[Dali]

The Hilton is right in the heat of the action, where you can walk to numerous restaurants, shops, bars, etc. It also has a lively brewpub that had a great band when I was there. Great service and excellent breakfast, and the inhouse exercise room was good too. Not much of a beach there though, and its a highrise hotel with very long walks from some of the rooms to the elevators. My only real issue with the Hilton was that the chairs in my room were exremely uncomfortable and the mattress was very had.

The Mariott is south a bit, and you're captive to the resort unless you rent a car or hire a ride into town. Looked like a nice beach though. I didn't stay there, but did go there just to visit the spa when I was staying at the Hilton (the Hilton also has a decent spa, but its in the high-rise interior and not much atmosphere). The Mariott spa was the best I've ever been to anywhere (beating my previous favorite in Bali). After 3 days of serious golf, I got an incredible sports/Swedish massage package that included a private steam bath and shower in an open-air garden. Absolutely awesome! While there I asked to check out some hotel rooms for future reference, but wasn't impressed. I'd call the rooms 4 star at best. Looked very similar to the Mariott Royal Garden in Pattaya. I'm guessing the Pattaya and HH Mariotts were previusly part of the Royal Garden group before becoming affiliated with Marriott.

So my recommendation is stay at the Hilton but visit the Marriott Mandara spa.