How / where should I host a static site?

I'm planning to move my site a static site generator (probably Jekyll) sometime in the near future. I'm starting to think about hosting options. My top requirement is for the host to be fast and reliable. I'd also like to have great customer service in case any problems arise. Beyond these factors, I'd like it to be as affordable as possible. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

While we're on the topic, any suggestions around hosting of media assets would also be of interest to me. Should I host these on the same server or would it be better to host them on a separate asset server? What are the performance, reliability and cost concerns involved in this decision?