My needs were slightly different than yours. Didn't care about the email as much as I needed to have more than just a few pages that the cheapest package that most hosts have. My choice was Homestead, but I don't think their bargain package includes an email account. As for reliability and ease of use for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot time writing code - I love it.
I just have a small website myself, but have been VERY happy with 1and1.com
They were helpful when I got it set up (setting up FrontPage extensions was a bit tricky), have been dependable, and one of the cheapest, too!