Questions and Answers

I traveled quite a bit earlier this year (well a lot for me) and ended up using a lot of my Hilton, Marriott and Starwood points. Every Starwood I stayed at was amazing. The Marriotts were pretty good but the Hiltons were far below my expectation. I’m pretty sure 2 of the Doubletrees I stayed at hadn’t been updated in my lifetime (I’m in my 30s)…

Anyway, it got me thinking that maybe I was expecting too much from the Hiltons as I don’t stay in them often. So I was wondering if there was something that showed the equivalent “levels” across Hilton and Marriott (maybe also including Starwood)? I don’t care about redemption value for points or the price yet but more the overall product/service level… For example, what is the equivalent Marriott to Hilton’s Doubletree?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chart like that though it would be nice to have. I think part of the problem is that once you get beyond the lower-end properties the quality of a brand can vary widely based on its location. If you read Ben’s report on his stay at an airport Moxy in Europe, the comments noted that while there aren’t a lot of Moxys in the US, it’s a different experience.

I’m not entirely sure that’d be a useful comparison. There are so many different brands of hotels and like Mid South Skier said, experiences can vary even within the same brand.

[QUOTE=”Reesa00traveler, post: 58996″]I traveled quite a bit earlier this year (well a lot for me) and ended up using a lot of my Hilton, Marriott and Starwood points. Every Starwood I stayed at was amazing. The Marriotts were pretty good but the Hiltons were far below my expectation. I’m pretty sure 2 of the Doubletrees I stayed at hadn’t been updated in my lifetime (I’m in my 30s)…

Anyway, it got me thinking that maybe I was expecting too much from the Hiltons as I don’t stay in them often. So I was wondering if there was something that showed the equivalent “levels” across Hilton and Marriott (maybe also including Starwood)? I don’t care about redemption value for points or the price yet but more the overall product/service level… For example, what is the equivalent Marriott to Hilton’s Doubletree?[/QUOTE]
Answering as a hotel investor/developer (our company develops and franchises with all of the major brands) who stays frequently at Marriott/Hilton and Hyatt properties (mostly Hilton of late). One of the biggest issues we have in the industry right now is “brand proliferation”, without getting too into the weeds the brands mostly no longer actually own real estate so the only way they can grow is to add (franchise) more brands which in turn confuses guests. There are many DTs out there that have not been renovated and some that are outstanding properties (see Fess Parker DT in Santa Barbara, e.g.) so that brand in particular is really tough to gauge. Even within more “commoditized” select service brands such as Hampton there is a great variability (consider a typical roadside hotel in a small town vs the Hampton in Santa Monica that routinely goes for over $400/night). That being said, the industry divides brands within “chain scales”. Here is a link to a summary from Smith Travel Research which is the main industry data tracker and provider that may be of some use. Note that the terminology may run counter to what most travelers would assume (e.g. that a Courtyard is “Upscale”) but that’s how we break it down as owner’s/developers.

[URL]http://hotelnewsnow.com/Media/Default/Images/chainscales.pdf[/URL]

My overall suggestion is to read reviews and check out properties really thoroughly online before booking. I’ve stayed at many Hamptons that were better in terms of the bed and the room than the typical full-service Hilton.