I'm also an amateur, and for me it's the consistent one-application workflow that's the most important thing (I do some trips in and out of Photoshop, but not so often any more.) If you have to use three or four apps to replace Lightroom, not only do you have to learn those apps, you have to relearn them every time they upgrade; and you may have growing compatibility problems with them at some point -- really, how can you predict what's going to happen, given the history of photos aps in the lasst few years? Using one app from a major company seems to me the least risky thing you can do with your photos and with your time...
The mosty troubling criticisms come from people like Bernard who are not only experienced, but have a good eye and sometimes have problems with the RAW conversions. But having hung around here for a while, and having used different converters, my feeling is that these problems often come down to a matter of taste. I have no problem with LR conversions, but somebody else may have, and the problem may be legitimate...but it's a legitimate matter of taste, rather than strictly one of function.
JC