That really comes down to personal preference. We used to stay in downtown Ft. Worth on DFW long overnights. It seemed about 1/2 the pilot group liked being able to walk out the door and have access to a large variety of restaurants, cultural stuff (museums, parks, etc), and the rest. The other 1/2 of the pilot group complained that, even with a 22 hour overnight, the 30 minute van ride to the hotel was intolerable.

Now our short overnight DFW hotel is on the airport property, and, of course, many of us won't like that there's no options outside the hotel and airport available.

Heck, our Boston long overnight hotel (in downtown Boston) is a shorter van ride than our short overnight hotel in Boston. Pilots still complain about the van ride, wish we stayed at the short overnight hotel, and our FA's complain the bathrooms and rooms in the long overnight hotel are too small.

Everyone has their own personal preferences, so, picking the 'better' places is hard. Me: I like anything downtown or near cultural stuff and feel a 30 minute drive is a small price to pay for 20 hours at the layover, so I like our long layover in BOS, our long layover in LAX, and I like our former long layover in DFW and DTW (where I could run the trails on Henry Ford's estate, 'Fair Lane' - beautiful). Trust me, I'm about the only pilot who liked that hotel!