Marriott won't status match, but they do offer a fast track (challenge) to Gold, and it's so fast that they give you instant Gold "provisionally" (which they ohly take away if you don't meet the requirements of the challenge). So it's almost as good as a status match without needing to document anything.

I got to Gold last year with I think about 13 stays (but I may slightly off) in something like 90 days. (I was pursuing a miles promo which took 17 stays to max out, so it was no problem.) I signed up for the challenge on the same day I was going to start my first stay. Since the "instant" Gold of the challenge sign-up takes a day or two to kick in, I wasn't Gold for that first stay. But by my next stay a couple days later, I was.

(Haivng said that, all my stays so far have been at Fairfields and one TownePlace, where Gold means little extra except free parking at one particular Fairfield which charges $5/night for non-elites. But they may even give the free parking to Silver, since they said "elites are exampt", I'm not sure.)

SPG is similar, btw: A challenge is offered, instead of outright matching, if you ask about a status match. (But in the SPG case, you don't get the new higher status until you've successfully completed the challenge, and still then you may to email them to get the new status instated.)