") I feel that this hotel is "saving" it's high end rooms for paying customers vs. allowing upgrades"
Zipper,that's exactly the point.This topic has been reheated many time's.The fact is,and this is true of all the hotel programs,some hotels do not want to "comply" with elite benefits. While I have found Starwood's lurker more helpful than HH's (re.compliance), IMHO there's only one long term viable way to react to this; take your business elsewhere and let the hotel management know why.