+ 1 for consistency...

I figured the OP was bored w/ his/her job that day. It probably hasn't changed in a year either

Cheers.

What is SHS & HIE?
Thanks

SHS = Springhill Suites
HIE = Holiday Inn Express

SHS is SpringHill Suites, HIE is Holiday Inn Express.

Limited service brands, including Courtyard, Fairfield, SHS, HIE, Hampton Inn, etc. in the USA generally are not in the business of being creative. They aim to provide consistency across their properties. That's great for travelers who want reliable value and wish to avoid nasty surprises, but the flip side is that all that consistency can seem boring. In addition, their breakfasts are designed to provide a certain level of value at low cost to the hotel-- and, ultimately, to you. If you want unique amenities and fancy meals you are in the wrong market.

Or HIX

Marriotts in general ARE boring. Marriott and pizazz are mutually exclusive.

I have found JW Marriotts to be the best options by far for vacations, both within and outside the US.

As for breakfasts--as long as it is free, I do not care whether it is boring or not.

Conversely, Marriott gets much less of my business today precisely because there are too many exceptions to free breakfats for Platinum elites on vacation (most notably at resorts).

Haha okay I can empathize a bit with the OP. Well, sorta - i'm not exactly sure what he meant, especially as he referred to breakfast...

However, i've been a Marriott platinum for many years, and there really aren't as many interesting, exciting properties to try out as compared to a program like SPG. So my 'strategy' to combat this was to move the first 25 of my stays for this year over to SPG, get Plat there, and have a bunch of points. Now i'm staying at Marriott for the rest of the year so I can keep plat status, but if you think the chain is boring... try another? Seems obvious.

I like Marriott - good, consistent experience, but... i do agree that they are a bit "boring" from time to time. But I'm halfway to lifetime plat so i ain't stoppin!

SPG properties are all exciting because you never know what you're going to find when you get there. Some I've stayed in have been pleasantly nice, but in at least half of them I've had to request a new room because of some intolerable problem-- broken heat/AC, ridiculously noisy, smoke smell in a nonsmoking room, missing furniture, etc. Sometimes I've had to request a third room before being satisfied or simply giving up.

Agreed this is the case w/ most mid-range properties. However, hard to argue that SPG doesn't have more "aspirational" properties, and that's all I was really talking about... Anyhow, i didn't mean to start a Marriott v. SPG war here. I'm just saying that I can empathize w/ getting a bit "bored" by the high end redemption options.

You do realize that you were empathizing with the OP who was talking about a RI (Residence Inn) being boring which is hardly a high end property.

Advice to the OP: if you want something that is not boring then stay at something other than a RI.

Regarding real high end properties, I guess it depends where you travel. SPG in Europe is better, but Marriott is moving to change that with the addition of AC Hotel chain in December. Some of Marriott's German properties are a bit mundane; however, their Paris and London properties are quite nice. In Asia pretty much all of Marriott's high end properties are very nice and hardly boring IMO, and their continuing expansion in Asia and current expansion in India as noted in the JW list at the end of this posting. SPG has more exotic resort properties, exotic mainly because they are further away and off the beaten path for those of us from the US. Marriott is slow to fill this gap, although their upcoming Maldives JW will be a welcome addition. As far as nice tropical resorts are concerned, I think when it comes to Thailand, Marriott looks great and hardly boring.

I think Marriott understands their SPG competition, especially the uniqueness and success of the SPG Luxury Collection and as such is targeting their new Autograph Collection to the same market, and quite successfully from first accounts.

Again looking at the high end, Marriott also has a very aggressive road map for openings of new JWs in the next 3 years:
Future Openings: By 2014, the JW Marriott portfolio will increase by 24 hotels, bringing the brand total to 76 properties in 28 countries.

The Americas - Latin America/Caribbean
• 150-room JW Marriott Hotel Cusco, Peru (2012)
• 225-room JW Marriott Escazu, Costa Rica (2013)
• 280-room JW Marriott Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (2013)
• 371-room JW Marriott Coco Beach Resort & Spa, Puerto Rico (2013)

Asia Pacific
• 160-room JW Marriott Hotel Chandigarh, India (2011)
• 318-room JW Marriott Hotel Bangalore, India (2011)
• 379-room JW Marriott Hotel Chennai, India (2012)
• 206-room JW Marriott Hotel Gurgaon, India (2012)
• 170-room JW Marriott Seoul Dongdaemun Plaza, South Korea (2012)
• 520-room JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi International Airport, India (2012)
• 450-room JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi, Vietnam (2012)
• 100-villa JW Marriott Maldives Gaakoshibee Resort & Spa, Maldives (2012)
• 300-room JW Marriott Sanya Qingshui Bay Resort & Spa, Sanya China (2013)
• 300-room JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou, China (2013)
• 300-room JW Marriott Hotel Kolkata, India (2013)
• 320-room JW Marriott Hotel Dalian, China (2013)
• 525-room JW Marriott Mumbai Sahar, India (2014)
• 320-room JW Marriott Vinh Hoi Bay Resort & Spa, Vietnam (2014)
• 294-room JW Marriott Hotel Nanjing, China (2014)

Europe
• 416-room JW Marriott Hotel Ankara, Turkey (2011)
• 243-room JW Marriott Hotel Baku, Azerbaijan (2011)

Middle East/Africa
• 264-room JW Marriott Aqaba Resort & Spa, Jordan (2012)
• 807-room JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai, UAE (first phase: 2012, second phase: 2013)
• 170-room JW Marriott Hotel Dubai Lifestyle City, UAE (2013)

With the exception of a small percentage of ALL properties, both SPG and Marriott, have fairly boring properties in the US. Marriott has consistency going for it. I rarely stay at SPG properties in the US, and the times I have I ran into situations similar to those experienced by darthbimmer. I stay at SPG when traveling outside the US usually when there is no Marriott property or one that is not convenient, as is the case in Venice. I also will stay at SPG when a competing Marriott property doesn't stack up. In Cayman I used to stay at the Westin over the Marriott, but now with the addition of RC to the MR program I stay at the RC over the Westin.