Correct but with Renaissance EVERY hotel must have a dest restaurant

The only reason I continue to accumulate HHH points is the Embassy Suites brand. When we travel with our kids, having that extra space (including a separate room with a king bed, 2nd t.v., fridge and microwave) is essential. I'll take ES over the highest end Marriott if it means having to squeeze 4 people into 2 double beds.

I've never been to a Marriott Suites, but I've booked my sister-in-law at one in Orlando. If they are nice, I'll pick those over ES. My fear is that they'll be hit or miss. At least with the ES, you know what you're getting.

No, R-C compete with Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental and (Very arguably) Luxury Collection/St. Regis. Hilton is starting their new Waldorf=Astoria brand which will try (and probably fail) to compete with RC. RC feels like an independent company; in fact, most don't know it is owned by Marriott. W=A is going to feel (I predict) like a luxury Hilton.

I would say Conrad = JW as someone above me already mentioned!

Marriott Suites are nice; but the brand hasn't been pushed and there aren't many. Instead, when ES was growing, Marriott concentrated on Residence Inn. ES, on the other hand, are everywhere, almost.

Well the Aguora Hills and the lax Ren's restaurants are certainly not worth a detour-same mgt. company(?)
And I really think the Marriott Del Mar should have been branded as a Renaissance-and I would drive two hours for dinner in the restaurant there.

Destination restuarant?!? That is absolutely hysterical. Don't get me wrong - I like Renaissances, probably my favorite Marriott brand. But I don't think I've ever seen one that had a restaurant that I'd eat in if I weren't staying in the hotel.

Many thoughts, and pace to Bruce for quoting the OP, but...

I'm a Hilton Diamond, for several years now. LexPax is Marriott Platinum Emeritus. In both cases, we have both been bods in beds for 99+% of those earning nights. So I'm very brand neutral. I have my own perspective, obviously, but it's been built over thousands of room nights. Now, that's a scarey thought...

Fairfield = Hampton. Check. Personal Opinion: more Hamptons are much nicer than most FFIs I've ever seen.

CY = HGI. Check. Also, let's add Doubletree Club in here. Personal Opinion: HGI beats CY hands down. Far and away the greatest difference in equivalent level brand performance. Just as one obvious example, I can count on one hand the CYs that have ever comped us breakfast. Breakfast always comped at a HGI. Always. We've stayed at 2 Doubletree Club properties in the last few months: San Diego and Boston. They are mostly equal in all ways to CY/HGI. But the hotel in BOS has only an Au Bon Pain (sic) stand-up thing for, er, calories in the morning. But it was comped.

Res Inn = Homewood Suites: that one I don't know. Have stayed at several Res Inns. I find them pretty downscale in some ways, but usually adequate for what we need them for. We stayed at the RI in PHL in December and liked it - old office convert well done.

[edited to add:] Embassy Suites... yes, few Marriott equivalents. We used to stay at the San Diego Suites and liked it, but that was sold off to Starwood some years ago. I also remember staying at the Marriott Suites in Costa Mesa years ago. But Embassy Suites isn't what it was either.

The Springhill Suites I've stayed in are seriously downscale. I don't hate them, because they are what they are, but I don't plan to stay in them again. I am told that Towneplace are even downerscale , but I don't know personally.

Marriott = Hilton (= Doubletree) more or less - obviously too many properties to worry about comparing exactly.

Perhaps Renaissance = Doubletree. Both were established chains bought by Marriott/Hilton and incorporated into the respective programs. Renaissance wins that one hands down in our experience.

Unfortunately my recent travel doesn't include R-Cs or the = so I'll pass on those comments.

Random thoughts on brands...

Hampton Inn > Fairfield Inn, 90% of the time. I don't mind an FI in a pinch, but I'll keep driving a couple more exits up ahead if I know there's a Hampton with rooms available. Whenever I book either of these brands, I'm calling an hour or two before check-in and picking the specific property based only on its mile marker on the highway. It's a pure bet on the overall reputation of the brands, and I'm more willing make the blind bet with HI than FI.

I tend to think of a Conrad and a JW as being the same thing - a snazzed-up version of the main product, but not a terribly unique product. The Ritzes tend to be a bit more unique, and I think HH is positioning the Astoria as a new brand that will compete along these lines. Very little "Hilton" branding; more of a collection of unique properties that intentionally have little in common.

We've beating the full-service comparisons to death, but I'll pile on: Marriott and Hilton are intended to be as direct of competitors as there can be, but taking another blind bet without bias to the rewards programs or perks, I will bet than a given Marriott is nicer than the nearest Hilton and probably be right 75% of the time.

I think of Renaissances as on-par with the Marriotts and Doubletrees as a full step down from Hilton. Perhaps with the exception of a few Southeast locations where DT seems to have historically been the strongest before the link-up with Hilton.

Courtyard and HGI are clearly intended to be head-to-head competitors. In most suburban locations, I think they are. Both are designed for business travelers, limited service, heavy emphasis on the room itself, priced similarly. The wrinkle is that HGI pretty much is what it is - a bunch of reasonably new, smallish hotels, mostly in suburbs - whereas CY is all over the map. CY has completely dumpy old hotels that should probably be rebranded Scarefield Inn, and they have brand-new full-service downtown hotels that fetch $200+ a night.

Res Inn = Homewood Suites. The few Homewoods I've stayed in have been new and nice, whereas I've stayed in a wide mix of good & bad RI's. The advantage I give to RI is that I can usually book a 2-bdrm suite, which we like for family trips at Thanksgiving & Christmas. Homewoods don't seem to have 2-bdrm suites - at least when I've been looking for htem.

SpringHill Suites is kind of a poor man's Embassy. Similar room types - the "minisuite" or "extended room" or whatever you want to call it. Embassy offers more services - sometimes a bar/restaurant, always breakfast & evening drinks - and as such is priced a bit higher.

I don't think Hilton has a TownePlace equivalent. TownePlace Suites are basically one step away from ExecuStay. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure if Hilton has any kind of ExecuStay-like division either. The 2 TPS properties I've visited have been great for what they are - a very limited service 1-bedroom apartment at a low cost by comparison to, say, a Residence Inn. If you're going somewhere for 2 weeks and like your own breakfasts and don't mind the limited housekeeping, then TPS is for you...

and which Programis better??
Marriott Rewards or HHornors?

The red one.

Which one of the 2,300+ Marriott Branded Hotels would you like to compare with a specific Hilton hotel....there might be over 3,000,000 comparisons possible!!!

It may be helpful to give more specifics around what you are looking for
- busineess, personal, upgrades, country, province, state, or city, king, queen, suite, frequency, budget....etc etc

First of all, welcome...you've found the right place to start your research!

Second, there is no one answer for everyone - those two programs are probably the biggest two hotel programs in the world. Or, at least the most popular among folks who stay across a wide selection of hotel types from roadside motels to 4- and 5-star hotels.

It's like saying which is better: UA or AA. Those two are very similar in their primary mechanics, and that's no coincidence. Everybody has an opinion, but it really comes down to which one works better for you.

Answering Goldarm's questions is a good start: first and foremost, where will you be doing most of your paid stays, will they be business or leisure, and at roughly what type of hotel within the chains will you be staying? (e.g., Full service, extended stay, midscale, etc.)

Nice analogy, but it might be better to say which is worse!

Actually, though, this is perfect. Both are about the same league in quality. Whenever I fly AA, I feel as if it is the "Marriott of airlines" whereas when I fly CO it seems more like a Hilton to me.

For this issue, I would personally say Marriott, but only because of Renaissance. It is my favorite upscale chain, whereas I don't really love Conrad/Hilton. Also, Marriotts are a bit more ubiquotous. One thing though I prefer about Hilton is that they seem to have a bit more individuality.

Overall though, you will be well served by either. If you are going for upscale, however, I might go for Hyatt or *Wood which are a bit better in the higher price ranges.

Starwood - hands down! Marriott may have more locations, but *wood has nicer locations (especially abroad).

It comes down to personal preference and travel profile. If there are regular destination to which you travel, then look at those first and see what hotels each chain has. Then look at the possible vacation destinations you would like to visit and see what hotels that chain has to offer.

I personally choose Marriott first and *wood second for a few reasons. The first is stated above (I go to Vail every year for 1-5 weeks and stay at the Marriott as there is no *wood there; I did stay at the Westin in Whistler-Blackcomb and while the hotel is nicer the skiing is not), and the second is that I feel their rewards program is better from the standpoint of number of nights needed to earn points relative to number of points needed for a reward, and thirdly level of service at Marriott and Renaissance is consistently very good. Also Westin is the only chain within the *wood group I really like and has consistently good service, as Sheratons range from sketchy to good. With Marriott properties I like Marriotts (Marriott, JW, Suites, and Conference centers) and Renaissance properties the most and will consider Courtyards and Residence Inns (also at Whistler), and have stayed at Springhill Suites for a single 1 night stay due to their Park-n-Fly benefit of 3 weeks of free parking included with the rate. I was actually pleasantly surprised at the SHS as I was not expecting much having been spoiled with the FS properties. I even got my cookies and water Platinum arrival gift.

So as you can see the factors that go into a decision as to what program works for you are many. Do some due diligence and then decide which one works best for you.