Best Hosting for WordPress?

I run about 8 WordPress sites. Some are more complex than others (1 is moderately intensive). I would like to host all my sites on the same platform, rather than have 1 here, 1 there, etc. I can spend up to $40 a month on hosting. So a few questions:

1) Are there any "premium" shared/cloud hosting platforms out there (I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but some shared hosts are better than others).
2) Should I look at Managed WordPress solutions? Any recommendations?

I am looking to upgrade to something more WordPress friendly. I pre-paid for a year and it runs out in January so I have several months to find a new host or renew (currently paying about 30/month).

Thanks!

 

There is no need to choose a host with the fastest ticket response time, but choose one who you feel you communicate well with.

 

Quality customer support ties in closely with reliability and is something that should never be overlooked.