Your experience with Taj is completely different than mine because of your status. I'm holding Titanium status with Marriott, and I have had very pleasant experience. Constant upgrades, complimentary breakfast and lounge access, welcome amenities, gifts etc. It's definitely the status that shapes your experience with hotel brands.
My best upgrade so far was at JW Mauritius, where I'd booked the base room for 46k points a night, and I was upgraded to a massive beachfront villa that costs ₹180k a night. Marriott properties, especially the luxury ones are definitely expensive, but that is what I reserve points for, and I can also get the best value out of it that way. Otherwise cash bookings work just fine at budget and premium properties. The program has excellent reward rate too (21% at Titanium level) which works out for me.
I try to single out on a chain because it's easier to maintain a status that way. Reason I picked Marriott was because of its footprint and range of 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star hotels. I travel domestically as well as internationally; roughly 6-7 domestic trips and 3-4 international trips in a year, and 99% of the time Marriott is always an available option. Same goes for Hilton and Accor, both these brands have excellent footprint. Taj as a loyalty program never made sense to me for this reason, it's mostly limited to India only.
