Hilton Garden Inns are probably their best value IMHO. They are newer properties. Traditional Hiltons are a waste. Hilton has now clue about customer service. Marriott does. I do not have elite status in either program, but I was once upgraded to a suite at a Marriott on an award stay when the lobby area was tied up by a wedding reception, and it was difficult to get to the front desk. I clearly did not expect an upgrade, but I told the desk clerk that I thought the wedding thing was ridiculous. I was give a huge suite on a free stay.

At a Hilton, I asked for extra blankets and was told that this was impossible since it was New Year's eve and the hotel was full. That was my last stay in a Hilton. There was several issues, and when i complained, all I got were excuses.

At Marriott, the service is almost always consistent, and the employees are usually very helpful. I think Marriott treats their employees beter.

I am MR plat and HH diamond. Differences in hotels in different cities leaves me on fence, sometimes staying in one, sometimes the other. Neither is consistently better everywhere.

Except, I will always take a Garden Inn over a Courtyard.

Me too, and I will usually take an HI over FI or SHS. It is ironic that Hilton's best products are the mid-range / low-end ones and there's such inconsistency, and often poor value and poorer service, as you go higher.

Re: Promotions. Many of Hilton's are targeted, most of Marriott's are not. As HH Gold, I don't get cut in on many lucrative offers. The quadruple point promo required long stays - a nice one for that specific type of guest I suppose. I do mostly one-nighters...I think I would have gotten double base points or something. Lame.

Although I usually argue for SPG and HY as having the best promos, in the past year Marriott has provided me 10 Cat 4 free nights, 60,000 Delta miles, and numerous Bonus Bucks above and beyond the normal program earnings. All but a couple of the Cat 4 free nights were publicly available. (I think two or three were direct-mail targeted promotions.) The "lame Megabonus" gripe is played often here, but 2010 was a good year for supplemental Marriott promos. (And again, don't overlook the ongoing EEO's - a source of another 5-6 free nights for me every single year.)

The continue to tighten the EEO and BB rules over time, and we rightfully gripe about it, but HH doesn't even have this program to begin with.

Some chains and brands within chains are better than others at enforcing 1 EQN per calendar night. I used to do extended stays at Residence Inn and I recall being able to earn 2 EQN on the same nights (e.g., flying to another city for the weekend and staying in a regular Marriott...).

Bonus bucks were sweet when they were more prevalent. They've become more scarce and I haven't used one in quite a while now.
Bonus bucks made Marriotts much cheaper for me than any other hotel chain when on leisure travel.

When I stay at Marriott Resorts, I always book a standard room and almost always get upgraded to a view room, and I'm just gold.

The standard upgrade at Eden Roc for golds and plats is a two-story cabana room with a beach view plus an additional freebie like a cert for 2 beach chairs.

+1

Marriott have 10% discount with GC. Marriott points easier to redeem and more value. I am Hilton Diamond and Marriott PP. Rarely stay at FS facilities so upgrades are basically moot. However, I have been getting Marriott upgrades whenever I do stay above a Courtyard.

I like Hilton for the AXON discount. Stay there whenever there is a promo that makes sense.

Regarding breakfast, I was at a Marriott property with a lounge and breakfast. Never made it for the whole week. Even if I can make the breakfast, I just find point redemption value more important than breakfast. IMO, Marriott points are far more valuable than Hilton.

Agree--not even a contest.

I think the only person who REALLY enjoys CY is Bill Marriott. At least it looks like he does in the ads.

Those guys they hired from Starwood who broght with W secrets were supposed to solve some of these problems, ensuring that the upscale/luxury sectors were dramatically beefed up.

All that resulted was Hilton CEO Chris Nasetta ultimately being relieved he does not face the possibility of serving jail time as the dispute was settled and the Feds are almost certainly going to drop their case.

Conversely, Bill Marriott being involved in such reprehensible or even criminal activities is completely unimaginable. He is one of those true legendary American leaders who stands for the highest level of ethical conduct.

I was HH Diamond for many years until last year. Went back to MR because of the new point redemtion chart and an unpleasent experience at the Hilton on the big island. I stayed 90+ nights/yr with Hilton and never felt like their top tier and seemed to have to beg for upgrades half the time.

There are some outstanding Hilton properties that I love (Rome Cavalieri), but I like the lifetime plat and rollovers in MR. A enjoyed a recent stay at the Maui Ritz where I paid for the cheapest room and got an Ocean View suite The staff was incredible as well.

IMO Chris is a terrific leader and Hilton will greatly benefit from him - he did a terrific job as CEO of Host Marriott (now called Host Hotels and Resorts). In reference to the Starwood Secrets - as soon as he discovered it he made sure Starwood was informed (some CEO's would have kept it quiet in which case Starwood wouldn't have ever found out)

Chris Nasetta immediately informing Starwood once he knew about these documents is not the way this saga has been reported.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...settled-3.html

Saw a recent post in Hotels Magazine (for industry insiders) that quoted a survey--only 13% of Hilton employees believe that Mr. Nasetta is an effective leader.

There was no comparable info for Marriott. Other than to say that in several of the past years Marriott gets very high ratings as a great place to work. Even though I have multiple misgivings about Marriott from a customer perspective--I admire their leadership in spades.

So based on your two stays, you are plus for one and minus for the other? Staying at a hotel on NYE is a tough one, they are probably completely in over their heads at most large mega hotels. It not an excuse, just saying.
I lived at hotels for many years for work and let me tell you about what Hilton did for me and my wife. They screwed up in scheduling a tour of Pompeii and when the bus arrived they had no reservation and no available seats. The Hilton in Sorrento got us a town car for the day to drive us anywhere we wanted with a private driver. The driver took us to Pompeii lunch and then Herculaneum. Best mistake ever. ! Anyways, sometimes a good attitude helps, sometimes just asking helps, and sometimes you just have to get lucky.
Free upgrades are not a right. Sometimes the spoiled traveler forgets this. Its not very glamorous to travel most of the time, so thats why you see a lot of cranky people on here.
I know an extra blanket doesn't fall into any of these categories and yer not a status member, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.