Well the thing to keep in mind is this, and you should probably tell your friend....

ALL hosts have issues from time to time, and there is NOT a single host that is immune to problems.

With that said, and being that you stated that money is not an issues. I think he should wait it out for as long as it takes to actually research a new host.

When I say research, I'm certainly not referring to Googling space, bandwidth, and prices specs. I'm talking about real research to find out what others think of a particular company.

While there certainly is no "official" best hosting company out there, there are certainly top level datacenters and networks that are considered to be top of the line.

Find hosting companies within those datacenters or networks may be a great place to start, because a hosting company is only as good as heir upstream.

Some network/datacenters to consider (from research and from personal experience)..

- Peer1
- NAC
- Gnax
- The Planet

These datacenters are widely reviewed (can be easily researched), offer super customer service, and solid network connections.

Starting with a list of great upstream also helps narrow down the selection. You'll now go from an Olympic size pool of providers to a Kiddie Pool size.

Once you have done this, and then have had a chance to evaluate their level of support, then you're left with the easy part.....Space, Bandwidth, and the price you want to pay for it (which is where most people mistakenly start)