In terms of which one is the most beautiful and feels most real, I think I need to give this one to Riverblossom Hills.
But Desiderata is where I had the best time of my Sims 2 simming. It's where I started actually playing with the premades (including the family bin sims) and adding populated subhoods (starting small with Bluewater). I found a nice balance between my own OCs and the game's characters, developed my story goal focused playstyle (before that I played more for efficieny than for story, although there was always at least some story going on) and introduced mods to my game. Eight years of dedication, then the hood died with my computer (in fact, Sims 2 more or less slowly killed that one).
And then Windenburg usurped Desiderata's place. I think they both have just the right amount of sketchy backstory/characterisation to spark my imagination, but not too much for me to feel railroaded, the way it happened with the three main 'hoods. In a way, Desiderata being a filler is a plus instead of a shortcoming for me.
