FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,041
There IS very little difference between Gold and Diamond. And with HHonors willing to liberally give away status to credit card spenders and status matchers, it's no surprise that:
a) some individual hotels don't bother to train their staff to treat status guests as important
b) there are so many elite members staying that the hotel either upgrades whoever they can or just ignore anybody who isn't a repeat guest to that specific hotel.