Thought I would throw my $.02 in (I posted that I am defecting recently in the *wood board)...

Marriott has always treated me fine. I have plenty of points, spent a week with my wife in Kauai on Marriott, etc.

There are just a couple reasons I am changing:

-My wife and I have spent a couple free weekends at Westins and LOVE the Heavenly Bed/Bath combos as well as the rest of the amenities. I realized that I make my travel choice for our vacations together and if we are happier in those beds and rooms, then that is where I need to be.

-I have lurked on the *wood board for some time and it appears that suite upgrades occur fairly regularly for platinums in the SPG program. I have been plat with Marriott a couple years and have only gotten a suite twice; both at the San Mateo Marriott where I have spent an inordinate amount of time.

-Starwood makes it much easier to do business with them: no faxing for stays not captured, points posting quickly, no certs for award stay bookings, no capacity controls for awards (this is big).

-Finally, the Starwood Lurker represents a great innovation in customer service and is very deft in straddling the line b/w promoting his company and giving straight answers/solutions to issues that arise. The guy is even human and gives his own opinion on occasion that conflicts with corporate policy (this is rare, but is the kind of person I prefer to do business with).

Am I abandoning Marriott permanently? No. I am simply taking advantage of a status comp and seeing what life is like over there. I will still stay in Marriotts occasionaly, but until I notice some of the above qualities appearing at Marriott or if Starwood isn't nearly what I have read about; they won't be my first choice anymore.

Just thought I would share my rationale-
Kevin

ps- I apologize if there is a helpful Marriott Lurker that I haven't noticed; I don't check these boards too often, but the presence of the one from the other chain is unmistakable. IMHO, Marriott is missing the boat not having a similar, intimate link with an important cross-section of the traveling public

I am moving towards Hilton also. The lack of upgrades at Marriott properties is bothersome as a Platinum member.The wear and tear and often horrible beds at CY is also irritating. Also, the earning opportunity at HH blows Marriott away. Beside the obvious Double Dip, HH gives points for website bookings, Marriott does not. Hilton just ran a promom that gave 50,000 points for 4 paid nights. Marriott has done nothing so lucrative. In last two years I have stayed at Marriott 150+ nights and have about 250,000 points. I have stayed at Hilton 13 nights ( however 9 were in last 30 days) during the same period and have accrued 180,000 points. There is no comparison.

care to elaborate at all?????

Yes, there are a few of us lurker's here that do try to help and answer questions but we are only here in unofficially...and yes we agree there should be someone here officially

Unfortunately I'm not close enough to the discussions to know exactly what their current strategies are, but I do know it is quite often looked at

maybe I will get my platnium card by then... 3+ months at Plat and still waiting.

Here I come Starwood. Watch out.

These type of discussions are always one constant we can expect on FT. As a gold in HH, Starwood, Marriott (lowly silver with Hyatt) I am proof of the on-going dilemma, where-TODAY- is the best program to be a part of. I,probably,should settle with one for its highest status,but I generally flow with the current promotions and most "bang for my bucks" in a specific city. HH's CNTU has been the most recent best promo,so I've recently concentrated on them. In my personal experience Marriott (no upgrades)has the best overall selections of hotels, HH gives me the best upgrades and I like Starwood's Westins (some upgrades,but I don't trust their other brands). So the debate continues...

Several things have prompted us to switch from Marriott as our choice of hotel brand to the Hilton brand.

First it was the mattresses. Two days on the 4" mattress and I'm in pain.

Other things included the failure to get points for Marriott timeshare referrals that resulted in purchases, lack of follow through on a "walk" situation and a snooty front desk clerk. Irritations were piling up and wore our loyalty thin enough to get a couple HHonors cards.

Since we're doing comparisons we should probably look into the Starwood and Hyatt programs.

Originally posted by bnaboy:

Keep in mind, though, that HH points are worth only 20% of Starwood's.

SPN Lifer - please explain. I am not familiar with Starwood program and your comment has raised my interest.

Thanks

I manage to make Marriott Platinum and Gold on Starwood and Hilton but NOTHING compares to Hyatt imho. They don't have as many hotels as Marriott or Starwood, but they have some real gems and both Hyatt corporate as well as most individual hotels treat me incredibly well, and consistently.

I know on the face of it, Hyatt's program is harder to earn pts. in and not as flexible as Marriott or certainly Starwood, but after staying in suites at the Hyatt in Kauai, Maui, Scottsdale, Park Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Shanghai all for free, I really try and stick with Hyatt. And if you work the promos right, its a very rich program.

I was primarily thinking of the airline mileage equivalent via "Point Exchange," as Hilton calls it. The ratio of points to miles on most airlines is 1:1 for Starwood but 5:1 for Hilton. In other words, a Hilton point is worth approximately 20% of a Starwood point. (I recognize, however, that you can do better redeeming an airline award directly with Hilton, so that is a gross oversimplification.)

There is nothing inherently good or bad about a "strong" or "weak" hotel point "currency." It's just something to be aware of.

If you look at the number of points required for free hotel nights, except at the bottom end, the ratio is not as low as 20%, depending on what award you want. More like 30%, narrowing at the high end properties:

http://www.starwood.com/preferredgue...rd_search.html

http://www.hilton.com/en/hhonors/rew...jhtml#standard

So it depends how you plan to spend your points.

I have minimal hotel stay experience compared to you. The Starwood board explains all of this much better than I could.

There is a particularly lucrative "Gold Referral" program going on now. If you can get referred and stay 5 times by the end of October, you'd get a 5K bonus, plus 2.5K for booking the five stays online, plus 3 points (includes 50% Gold bonus) per dollar spent.

Check it out on the Starwood forum, searching for "Gold referral."

As a former Diamond at Hyatt and now only a Plat.. I have to agree with KV99.. When I was living in LA and flying bi weekly to Northern VA before moving here, I stayed at Hyatts and was treated like a King almost all the time.

Unfortunately Hyatts are just not in the places I travel any more. There are not enough of them, maybe when Hawthorn Suites gets in the program things will change, but as of today.. I just can't find them in enough locations. Pure and simple.. thats the only reason I have no requalified as Diamond on the Hyatt program. As for your comment on the promos.. you are so right..

I guess I am like jabez, I'm Gold with Marriott (just missed renewing Platinum last year), Diamond with Hilton, and Platinum with Starwood. I tend to follow the offers - just took advantage of the 4 stays 50,000 points for Hilton, and next week booking Marriott for the free weekend. But, if I had to choose only one program, I would have to go with Hilton - I almost always get upgrades and being able to earn both points and miles is very nice.

After three years as Platinum with Marriott, I've given up for the greener pastures of Starwood and Hyatt.

I always received top-flight treatment at the Marriott I visited most frequently, but the other didn't seem to give a rat's you-know-what about Platinum level membership.

While Marriott certainly provides some of most consistent lodging and service out there, the top tier service pales in comparison to Hyatt and Starwood when it comes to amenities, upgrades, and personalized service.