Originally Posted by
3Cforme
Those are imprtant points. There are many places where Starwood has nothing. If one travels to a broad range of destinations he's going to need a backup. IMHO top tier at Marriott beats gold at SPG + nothing at the backup.
As I see it, Marriott Platinum, which is the top PUBLISHED tier at 75 nights, is worth lounge access/breakfast in non resorts in the USA (with a couple exceptions like Philadelphia) and the "privilege" of begging for a slightly late checkout and/or minor upgrade if the hotel is feeling generous. SPG Gold (at 10 stays or 25 nights) guarantees late checkout and leads to enhanced rooms, sometimes upgrades. I'm not a big breakfast eater most of the time, so I'll give SPG the win.