Can you describe why you like the guitar you like? Can you compare it to things you've used in the past

My main workhorse (up until this point) has been an Ibanez Artcore, and I dig it. It feels nice, sounds okay, and can get pretty close to almost everything I want for what I do. But I recently have been fooling around with my roommate's Squire Strat (scandalous, I know) and there's just something about it I love. It seems to feel better in the hand, respond well to what I give it, and it just "fits" me.

I can't figure out what it is. Is it the shape of the body under my arm? The curve of the neck in my palm? The height of the frets under my fingertips? The gauge of strings? Length of strap? Single coils? Color?

I dig the look of a hollow body, and I would love to have a guitar that looks like mine and plays like his, but sounds like the lovechild of each. Is there a compromise? Should I start building my dream guitar?