I stayed with all three hotel brands this year – Hyatt, Hilton, and Marriott.  How do they compare to each other?  And what were my thoughts?  Let me tell you 😉

Now I will say it was definitely an interesting year to make such a comparison – certain properties were simply just better in terms of location and proximity to the places/activities we wanted to visit/do – it truly depends on the type of trip.  That being said, each brand served us well – in the places we stayed at.  (Spoiler alert:  I’m still Team Hyatt!)

I find the most value in The World of Hyatt Credit Card, as opposed to other co-branded Marriott or Hilton credit cards.  Hyatt offers more feasible, and affordable, award rates/night in comparison to other hotel chains.  Now as a family of 5, we naturally need a suite or two rooms.  Hyatt offers the family plan rate, where I am able to book two rooms: I can book the first room on points, and receive ½ off the cash rate for the second room.  This rate isn’t available at all Hyatt properties – you can read more about that here.

If you read my recent blog post comparing hotel award rates/night between the three brands, if you’re planning an Umrah trip, for example – you’ll see how Hyatt is the most affordable.  And this isn’t just in Makkah or Madinah, it’s overall!  I can’t say that you won’t find value by holding other credit cards, and/or staying at their properties.  But that value is also contingent upon the fact that you stay frequently or are loyal to that brand as well.  Keep in mind you’ll definitely need double or triple the points PER night, PER room.

In Makkah and Madinah, we stayed at Hilton properties.  Now I honestly can’t remember the last time I stayed at a Hilton (maybe in 2021, when our now-toddler had a passport fiasco?).  Both the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card  (check out rates and fees here)  and the The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card (check out rates and fees here) offer complimentary Hilton Gold Status.  Since my husband and I each had points earned from our respective Hilton Honors Surpass cards, we both had Hilton Gold Status.  

Why does it matter?  Because of that automatic complimentary status, our family got free breakfast every morning in Makkah and Madinah.  (Technically it’s for the card holder, and one guest – but both locations let all four of us have it for free.)  With the World of Hyatt program, you need to have Globalist status in order to have free breakfast.  And with the Marriott Bonvoy program, you need to have Platinum Elite or Titanium Elite, and even then it varies within the brands under the umbrella of the overall hotel program.

Because we weren’t traveling with our youngest during Thanksgiving Break, booking one room through the Hilton Honors program, on points, was feasible for us.  Even then, the rates per night were close enough to be equivalent to an entire Hyatt stay on points (depends on how many nights stayed and location of course)!  Both Hiltons worked for us as far as distance from the respective Mosques in Makkah and Madinah, as we wanted walkable hotels.  Do I see us staying at Hiltons when all five of us are traveling together?  Certainly not anytime soon in the foreseeable future.

My husband and I recently came back from Morocco.  I used points earned from my Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card to secure our hotel stay at Riad Anayela.  I had no idea I could book a Riad using points, and that too through the Marriott Bonvoy program!  I simply got the card during the summer when the offer was for 5 free night certificates worth up to 50k points each.  I had no idea at that time what I would do with these certificates or how I could use them.  You could say, it simply worked out for the best for us.

Breakfast was not covered in our stay, and there were taxes on our award stay (unlike Hyatt).  (Side note: because I charged our meals, taxes, and fees to my husband’s Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, I will be getting that expense covered, bringing our hotel cost to $0!)  But what a cool opportunity to be able to stay in the heart of the Medina in Marrakech, at a Riad!  Considering that this was a kid-less trip, the room and location worked perfectly for us.

So you can see how it’s hard to make a truly fair comparison between the three hotel brands, and this is a very broad, and general overview.  But I can say that Hyatt will always give us the best award rates and deals.  I see Hilton and Marriott as brands to be used when I’m not traveling with the whole family, and/or if I’m in a location where there are no Hyatts available.  Because I focus on earning Chase Ultimate Rewards, I can easily transfer them to Hyatt too – as Hyatt is a travel partner of Chase.  What brand you favor depends on multiple factors: your travel style and preferences, how many in your travel party, availability, and/or even breakfast accommodations  Don’t be surprised that despite Hyatt having less of a global footprint, many are still #teamhyatt – it’s because where available (and that’s still in a lot of places), they will offer the best overall value!