Hmm...it's propably not the easiest 3d package to learn but...

It's stable
It's flexible
It's loaded with features
It has everything you need...

I'm a previous 3dsmax user (used it for many years) and so far I don't have anything negative to say about Maya. The renderer has propably been the weakest chain in Maya but that is about to be change since they're integrating Mental Ray in it fot free!