zakami

I was comped Diamond at Hilton and just took a phone call and a fax too. I think someone at the Diamond desk got greedy when they say 92 nights at Marriott, 114 at Starwood and 27 at Hyatt.

As someone was comped to Diamond just a few months ago and has been a Platinum at Marriott for several years, I would have to agree that the two programs are about the same with Marriott having a slight edge. Yes, it does require more nights to make Marriott Platinum. And if you don't think you can make the 75, then by all means go for Diamond. If you can make 75 nights, then I'd go for Marriott as you get much more consistent service and an upgrade to at least the conceirge/club level. I mostly stay with Hilton at Hilton Garden Inns (in my opinion this brand is the star of the Hilton family) to avoid Courtyards/Fairfield Inns as I really don't like them. In general I try and stay at Renaissance as much as possible as those hotels have somewhat of a boutique feel to them (each is distinct) and my upgrade success rate has been higher. Marriotts simply have ugly furnishings but the treatment is great generally. Hilton is great sometimes and sometimes not, but then I have only experienced 5 full-service Hilton brand hotels. If you travel internationally,then Hilton would probably work better for you than Marriott. Marriott only seems to have presence in capital cities (UK being an exception) of major countries where American do business but you can find Hiltons even in smaller (3rd world) countries.

I also make Platinum at Starwood every year but as stated you have to travel to larger cities for Starwood to work for you. I usually make Platinum here based on stays rather than nights with last year (had a long project in NYC) being an exception.