For many folks, the prime benefit of elite status is the concierge lounge. I absolutely agree that at many properties the concierge lounge fare has been so diluted that the only reason I go to the lounge is out of sheer curiousity as to what new way the property or Marriott has decided to diminish the lounge. At one Marriott, the breakfast offering was so meager and the restaurant buffet so expensive, that I actually went to the nearby Courtyard (God forgive me) and paid for their breakfast buffet in order to get some protein.