Was Diamond for a long time, but preferred Marriott in recent years and dropped to Gold. Stayed at the Hilton SFO last week and had a nice room on a high floor, but not the Executive Level. When my key didn't work for the lounge, it never occurred to me that I wasn't entitled. Often mistakes like this happen, so I just went back to front desk and they immediately recoded the key for access. Reading this thread, I now wonder if they made a mistake giving me access or if some hotels still let Golds use the EL.