After visiting a buddy staying at Hilton Garden thinking maybe next year make a switch?

Lifetime so don't need anymore and the local HIlton Garden looking better than the Marriott Courtyard property I'm staying at. They have a Springhills as well as Residency but far more expensive and I don't have the conscious to spend 30-100/night more to stay at a little better Marriott when the Hilton Garden Beaverton looks so nice for less.

Thoughts from those that have sampled top tier from Hilton versus Marriott or come from Hilton?

My thinking is just pick based on the hotel value and amenities or am I missing something.

At the select service level, the benefits don�t matter that much and you should stay at the nicest hotel you can find in your desired location and desired price point.

Are you only staying in the US?
Are you only staying in select service brands?
Are you spending enough where you would get Diamond Reserve at Hilton?

What are you defining as top tier? Both programs have invitation only levels - is that what you're referring to? Or Marriott Ambassador vs. Hilton Diamond Reserve? Marriott status has been objectively more valuable, though Hilton has closed that gap with guaranteed late checkout for Diamond Reserve. Also, Marriott has a much broader array of true luxury properties worldwide. Aspirational Hiltons is a pretty short list (and most are known for being super stingy with elite benefits).

IME some Garden Inns are nice, some suck. I generally avoid Courtyard. Springhill Suites is better and for longer stays I like RI better than the Hilton or Hyatt options. YMMV.

When reading the Hilton threads on FT, I've gathered that Diamond isn't objectively better than Marriott Platinum. If you care about the breakfast benefit, note that Hilton Gold offers it whereas Marriott Gold does not, and a lot of people have that Hilton status through holding the AmEx Platinum card. Since I don't often get suite upgrades at Marriott, I'll probably explore staying at more Hiltons once I achieve LTP with Marriott.

Except US Hiltons don't provide a breakfast benefit. They provide a limited F&B credit, with amount varying by brand. Sometimes this can be an advantage over Marriott's approach, sometimes not. It will almost never pay for an actual breakfast. And I don't think most people would consider Gold-Gold an equal comparison of status levels, it's more like Hilton Gold = Marriott Plat.
That grass is certainly not greener.

We go overseas probably once to twice year and there look at multiple options: W, Sheraton, Marriott, Westin, Le Meridien. The wider range of locations was the originally reason I picked Marriott years ago when I started traveling to the Far East. Many of my co-workers were tied to Hilton, but I was starting clean and choose a less ideal location Le Meridien for the better experience and also for the larger global footprint. So far haven't been disappointed with Marriott.

Since I already have default Lounge and Tier with Marriott, reconsidering if I get top tier at Hilton to leverage that for a better local experience in my current US travel. Always same place, same hotel for the coming year. So things like room, ambience, location, breakfast all comeinto play.

Yeah, my main thought here is that Hilton US select service isn�t necessarily weaker than Marriott US select service because Hilton has the food and beverage credit and many of the Marriott select brands don�t give breakfast or a real credit ($10 isn�t much) anyways. The advantage of Marriott then is the late checkout, but Hilton has solved this for Diamond Reserve (if you spend enough and earn it next year). Upgrades at select service are going to be minuscule generally across the board.

At that point, you should consider what you want to earn for at an aspirational sense and what properties are run better and cleaner in the cities you visit.

I'm both Hilton Diamond and Bonvoy Titanium. In practice, there isn't a huge difference. A few benefits here and there but the reality is the properties in both programs are inconsistent. Sone locations are great. Some aren't.

To me, the biggest difference seems to be that when something goes wrong, Marriott doesn't help.

Hilton Aspire comes with Diamond status. It's a very easy $495 fee to justify, with $400 in Hilton resort property credits, $200 in airline credits, plus the annual free night award (any points level). Conservative value of those benefits (if you use them all) is $1100 on top of Diamond benefits for your stays.

I'm moving 100% of my stays from Hilton to Marriott starting in January. I will burn those useless Hilton points and be done with them.
I had top Marriott status until 2011 when I switched over to Hilton, now I'm switching back after 15 years. I just need 1 more year to be lifetime Plat with MR vs god knows when with Hilton. Anyway, HGI or CY is the same thing. If you are just staying for work at this level hotels it doesn't make sense to switch.

I am glad you found a situation where you think a Hilton is nicer than a Marriott. For the most part, I have found the opposite. In general, I find the like for like properties to be better with Marriott. So many of my Hilton stays are pretty old, tired and dirty properties. Those definitely exist with Marriott also. As far as status, I am lifetime Plat with Marriott and lifetime Diamond with Hilton. I cant stay I get much more value out of Diamond than I do with Plat, particularly with Hilton having so many lounges that they have close in the US. Also, I can typically find better value with my Marriott points. Having said all that, life is too short to stay at a hotel that sucks for a lot of nights out of the year. If the Hilton is better and priced right, why wouldnt you stay there?

I’m a former Hilton Diamond.

My POV is that Hilton lower level properties are “nicer” than marriott, but mid tier thru premium & luxury are not (obviously, a contestable and debatable topic, of which i do not want to start).

I think what happened to you is that you experienced one of my favorite hilton brands (garden inn) and compared to lackluster couryard. Don’t broad brush it…

I'm going the other way. Hyatt globalist is my top program at the moment and I've been using Hilton as a backup. The few Hilton properties I used to like I've had some issues with so I don't even see a point in keeping the credit card for diamond anymore since this year I didn't even use all of the benefits. I'd stick with Hyatt only but their so limited in location that I do need a viable backup and Marriot has properties everywhere. If Marriot offers a double tier I'll probably start the year off with their card to get platinum and load up a bunch of stays on my way to titanium. The wife has titanium and we stayed at some great properties in Asia recently.

[QUOTE=Kacee;37478139Marriott has a much broader array of true luxury properties worldwide. Aspirational Hiltons is a pretty short list (and most are known for being super stingy with elite benefits).

IME some Garden Inns are nice, some suck. I generally avoid Courtyard. Springhill Suites is better and for longer stays I like RI better than the Hilton or Hyatt options. YMMV.[/QUOTE]

Interesting tread comments on locations & operations which do matter. Hyatt beats both on award benefits up to 150 nights a year, but sometimes good/bad location #'s.
I too avoid Courtyard unless i get double breakfast coupons for every day !.

Everyone thanks for the thoughts and opinions.

if I can get a status match I�ll probably give the local Hilton a test run. As to points and status I already have that and can always add some points and options if I dive into staying all the time next year at the Hilton.

Generally I only eat breakfast and use the gym for cardio when at the hotel, and sleep. But it is nice if the rooms, lobby and ambience is a little better given I spend 4/7 of my nights there.

the marriot crew is pretty nice, two coupons worth 40 bucks for breakfast everyday so no complaints. But the local Marriott is really dumpy compared to the Garden. Location and proximity to work is pretty key as is value for me.

cheers and have a good holidays all