilton. I feel my points go further & I get more recognition for my loyalty. As always this is my opinion and YMMV. If you got anymore questions I’d be happy to answer. I knew Hilton really well.

CPRich

I think we have a winner.....

tfong007

At this stage of this debacle. I am secretly hoping that Marriott will step up. Many of us are past the point of no return.

kaizen7

Unfortunately Hyatt footprint is pretty much useless for my purposes

chipmaster

All thanks for the reminders, as to # points and value, and burn value.

As to footprint can't complain at how with the merger my choices are astronomical compared to my co-workers who are religious to Hilton / Hyatt in the places I now travel, vacation is similar, seems I always have a wealth of "Bonvoy"

I'll probably re-visit and sample Hilton if they status match once I make my level this year, Hyatt simply to limited for me currently both vacation and work.

flyalotlm

Our fear is that the super large number of former Marrott's Rewards program, relative to SPG's program number, will flood our favorite former Starwood aspirational properties, such as in Hawaii, and will make it harder to get suite upgrades anywhere/everywhere. On the flip side, we have found Marriott properties to use, to our benefit, in locations that lacked a former Starwood property alternative, such as in Copenhagen, Petra (Wadi Rum, Jordan), and Hong Kong International Airport. The points issues have not been much of a problem for us until this recent major devaluation, especially for the upper-end properties. And the points charts differences between the major hotels such as Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton, have not been not enough to drive us from one program to another, pending our upcoming experiences with the recent Marriott devaluation.

Marriott's level of customer service is lower than former Starwood's. Marriott IT issues seem run amok. Marriott did not seem to bring any additional aspirational properties of interest. Marriott has so far failed to provide a consistent set of benefits across the former Marriott and SPG hotels so we never know what our elite benefits are going to be. And our fear is that when it does, it will downgrade the former SPG elite benefits to Marriott's lower level.

We tried Hyatt in 2016 through a status match opportunity and were very happy with all of the Hyatt hotels we stayed at. However its footprint and even its number of options in major cities is just too small to meet our needs.

We also tried Hilton in 2016 through a status match opportunity and also have experience with Hilton as a Diamond while my spouse was working. We found Hilton met our needs and provided a good product, and seems to be the competitive option if one is seriously considering exiting (going Bonvoy?) Marriot's program.

Our perspective .... we are lucky to have this kind of problem versus other much more serious types of problems.