I've only been Diamond for a week now, so I can't tell you whether it's better than Gold as far as the hotel experience goes. But I've had two occasions to call the Diamond Desk in the past week, and both times the treatment and help far exceeded what I normally would have expected at 1-800-HHONORS. If the Diamond Desk is consistently this helpful, then it's going to be a worthwhile benefit, at least for me.