Originally Posted by sc flier

It's very disappointing to see the hotel developers and the Starwood Development team water down the brand such that the SPG rules have little value. Likewise, it's very disappointing to see SPG water down their own program by not revising their T&Cs to make the new brand a better fit into the overall package of benefits.

Not only did SPG choose to add new terms that exclude upgrades from the list of elite benefits at Element (and Aloft) hotels, they've also allowed the award redemption benefits to be less valuable than originally planned and marketed.